Music and Prostate Cancer: One Man's Story

By Dana Jennings
I have prostate cancer, and sometimes I get mad. Not upset. Not annoyed. Not nettled. Mad. This isn’t mere “why me” moaning. My rage is pure and primal, like that of a wolf caught in a steel trap.
Dana Jennings. (Lonnie Schlein/The New York Times)
My anger, though, doesn’t arrive when and where you’d think it would. Gliding into the radiation machine, getting a hormone shot and wearing mini-man-pads don’t set me off. It’s smaller, less expected, things, like a fellow customer being mean and rude to the server behind the counter at Starbucks, or a car busting a red light as I walk to my New York office.
That kind of behavior has always bothered me on some level. But since I learned that I have cancer, I react differently. I’ve walked the streets of New York for decades, and not thought twice about the cars that run red lights and nearly nail me and other pedestrians. It’s a fact of life in the big city, like rats on the subway tracks. I used to shrug and keep walking.
Prostate Cancer Journal
One Man’s Story
Dana Jennings blogs about his experience with prostate cancer.
After Cancer, the Echo of Desire
10 Lessons of Prostate Cancer
Real Men Get Prostate Cancer
Since my diagnosis last April, though, and especially since my prostatectomy last July, it has not been so easy for me to shrug it off. Perhaps it’s because prostate cancer and its treatment have left me feeling vulnerable. Now, it’s as if a heedless speeding car pulls some small biological trigger of agitation that too quickly metastasizes into rage. Suddenly, I’m howling at the traffic. If I could, I’d turn green and bellow: “Hulk smash!!!”
In utter mortification, I admit that I have shocked at least a couple of drivers with a quick thump to the rear-ends of their cars. I’m not proud of this. But it’s almost as if, in certain situations, my cancer is granting me permission to tap a dark and ugly passion. My tolerance for bad behavior has vanished, and I have trouble keeping my mouth shut. And anger, no matter how bitter, still tastes good, at least for a moment.
But I hate it. It’s bad enough having a cancer of the body without having a cancer of the spirit, too. It’s all part of the emotional Tilt-a-Whirl that arrives with cancer — not just anger, but the occasional sighs and tears, the despair and depression. Doctors do a good job of treating the physical aspects of prostate cancer, but what about the psyche that’s been scraped red and raw?
I work hard not to let my cancer get me down. I believe in the power of kindness and gratitude, and my good cheer is not a pose. But we all have our weaknesses. I’m haunted by the uncertainty caused by my aggressive cancer. And when I see people plowing through this world, self-centered and unaware, their obliviousness strikes me as a deadly sin. I can’t lash out at my cancer … but I can lash out at them.
I am trying to cope, trying to damp those flash fires. Spending time with my wife and family helps; so does writing in my journal. But in scanning my large collection of CDs a few months ago, I noticed a few heavy-metal albums I hadn’t listened to in a long time. It struck me as the right music for my mood, and the result has been my own unorthodox form of music therapy. I’ve learned that heavy-metal music leaches away my fury the way a poultice draws poison from a wound.
I crave heavy bands like Slayer and Meshuggah, Pantera and Sepultera, Isis and Neurosis. Prostate cancer seems especially suited for heavy-metal music therapy. According to Dan Nelson’s book “All Known Metal Bands,” I could let my ears pound and bleed to such disease-specific headbangers as Cancer and Metastasis, Scars of Chaos and Scars of Suffering, and Surgikill Incision.
So you know, I don’t fit the music’s clichéd demographic. I have no piercings (my 25 surgical staples are long gone) or tattoos (except for the four black microdots used in my radiation treatment), I do not scrawl hexagrams on my walls, and I like goat cheese but not goat sacrifice.
But music has always been one of the ways I understand myself, interpret myself and this world. I’ve written about bluegrass, Cajun music and the Grand Ole Opry for The Times, and I wrote a book about classic country — “Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death and Country Music” — that was published last spring around the time of my diagnosis.
Different kinds of music say different things to me. Country retells my story of growing up poor and rural, reminds me that I come from a small town in New Hampshire where my relations lived their lives through the songs of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. Jazz, especially the slowest, the bluest notes and tones of Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley, settle me down before I fall asleep, can soften the edges of my melancholy. But it’s metal that helps see me through when my temper tumbles over the edge. Its anger blunts my anger, in the same way that a backfire can be used to fight a forest fire.
I rasp and roar along with System of a Down on the song “Toxicity.” As I sing the lyrics, “How do you own disorder, disorder?” I’m also hurling that question at the health-industrial complex and the bureaucracy that has nothing to do with making people well. As I listen to Metallica’s album “Master of Puppets” or Mastodon’s “Leviathan” (wearing the black System of a Down hoodie that my sons gave me), I grit my teeth and perform air-guitar exorcisms. Songs like Metallica’s “Damage Inc.” and Mastodon’s “Blood and Thunder” resonate in my gut and feel like heavy-metal radiation therapy.
Never mind scalpels or robots, the squall of those razor-wire notes seems sharp enough to cut out any cancer.
It seems to be helping. All my fear, anger and alienation are vented in those bands’ savage, guitar-driven engines. Heavy-metal inoculation talks me down from the ledge of my rage, lets me take a deep breath, then shrug — even at a car running a red light.

New Advances in Prostate Cancer Treatment

If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you face an important decision. Which treatment is best for you? In the past, common treatment options for prostate cancer may have seemed harsh, unpredictable, or had alarming side effects.

For these and other reasons, including the fact that prostate cancer tends to be slow growing, some men choose a course of action called “watchful waiting.” This means routinely monitoring the progess of the disease without specific treatment, while being alert to the possible spread of the disease. But this carries some risks; for example, the cancer may grow beyond the prostate gland before your next doctor visit.
Fortunately, advances in technology have led to improvements in treatment. Today there are several minimally-invasive treatments available for prostate cancer. In choosing a treatment, you should look for one that combines the best possible outcome with minimal side effects. This Website can help you compare the pros and cons of the various treatment options.
There are two major minimally-invasive treatments for prostate cancer today.
Brachytherapy

With brachytherapy, small radioactive seeds are implanted into the prostate where they irradiate prostate tissue. Side effects and discomfort are minimal, and the entire procedure usually takes less than an hour. For most patients this is an outpatient procedure and they go home the same day, returning to normal activities a few days later.
Cryotherapy

With cryotherapy, thin needles are inserted into the prostate. Extremely cold gases flow through the needles forming ice balls at the tips of the needles, literally freezes the prostate, eradicating the cancer. Cryotherapy reduces the pain, risks, and long recovery times associated with surgery. Most patients are mobile the same day, and many are discarged the same day and return to normal activity within a few days.
How do you know which treatment is right for you? Prostate cancer treatment should be highly individualized. What is right for one person may not be right for another. The best approach includes several steps:
• Educate yourself about prostate cancer

• Seek your doctor's advice. Understand your clinical stage and pathological grade of prostate cancer and the treatment options appropriate for it

• Research the various treatment options available available for prostate cancer

Want more Info?

Click Here!

Drugs Give No Advantage to Older Men With Early Prostate Cancer

I certainly don't want to be a harbinger of bad news, but I just came across this post in the Wall Street Journal and thought I should let you know about it.

A cancer diagnosis seems like a call for dramatic action, but sometimes it may be better just to hold off on doing anything. Take the case of early-stage prostate cancer in elderly men.
Despite a lack of evidence, hormone-altering drugs are sometimes given to men with early-stage prostate cancer who don’t want or shouldn’t get therapies. But a study in this week’s JAMA suggests that the drugs don’t do any good as a stand-alone treatment for men with early-stage disease.
The standard options for men with prostate cancer that hasn’t spread to other parts of the body are radiation, surgery or “watchful waiting” — doing nothing, and keeping an eye on the cancer. Watchful waiting can be a good option for older men, because prostate cancer often grows so slowly that it doesn’t wind up causing major problems.
The JAMA study, funded in part by the National Cancer Institute, mined a federal database to come up with nearly 20,000 men aged 66 or older who were diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer between 1992 and 2002 and who did not receive radiation or surgery in the first six months after diagnosis. Follow-up went through 2006.
Forty-one percent of the men (median age: 77) received androgen deprivation therapy, as the drug treatment is known, within six months of diagnosis; the rest had watchful waiting. Overall, the risk of death was the same for men in both groups, even after the researchers adjusted for various differences between the groups.
“People think doing something is better than nothing, but that may not be true,” the lead author, Grace Lu-Yao of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, told USA Today.

Music Therapy and Cancer

Bone marrow transplant patients report less nausea and pain, and a faster recoveryMusic therapy for patients who have undergone a bone-marrow transplant reduces their reports of pain and nausea and may even play a role in quickening the pace at which their new marrow starts producing blood cells, according to a pilot study to be published later this year in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. The study, led by O.J. Sahler, M.D., at the University of Rochester Medical Center, was done with 42 patients on the bone marrow transplant unit at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. Students studying at nearby Nazareth College provided music therapy to 23 patients after their transplants, while 19 'control' patients received standard follow-up treatment. Patients ranged in age from 5 to 65 years of age; most were being treated for various types of cancer, including leukemias, lymphomas, and solid tumors. The patients who met twice each week for music-assisted relaxation and imagery reported significantly less pain and nausea - on average, they rated both their pain and nausea 'severe' before sessions, but 'moderate' after sessions. Their new bone marrow took hold faster, too: The average time until patients began producing their own white blood cells was 13.5 days in the group receiving music therapy, compared to 15.5 days in the control group. The length of this span of time, when patients are most vulnerable to infection, is crucial. In some medical settings, such as mental health services, music therapy has been used widely to decrease patients' perception of pain, anxiety and depression, and boost their feelings of relaxation. It's also used in hospice to comfort terminally ill patients. But it's not commonly used with bone marrow transplant patients, who are often hospitalized for a month or more. Because their immune systems have been wiped out, visits are kept to a minimum to avoid infections, and feelings of isolation often set in. Patients can have a variety of side effects, including pain, nausea, fatigue, anemia and dehydration. 'One reason we began this study was because patients were requesting new ways of treatment,' says Sahler, a behavioral pediatrician who works with children who have chronic and terminal illnesses. 'The patients told the staff, 'I know I'm about to go through a major challenge that will be very painful and isolating. What do you have to offer me to help me get through this?' Music therapy was one answer. We originally began the study with children but quickly decided to enroll adults as well.' Sahler teamed up with Bryan Hunter, Ph.D., an associate professor of music and the coordinator of music therapy at Nazareth College and adjunct associate professor of pediatrics at the Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong, who has established music therapy programs in several hospitals.

The Man's Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting one in six men throughout their lifetime. With over 230,000 new cases each year it is essential that American men are educated about the risk factors. These and other sobering facts are the driving forces for the need for better treatments and a cure for recurrent prostate cancer.
A diagnosis of prostate cancer can change a man's life and the lives of those close to him. These changes can be hard to handle. It is common for a man and his family and friends to have many different and sometimes confusing emotions.
Until we have more answers, more research and education is crucial to fighting this deadly disease. Use the links above to help make further strides in treatment and ultimately finding a cure.

Hair-Loss Drug Could Hinder Prostate Cancer Detection

Author:
Karen Barrow
Medically Reviewed On: August 14, 2007
A popular hair-growth drug may alter the accuracy of prostate cancer screening, say researchers.
Propecia, a drug commonly used to regrow thinning hair, appears to alter levels of a hormone that alerts doctors to an increased risk of prostate cancer in middle-aged men, possibly hiding the presence of the disease.
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a hormone always present in men, but it tends to become elevated if prostate disorders including cancer develop. Therefore, PSA testing has become a routine cancer screening, recommended to begin around age 40, when the risk of prostate cancer begins to grow.
However, a recent study has shown that Propecia may interfere with the results of this screening, as it seems to lower the amount of PSA present in a man’s body.
“For these men, the PSA needs to be corrected, of the detection of prostate cancer may not occur until it is more aggressive,” said Dr. Anthony D’Amico, lead study author from the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
For the study, D’Amico and colleagues looked as 355 men between the ages of 40 and 60, 247 of whom were given a low dose of Propecia for 48 weeks. The men’s PSA levels were measured before the start of the study and once every 12 weeks.
By the end of the study, the researchers determined that PSA levels dropped by 40 percent in men in their 40s and 50 percent in the men in their 50s.
Those not taking the drug had an average PSA level increase of 13 percent, relatively normal as PSA levels tend to increase with age.
Interestingly, finasteride, the active ingredient in Propecia, has also been used to treat prostate enlargement, but this is the first study to find that a very low dose of Propecia also impacts the prostate.
D’Amico believes that people who take Propecia and other finasteride-containing drugs, such as Proscar should receive more sensitive tests to detect prostate cancer if their PSA levels show even a small increase.
The researchers recommend that men over the age of 40 be sure to inform their doctors if they are taking Propecia, and make sure that their PSA levels are adjusted accordingly.

Prostate Surgery Aftercare

So you've just had surgery for prostate cancer. Now what? You're probably feeling some relief in some ways, but probably pretty uncomfortable, just from the surgery. Here's what the experts say:
When the patient awakens in the recovery room after the procedure, he already has a catheter, and is receiving pain medication via the IV line inserted prior to surgery.
The initial recovery period lasts approximately one week, and includes some pain and discomfort from the urinary catheter. Spastic convulsions of the bladder and prostate are expected as they respond to the surgical changes. The following medications are commonly prescribed after TURP:
B&O suppository (Belladonna and Opium). This medication has the dual purpose of providing pain relief and reducing the ureteral and bladder spasms that follow TURP surgery. It is a strong medication that must be used only as prescribed.
Bulk-forming laxative. Because of the surgical trauma and large quantities of liquids that patients are required to drink, they may need some form of laxative to promote normal bowel movements.
Detrol. This pain reliever is not as strong as B&O. There may be wide variations in its effectiveness and the patient's response. It also controls involuntary bladder contractions.
Macrobid. This antibiotic helps prevent urinary tract infections.
Pyridium. This medication offers symptomatic relief from pain, burning, urgency, frequency, and other urinary tract discomfort.
This information came from http://www.answers.com/topic/transurethral-resection-of-the-prostate?cat=health. There are so many wonderful websites that will give you the information you're looking for, but feel free to email me if you have any problems finding what you need!

What causes prostate cancer?

The cause of prostate cancer is unknown, but the cancer is thought not to be related to benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The risk (predisposing) factors for prostate cancer include advancing age, genetics (heredity), hormonal influences, and such environmental factors as toxins, chemicals, and industrial products. The chances of developing prostate cancer increase with age. Thus, prostate cancer under age 40 is extremely rare, while it is common in men older than 80 years of age. As a matter of fact, some studies have suggested that among men over 80, between 50 and 80% of them may have prostate cancer!
Genetics (heredity), as just mentioned, plays a role in the risk of developing a prostate cancer. For example, black American men have a higher risk of getting prostate cancer than do Japanese or white American men. Environment, diet, and other unknown factors, however, can modify such genetic predispositions. For example, prostate cancer is uncommon in Japanese men living in their native Japan. However, when these men move to the United States, their incidence of prostate cancer rises significantly. Prostate cancer is also more common among family members of individuals with prostate cancer. Thus, a person whose father, grandfather, or even uncle has prostate cancer is at an increased risk for also developing prostate cancer. To date, however, no specific prostate cancer gene has been identified and verified. (Genes, which are situated on chromosomes within the nucleus of cells, are the chemical compounds that determine specific traits in individuals.) info courtesy of WebMD.

Treatment Options for Prostate Cancer

According to a well-known surgeon, most men who have prostate cancer immediately focus on treatment. That is a big mistake. Right now, forget about treatment. First, understand prostate cancer - about the meaning of PSA, Gleason score, stage, PSA nadir, microscopic capsule penetration and how to determine cure and cure rates for prostate cancer. Learn about the disease first and then let treatment outcome (cure and complication rates) determine your treatment decision and decision on a doctor.
Let's look at the PSA test:
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in the blood. The doctor takes a blood sample, and the amount of PSA is measured in a laboratory. Because PSA is produced by the body and can be used to detect disease, it is sometimes called a biological marker or tumor marker.
It is normal for men to have low levels of PSA in their blood; however, prostate cancer or benign (not cancerous) conditions can increase PSA levels. As men age, both benign prostate conditions and prostate cancer become more frequent. The most common benign prostate conditions are prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (enlargement of the prostate). There is no evidence that prostatitis or BPH causes cancer, but it is possible for a man to have one or both of these conditions and to develop prostate cancer as well.
PSA levels alone do not give doctors enough information to distinguish between benign prostate conditions and cancer. However, the doctor will take the result of the PSA test into account when deciding whether to check further for signs of prostate cancer.

Risk factors for prostate cancer

What do you think is the #1 risk factor for prostate cancer? Family history, previous cancer, race, age? According to the AMA, the #1 risk factor is age! If a man lives long enough, the chance is that he will get prostate cancer. More than 70 percent of men diagnosed with this disease are over the age of 65. African American men have a substantially higher risk of prostate cancer than white men, including Hispanic men. Dramatic differences in the incidence of prostate cancer are also seen in different populations around the world. There is some evidence that dietary factors are involved, such as vitamin E and selenium, which may have a protective effect. Genetic factors also appear to play a role, particularly for families in which the diagnosis is made in men under age 60. The risk of prostate cancer rises with the number of close relatives who have the disease.

A look at different treatments for prostate cancer

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with prostate cancer you will definitely want to know some of the most popular and effective treatment options.
Treatment can be divided into hormonal options and chemical (chemotherapy) options. Doctors will first need to know if the cancer is contained to the gland, spread locally or metasticized to other parts of the body. The treatment options for organ-confined prostate cancer or locally advanced prostate cancer usually include surgery, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, cryotherapy, combinations of some of these treatments, and watchful waiting. A cure for metastatic prostate cancer is, unfortunately, unattainable at the present time. The treatments for metastatic prostate cancer, which include hormonal therapy and chemotherapy, therefore, are considered palliative. By definition, the aims of palliative treatments are, at best, to slow the growth of the tumor and relieve the symptoms of the patient. This is where music therapy and music medicine can be a tremendous help to patients. We'll talk more about this in the next post!

What are the best tests for prostate cancer?

Maybe you've just received this frightening diagnosis and you want to believe it couldn't be true...what tests did your doctor run? Screening tests are those that are done at regular intervals to detect a disease such as prostate cancer at an early stage. If the result of a screening test is normal, the disease is presumed not to be present. If a screening test is abnormal, the disease is then suspected to be present, and further tests usually are needed to confirm the suspicion (that is, to make the diagnosis definitively). Prostate cancer usually is suspected initially because of an abnormality of one or both of the two screening tests that are used to detect prostate cancer. These screening tests are a digital rectal examination and a blood test called the prostate specific antigen (PSA).
In the digital rectal examination, the doctor feels (palpates) the prostate gland with his gloved index finger in the rectum to detect abnormalities of the gland. Thus, a lump, irregularity, or hardness felt on the surface of the gland is a finding that is suspicious for prostate cancer. Accordingly, doctors usually recommend doing a digital rectal examination annually in men age 40 and over.

Welcome to Prostate Cancer Facts

According to the AMA, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American men today. What is prostate cancer? Prostate cancer is a malignant (cancerous) tumor (growth) that consists of cells from the prostate gland. The tumor usually grows slowly and remains confined to the gland for many years. During this time, the tumor produces little or no symptoms or outward signs (abnormalities on physical examination). As the cancer advances, however, it can spread beyond the prostate into the surrounding tissues (local spread). Moreover, the cancer also can metastasize (spread even farther) throughout other areas of the body, such as the bones, lungs, and liver. Symptoms and signs, therefore, are more often associated with advanced prostate cancer.
Stay tuned for regular updates on causes and treatments for protate cancer. Feel free to email me with questions!