After two failed sessions of cryotherapy, first one in 1993 and again in 1995, Dr. Fred Lee told me in 1999 he could not cure my cancer.

After a lot of study I had Proton Radiation at Loma Linda starting in December 1999. All PSAs since have been < 0.01.

Side effects: mild erectile dysfunction from second cryotherapy session. I use a VED (Vacuum Erection Device).

For my E.D. issue I now take 25 mg of generic (Indian) Viagra daily. I still use my V.E.D. but things are improving rapidly with the daily pill. I hope I will eventually retire the V.E.D.

I serve as a Patient Advocate at M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital once a week. I don't advise any specific treatment but try and help the new patients select what is "right" for them so that they may be as lucky as me, cancer free and everything still working.

Need to correct a few errors and add a few things.

First my staging was T3C.

I was on ADT before each of my treatments 3 months for the 2 Cryos and 6 months for the proton. (I received my last shot at Loma Linda)

My Proton Treatments were from Dec 2002 to Feb 2003.

Side effects of frequent urination lasted for several months following each Cryo.

E.D. was acute for several years following Cryo.

No longer have urinary frequency.

After Proton radiation I experienced light rectal bleeding corrected by a colonoscopy.

John's current PSA is less than 0.01 ng/ml.

There is nothing to change except that I have grown older. I still volunteer as a clinical assistant at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Radiation Oncology, in Houston.

Since I have been speaking out and learning about PCa from 1993 to date, I get a lot of calls and Emails from folks who want to know about PCa. I speak at public forums and reply to questions and pleas from several internet organizations.

I was lucky. With 3 treatment modes under my belt all systems still function as designed though wounded and aged. I give little advice and only when pressed. I try to impart knowledge of the PCa beast so the uninformed can learn and make the best choice for their treatment after obtaining as many facts as possible.

Keep up your good work.

John.

There is nothing to add to my story other than I am getting older.

I am often asked by fellow patients. "How is it after treatment?" In as much as I still do volunteer work at M.D. Anderson's Radiation Oncology Department in Houston (both Proton and Brachy) I get a lot of questions. My answer is that treatment changes you in many ways. None of them good. The sexual changes are well documented and vary from no sex to you need a little help. Urination is also affected. There again from a little urgency to can't go at all.

My effects are all on the low end. Age is showing it's effects also. Remember I was first treated at age 57 some 20 years ago.

Life is good.

It has been 10 years since I came home from Loma Linda. I will soon be 77. I volunteer weekly at M.D. Anderson and spend time talking to new PCa men seeking treatment options. I have been doing this for 6 years now, giving back to the many people who helped me in my treatment journey. With all of the new treatments and improved methods I see a lot of success in treating PCA. Yet there are still failures. Failures in treatment indicated by rising PSA and failures resulting in terrible unusual side effects. Are these unusual side effects the result of treatment? No good answer. Some people are just not lucky like me.

It has been 19 years since the 1st crude 6 core biopsy indicate I had Prostate Cancer. My past entries tell the story. Technology has so improved in my journey I feel like I have left the stone age. Yet there is so much more to learn. I urge all who read this post seeking a "cure" for their Prostate Cancer to read everything you can find on the subject and seek out the best treatment you can find. Travel and go into debt if you must but do not settle for 2nd rate treatment. You deserve the best and it is right here in the U.S.A.

For a long time I have had little to add to my "page". Prostate Cancer for me was a thing of the past. Things changed in a big way this year. I had a side effect from the combination of my treatments known as Hemorragic Radiation Cystitus. The effect is that the wall of the bladder bleeds, the blood clots and you cannot pee. The treatment requires emergency rooms, hospitalization, special 24f 3 way catheters, continuous bladder irrigation and a lot of pain. I spent 21 days in the Hospital in April 2014 and 8 more in May. I then had 60 "dives" of Hyperbarric Oxygen Therapy. So far no more bleeding. My next adventure includes a urinary Tract infection which closed my urinary tract requiring self catherization I already knew how and had a catheter on hand. Cured the infection and can pee almost normally now. I must say at age 79 life is never dull.

Just coasting now. Urinary calcification a big problem. I don't drink enough water

I had continuous problems after Proton radiation including strictures and fistula. It seems that a combination of treatments (Cryo abulation and radiation) caused the adverse effects that continued to this day. I am now 88 years old following a year of sickness of which I am now recovering. I haad to self catheter for several years due to strictures in the bladder neck. Surgery to clear the strictures resulted in an erroror by ther surgeon (a perminent nick in the bladder neck) and continuous dribbling. A year ago 2023) I awoke to find I had an open fistula on my belly leaking fluids between my urinary tract and my gut. Surgery on my gut resulted in a Colonoscopy and urinoscopy. Surgery on my urinary system resulted in removal of my bladder, part of my radiated prostate and relocation of my kidney urators. I now have a dual pouch next to my naval. I still have an infection in my pelvic bone that is non rssponsive to antibiotics following a year of convilescents. I suffered lack of mobility and mental loss. I am 90% recovered now but must live with the results.

John's e-mail address is: jbl1301 AT msn.com (replace "AT" with "@")