Thursday, December 31, 2009

Bring on Those Magical Cures!

When prostate cancer keeps coming back…


Logic, science, medical expertise, and common sense be damned; there comes a time when all that remains is faith, dumb luck, or magic.


So, we try the mud baths, salt water enemas, massive doses of Vitamin C or B, 20 cups of green tea each day, and even those hallucinatory mushrooms. And if it seems to work – even a little – we consider it a miracle.


When many types of cancer (such as prostate) come back after a shot or two at a cure, the rest of your time is spent being a ‘survivor’. “I’m still surviving; still alive.” That survival might be a few months or many years or somewhere in between.


If you want to know more about ‘miracle cures’ just go online. Google ‘non traditional cancer cures’ or ‘curing your own cancer’ or just ‘cancer cures’ and you’ll find hundreds of individual anecdotal miracles. “How Potato Peels Purified my Prostate” or “How Bungee Jumping Cured My Cancer.” Are any of these stories true? Is there any scientific evidence? Probably. Probably not. Maybe. Nobody knows. Everybody’s cancer is different from every body else’s.


Would I try a magical mystery cure? If the time and circumstances were right – yeah, probably.


Besides, I believe in magic.

axman

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Prostate Cancer don’t get NO Respect

Sick Old Men Unite!

There are numerous runs, walks, auctions, pledge drives, dinners, and T shirt sales to support research and treatment for breast cancer. That’s as it should be, of course.

But where are the public relations people and events when it comes to prostate cancer? What’s the matter with all you guys with prostate cancer? Are you shy, indifferent, or embarrassed? Do you truly believe that real men DON’T (or shouldn’t) get prostate cancer? Yes they do (read Real Men Get Prostate Cancer Toohttp://www.axmaker.com/ and convince yourself)! Big hairy bikers, iron pumpers, CEOs, vegans, pilots, bowlers, marathon runners, accountants, and even lawyers (as if anybody cares) do get prostate cancer.

One reason for prostate cancer’s seeming lack of public popularity is almost certainly men’s reluctance to discuss anything personal - and another reason may be that your prostate doesn’t show (do you know where your prostate is tonight?). Whether or not you have a prostate doesn’t do much to change your appearance (at least on the outside).

So speak up, educate people, and do your part to make sure that research continues to look for better treatments and even a cure!
axman

Monday, December 7, 2009

I Don’t Want to Live Forever…

…but just a little longer would be nice

Every part of our bodies wears out, short circuits, or ceases to function sooner or later. It doesn’t happen at the same rate for everybody. You know people who look and act years younger than their biological age – and you know some relatively young people who act old and decrepit. Of course we all see ourselves as looking younger than our real age…

Aging sneaks up on you. You’re joints get stiffer in the morning, you get a cramp after your walk, there’s a new pain in your shoulder, and don’t forget the arthritis in your hands. Then there is the need for stronger and thicker glasses every couple of years, a hearing aid (mostly its that others mumble more), and trying to save those few remaining teeth.

Your heart, your strongest muscle, seldom lasts more than a century or so, livers do better without too much alcohol (a little wine might even be beneficial I tell myself), and your lungs don’t much like smoke. And who knows when you might get hit by a bus!

We cope by making small adjustments, then larger ones; from there it's relying on medications, and often more serious treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, or getting new parts. As a last resort we look for miracle cures (as if surviving this long hasn’t been a miracle) – it all seems to be part of the plan.

axman