Category: Cancer

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The LORD in my HEART, a guitar and a knife – a true story!

Posted on by Charles Robinson

My Lord In My Heart

Every living being, and every person, has seated next to us, seated next to us in our heart, the Paramatma, an expansion of God, Krishna. It doesn’t matter how sinful I am, how low a life form my body is, the Lord’s there beside me. I am not alone. We are never alone.

Because we are in this human form, and we reside in this body in the area of the heart, we often refer to the Paramatma as the ‘Lord in the heart’, sitting next to us.
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NOT ALL DOCTORS ARE EQUAL

Posted on by Charles Robinson

A Layman’s Guide to Choosing a Doctor

Cartoon by by grand daughter Lana.
Cartoon by by grand daughter Lana.

I’ve mentioned before that with a serious disease I think we need to become active in the treatment of that disease.  This is because not all doctors are created equal.

There are doctors that graduate at the top of the class and those that graduate at the bottom.  And then there are those doctors no matter how smart they are scholastically will never make a good doctor.

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‘GOD IS IN THE DETAIL’

Posted on by Charles Robinson

Albert Einstein

ALBERT EINSTEIN  1879-1955
Physicist, Musician, Thinker…and founding member and president of The Fluffy Slipper Appreciation Club!

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” Albert Einstein

I had a revelation the other day……….

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ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER (and how to prevent getting it!)

Posted on by Charles Robinson
Cartoon by my 13 yr old granddaughter Lana
Cartoon by my 13 yr old granddaughter Lana

Prostate Cancer is cancer of that walnut sized gland that is part of the male reproductive system.  It is located beneath the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum.

So what’s the bottom line (excuse the pun)?  Ask your doctor for an annual PSA test from the age of 45, and don’t let him or her talk you out of it”.

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ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER – Lightning Strikes!

Posted on by Charles Robinson

Charles Robinson

Everyone knows where they were in 2001 when the planes flew into the twin towers.

I was in Sydney, Australia, sitting across the desk from an urologist who was telling me I had advanced prostate cancer.  We were both bleary eyed as like the rest of the world, we had been glued to the TV screen for hours in disbelief.

My urologist was telling me because the cancer was not contained to the prostate, and because my PSA was 67 (above 4 is abnormal) and with a Gleeson score of 4 + 4 (8), my chances of surviving more than 5 years even with the best treatment was slim.  He calculated about 18%.  The chance of me surviving to 10 years was something like 5%.

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My Cancer Story Summarized

Posted on by Charles Robinson
Trying to get on top of the Big C
Trying to get on top of the Big C

So in 2001 I did a general health test, and as I was 50 years old I thought I should also get a prostate cancer test, which is a simple blood test, called a PSA test.

After that diagnosis I was really unsure of what treatment to do.   This was because I saw 4 different urologists for treatment suggestions and they all gave me different options.  One even wanted to do an orchiectomy, the other word for that is castration! He explained to me that prostate cancer is testosterone fed and castration eliminated the majority of the production of testosterone.  When I asked him why I would do that instead of taking drugs that did the same thing, AND it was reversible, he said that it was cheaper on the government to do an orchiectomy rather than subsidize the drugs!

I made a mental note….NEVER let this guy give me anesthetic!

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Hair – It’s Everywhere

Posted on by Charles Robinson

So when I had chemotherapy pretty much all my hair fell out, including my beard which I’d had for 30+ years.  Now I’ve finished chemotherapy (Taxotere) and started another drug, Enzalutamide, my hair is growing like crazy!  I’m thinking I look like Einstein, but of course one of my kids says “Einstein, yeah right Dad, more like one of the 3 Stooges!” (Do people still remember them?)

Hair Hair

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PSA – To test, or not to test for Prostate Cancer?

Posted on by Charles Robinson
Coffin Cartoon
* See note below on Cartoon

There is an ongoing debate amongst some academics, politicians and doctors as to whether routine screening for prostate cancer using the simple PSA blood test is necessary. Their argument is based on numerous clinical studies (some inconclusive or contradictory) that supposedly show that there is no significant statistical survival benefit for men getting regular prostate cancer screening with a PSA compared to those men who did not have a PSA screening.

I remember when I first requested a PSA test in a health checkup from my general practitioner (that ultimately diagnosed my cancer), that he tried to talk me out of it.  “If you have prostate cancer do you really want to know?” he ask me.  “Why wouldn’t I want to know?” I asked?

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ENZALUTAMIDE (XTANDI) – The Wonder Drug (for me)

Posted on by Charles Robinson

Enzalutamide

So after 19 treatments of the chemotherapy drug Taxotere over almost 2 years, it was ceasing to be effective, not to mention the terrible side effects.

So about 12 months ago I commenced Enzalutamide (marketed as Xtandi and formerly known as MDV3100) which has been developed by the pharmaceutical company Medivation for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.  It has been available now since about 2013.

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