treatment pause

I've been on the Santa Cruz treatment for a week and a half, and I have to take a little pause from it.  The reactions I'm getting to it are way intense -- it makes it impossible to get through the day (big headaches).  The immune response that the drops, tablets and suppositories are causing are overwhelming my poor old live.  I think I need a complete liver cleanse before I tackle it again -- I will check with the doctor down there and see how he recommends I proceed.

*great* conversation with Ralph Moss! (part 2)

(In this part: UltraPheresis therapy)

I had a *great* conversation with Ralph Moss the other day. (He's the professional cancer researcher (http://www.cancerdecisions.net ) who pointed me to my original treatment with Dr. Thaller in Germany, which bought me a remission for several months early last year.)

The second treatment that Moss discussed with me (and the one he slightly recommends for me) is UltraPheresis therapy by Dr. Lentz in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany. Dr. Lentz has isolated three compounds in the blood that cancer cells produce as a decoy; as long as these compounds are in the blood, the cancer cells won't get attacked by the immune system. UltraPheresis is similar to a dialysis machine -- it filters these compounds out of your blood, and then your own body's immune system is free to attack the cancer.

Moss has also tracked several patients who have received these treatments, and they have got very good results.

description of treatment from Dr. Lentz' own site: --
http://www.biopheresis.de/index.php?id=17

great brief summary of the treatment and the theory --
http://www.euro-med.us/lentz_therapy.html

link to Dr. Moss' Flickrstream from his visit to Dr. Lentz' clinic in the German Alps (I'm almost sure I can faintly hear "Edelweiss" playing in the background!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24860924@N07/2514340851/in/set-72157605203869407/

new treatment in California's California!

Today was my 3rd day at the Center for Wellness near Santa Cruz. I'm getting a new treatment from Dr. Yarema here.

The idea of the treatment is similar to the one I got in Germany back in 2007 that gave me a remission of several months. It's immunotherapy, geared to wake up and strengthen my immune system so that it attacks the cancer. Dr. Y has tested my body against a dozen different isopathic compounds (similar to homeopathic compounds), to see which one reacts most strongly against my own blood. All of the compounds are represented by a letter or two that corresponds to their German names: "T", "Dx", "R", etc. The one that reacts best with my body is labeled OM !

That was all on Day 1 -- and for the last two days, he's been injecting me with a mixture of those compounds and my blood in areas that are near the tumors. Let's be honest here -- the least fun part was getting an injection in my perineum. (Why oh why did I have to choose to get *prostate* cancer??) Dr. Y is a great guy, though, and he has a good viewpoint, a lot of valuable diagnostic tools, and a crew of really great people working for him.

The best part of the trip is staying at Land of the Medicine Buddha, a local Tibetan Buddhist retreat hidden in the redwoods in the hills above town. I'm staying in a very monastic room, and there's a gargantuan spinning prayer wheel right outside. It feels like a very healing environment! (And I haven't seen so many people hitchhiking in years, or so many surfers, or so many unrepentant hippies -- Santa Cruz is truly California's California!)

oh great, another personal record

(click to enlarge)

OK, in today's "DO NOT LIKE" department, I just got results from my latest PSA test, and it's a sky-high 410. Let's see, that's over 40 times the accepted "danger" level for a PSA reading. The little cancer cells are going crazy. Fortunately, the cavalry is riding in this weekend with various immunotherapy injections and sodium bicarbonate IVs. (more details on that when I know them).

I'm also applying to a trial of an experimental drug called abiraterone that's being administered at M.D. Anderson in Houston. I don't know if I'll be accepted, but I fit all of their criteria.