     
"You have Prostate Cancer" - a frightening thing to hear!
When a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer he confronts many issues, among
which are: choice of treatment, choice of doctor, as well as emotional and
physical feelings. The Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group is a
support group consisting of men with prostate cancer who can greatly ease the
burden of isolation through the journey to health and emotional well being.
Within our ranks, we have men who have experienced almost all of the known
treatments for prostate cancer, including hormonal therapy, surgery, external
beam radiation, radioactive seed implantation, and others. These men are willing
and able to share their experiences with you, and give you their inputs on your
treatment choices.
Knowledge is Power
We also have regular participation by doctors and other practitioners in the
local community who give talks on subjects of interest to newly diagnosed
prostate cancer patients. These talks include subjects such as: Nutrition and
Prostate Cancer, Surgical Treatment of Prostate Cancer, Brachytherapy (seed
implantation), and Resources for Prostate Cancer Patients.
There is no obligation involved in attending our meetings, and your questions
and comments are always treated as confidential. Please feel free to attend, or
to contact members of our Steering Committee for help in treatment decisions and
other concerns.
Buddy System
If you do not feel comfortable in attending one of our meetings, as a first
step you may want to contact one of our members directly and discuss your
situation. Foe this purpose, we have set up a "buddy system" of members who are
available to talk to newly diagnosed men on a one-on-one basis. The list of
these members is below. Unless otherwise noted, all phone numbers are (831)
area.
| Name |
Phone |
E-Mail |
Year Diagnosed |
Treatments |
| James Fertig |
(408)266-4860 |
jfertig@iglide.net |
2001 |
Diet Modification, Hormone Therapy. |
| John O'Hara |
662-3610 |
knockan@prodigy.net |
2001 |
Seed Implant |
| Howard Waage |
688-0423 |
howard_waage@sbcglobal.net |
1996 |
Hormone Therapy, External Beam Radiation, Seed Implant |
Resources
We are putting information of interest to newly diagnosed patients on this
website.
Hormone Therapy Basics - A discussion of
the types of hormone therapy as they relate to prostate cancer. Covers the role
of hormones in the prostate, the drugs used, how they work and options for
advanced disease.
Some valuable Internet resources that can be accessed are
1. Don Cooley's Prostate-Help Cancer (PHCa) Discussion Groups:
- Newbie page: http://www.phcagroups.org for the groups - You can join
discussion groups, that include patients from around the world, asking
for help from patient experts.
- Advanced page: http://www.prostate-help.net - The "Gateway" to what
Prostate-Help has to offer - all non-commercial and created by a
prostate cancer patient - a virtual encyclopedia of prostate cancer
information.
- "Prostate Cancer - Its Diagnosis & Treatment" at
http://www.prostate-cancer-help.org - Created for the newly diagnosed -
trying to find their way. From the diagnosis to treatment - all in one
place and written for a "newly diagnosed" to understand. Always current
with the latest information.
- Prostate-Help Information Database (PHID) at
http://www.furl.net/members/prostate-help - All of the latest studies,
papers, etc. that are applicable to today's prostate cancer and its
treatments. Updated daily.
- Prostate-Help Blog at http://prostate-help.blogs.com/prostatehelp/ - A
more informal accumulation of items of overall interest to the prostate
cancer community. Updated daily
2. Phoenix5:
We also recommend
http://www.phoenix5.org/Basics/DPprimer0918.html for the newly diagnosed.
3. Patient Advocates for Advanced Cancer Treatments ("PAACT")
Has some good information for the newly diagnosed:
http://www.paactusa.org/
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