ANDREW:
Hello, and welcome to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Survivors' Network, the service created by and for cancer survivors. In Seattle, I'm Andrew Schorr, your discussion leader. Our topic: prostate cancer for men who are 50 and older. On the phone with us are two prostate cancer survivors, men who are both over the age of 50, and have experienced a recurrence. Over the next few minutes we'll discuss issues as: the role of an integrated approach to diet, exercise and spirituality; how recurrence changes the way you look at cancer and life; how to keep connected to others; breaking the silence about prostate cancer; and what may lie in the future for men who are newly diagnosed and confronting their own mortality. Let's begin. Joining us today is Derwin from Southport, Connecticut. Derwin, you're 65, and married. I understand you have three grown boys, and you work with international companies on personal development. Now, back in 1996, if I'm not mistaken, Derwin, you had prostate cancer. And then, as you went through the radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy, you found you had cancer that metastasized to your spine and your shoulder.

DERWIN:
Right. That's correct.

ANDREW:
One of the things that you've learned along the way is the importance of having an integrated approach, combining diet, exercise, and spirituality. What does that mean?

DERWIN:
Well, I really feel you have to take a systematic or complete approach to the cancer situation. You can go out and have the best physicians, and have the surgery done, but you have to combine that with diet and exercise and, for me particularly, the spiritual side of it, to be able to deal with all the stress. I mean, it's one thing to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. It's another thing to be diagnosed with a recurrence. So, I think bringing all those forces together gives you your best chance of dealing with the situation.

ANDREW:
Derwin, tell us the story of how prostate cancer was diagnosed in the first place. And then, how did you begin to bring this integrated approachto bear in your life? What are the specifics of how that works? So, first, how did all this happen?

DERWIN:
Well, in 1996, right before Thanksgiving, I was getting my physical exam. I had a PSA of 4.8, which is not a real high PSA but it was suspicious. I went to a urologist. I've never had any symptoms, but I had it checked out, and that led to a biopsy. The biopsy came back that my prostate was three-quarters tumor.

ANDREW:
So, this wasn't one of those prostate cancers that you can just have as you age, and just let it be?

DERWIN:
Oh no, not in this case. I had a very aggressive tumor. And that was right before Thanksgiving, and of course you have to deal with the issue. I had my three sons coming home for the holidays and so forth. So, how are you going to deal with this? Are you going to tell people about it? You know I decided to let anybody and everybody know that I had prostate cancer. I had the prostate removed in 1997 at the time when they did the biopsy. After they have the prostate out, of course that's when you can really take a look at it to see what the story is. It appeared that the capsule might have been penetrated, because there were some very close margins. So my physician had recommended radiation and they don't radiate, they just radiate the bed where the prostate used to be. I had some other difficulties that I had to have taken care of.

ANDREW:
Difficulties as a result of the surgery?

DERWIN:
Well, yes. I had scar tissue that started to flow down my urine flow as result of surgery, so I had to go in and have that taken care of. It was not a big deal but it had to be taken care of. Then I also developed a fissure in my rectum that had to be taken care of.

ANDREW:
What about incontinence or impotence?

DERWIN:
Impotence, of course, and I think with radicals that's pretty high. Incontinence, I'm doing pretty well on. I have a little stress when I exercise and work out, but otherwise...the actual radical prostatectomy, was a nonevent. I never had any pain. I was in the hospital for three days. The worst part of that was wearing the bag you have to wear for two or three weeks.

ANDREW:
Derwin, you find out along the way that you do have some cancer that spread to your spine and your shoulder. Tell us about that discovery, and how shocked you maybe were to find this out.

DERWIN:
Well, like you were saying, when you find you have prostate cancer, there's always the idea you can get it, I hate to use this word, but, cured. Then, at the end of '97, the PSA started to just creep up a little bit. I decided to go have radiation. I had seven weeks of radiation, and while I was being radiated, the PSA started to double. I then had to decide what to do. I decided to go on a diet, with herbs and that type of treatment, and that caused it to go back dow= n again. And I have been down, either undetectable or at the 0.1 level, ever since.

ANDREW:
I want to hear more about that, but first, tell us how the spread of the cancer was discovered.

DERWIN:
Well, after my radiation, they did a bone scan. In that bone scan they started to pick up spots, on my shoulder and on my spine, that appeared to be metastasized prostate cancer. I have been getting those checked every four months, and they just seem to stand still. They are very stable.

ANDREW:
Derwin, you spoke about diet and herbal preparations. Now, a lot of people are interested in that. But a lot of people don't know what to do, or how much credence to put in that. How did you decide to do that, and what exactly do you do?

DERWIN:
You're absolutely right, there's a tremendous amount of unknowns, and you're not going to get a whole lot of support, I don't think, from your urologist or physicians. That's something I just did on my own. I just did a lot of reading on it, and the Internet, and that kind of thing.

ANDREW:
Did you go to a naturopath, or someone like that?

DERWIN:
Yes, I went to a naturopath. I went down some dead end streets there, and got some people who didn't know anything about prostate cancer. So it's really kind of tricky to find somebody that you have confidence in. There are a lot of things available, information-wise, that you can dig out on your own. But it is a very tough area because there's just so much stuff. Everyone claims they've got something that's going to fix your problem. It's difficult to sort through.

ANDREW:
What do you take yourself? What herbs do you take and how often?

DERWIN:
The major thing I take is called PC-Spez. It's a combination of Chinese herbs. I think there are eight different herbs that go into it. It's quite popular in the prostate cancer area, and it's new. There are a lot of things unknown about it, but there are more trials being done on it all the time. There's a lot of interest in it.

ANDREW:
What else do you do in your diet?

DERWIN:
Well, I have a regimen that I do with the Vitamin E and selenium. And I have multiple vitamins, and combinations of vitamins, that I focus on. I'm very much into isoflavors and soy. I'm very much into tofu. I eat fish, a little chicken, lots of dark green vegetables, and just no red meat at all. I have a treadmill, stepper, all that kind of good stuff, and I work out for about an hour every day.

ANDREW:
Derwin, were you like this before the diagnosis of prostate cancer? How has the diagnosis changed you?

DERWIN:
Well, I would say, the exercising I've done all my life. The diagnosis really made me focus on diet. I really try to avoid sugar, red meat and, of course, no alcohol. It really focused me diet-wise and, spiritually, it had a very significant effect on me. Going through something like this when you have a tremendous amount of uncertainty...I never dealt well with uncertainty to begin with. It really requires you to build a relationship with God, however you may define that, and to find a certain comfort in the fact that you're doing your best. You need some way of dealing with that type of stress in your life, other than just turning it into anger. I'm in a number of support groups, and some guys get pretty angry about it all. I don't think that does a whole lot for the cancer, and it doesn't do much for your lifestyle.

ANDREW:
Were you angry and worked through it, or you just weren't angry?

DERWIN:
I was more scared than angry. I never went through the, "Why me?" You know, "Who screwed up?" And all those kinds of good things. For me, it was more just dealing with the uncertainty and stress of it all.

ANDREW:
And where are you today? I mean, here you're walking around with, rather than the idea that the prostate cancer was cured, the knowledge that there's malignancy in two places in your body. And you're walking around with it, even though you feel fine. Where's your head at today?

DERWIN:
Well, I just have to turn that over to God to deal with. That is the way I deal with it. And I get my PSA done every month. I'm going down to Sloan Kettering this week, in fact, to see my doctor. I go down there about every four months. I collect the data, and I take it down to her, and she looks at it, and she looks at me. She says, "Here's what we're going to do." And I do it, and I put that away.

ANDREW:
So, it's not something you're thinking about everyday? What about in your relationship with your wife? Has that changed at all as you've gone down this prostate cancer road?

DERWIN:
I would say that that probably has gotten closer. I would say that with my children also. I've really gotten a much stronger relationship.

ANDREW:
Does that mean that you're more verbal about how you're feeling? It sounds like you've really gotten in touch with yourself. Does that mean you've gotten in touch with your feelings and their feelings, too?

DERWIN:
Yes, I think so. I think my children, my family, are very conc= erned. I think we are much more open about these kinds of issues than we were before. My wife had had heart trouble before I had the prostate cancer thing, and so forth. I think, with a combination of that, we're really a much closer family. I think we're more in touch with our feelings, as you say, and I think we're more open in sharing our feelings than we have been in the past.

ANDREW:
I should say that you have three boys. Us men are not always known for sharing our feelings.

DERWIN:
Absolutely.

ANDREW:
So, it sounds like it's been a positive thing.

DERWIN:
Yes. I would say, if you backed away and looked at it, and saw the type of things I'm doing now, and the relationships I have with my family, and the new friends I've made.... I'm in a number of support groups in the prostate cancer area, and I'm doing things with the American Cancer Society. I'm very active in that part of it. So, overall, there's very much a positive side to it, too.

ANDREW:
Let's invite another member of our discussion to join us. That's Teddy from Portland, Oregon. Teddy, you're 55, married, and you have a grown daughter. You've been pretty active in talking with other men about prostate cancer, right?

TEDDY:
Yes, very active. I became active with the American Cancer Society just a few months after I was diagnosed. It's just my personality to do that. I'm active with the American Cancer Society and also NPCC, the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.

ANDREW:
You had a radical prostatectomy and now, lately, you've had this PSA that's been creeping up. It's pretty certain that you've got a recurrence going on somewhere. How's your head doing with this?

TEDDY:
Well, it comes and goes. I think the hardest part is the diagnosis. The first analysis showed that I had cancer in my upper lymph nodes, which are not radiatable, I guess you might say. A second interpretation was inconclusive. I think that's something that's really hard to grasp with prostate cancer, the fact that everything is a gray area. And you're never really sure of anything.

ANDREW:
Yeah, Derwin's laughing. So, part of the message to men who are listening, is that they really need to seek out information, and second opinions, and maybe third opinions that apply to their own specific case?

TEDDY:
Just as a matter of fact, I've had three consulting urologists, and one consulting radiation oncologist. I tried to consult with all four of them, and I feel I am pretty much in charge of my own diagnosis. I have to put together my own treatment, and I pretty much have to decide for myself what to do, but I do it based on the opinions of four really good doctors.

ANDREW:
You're involved with support groups and speaking to other men. Do you draw on these other men for information to help you make decisions?

TEDDY:
Yes, I do, especially men who have had a lot of experience with it. I have one friend who was metastatic for ten years and it has gone away. Needless to say, this guy is very inspirational to me, as he is to most prostate cancer patients in the group. Yes, you try to cultivate friendships that can help you out in any way that you can.

ANDREW:
You just mentioned somebody who's lived with metastatic prostate cancer for quite a long time. Someone who might be listening to our recording, who's diagnosed with a recurrence or a spreading of prostate cancer, might think it's all over. But I don't hear that in the voice of either Derwin or you, Teddy.

TEDDY:
Oh, no, absolutely not. There are too many cases of this cancer just going away to make any conclusion like that. Hope is the real true thing that we have here. There's so little known about this disease that anything can happen.

ANDREW:
By the way, how are you doing subsequent to the radical prostatectomy? Derwin was talking about impotence, and he talked about some episodes of stress incontinence. How about with you?

TEDDY:
Yes, I had a very, very good surgery. I agree with Derwin that it was a non-event, although I was in the hospital for five days. However, I'm completely continent. Impotent, yes, but you know, the impotence doesn't really bother me. It's like I have different values now than I had before, and I can live with it. I concentrated on addressing the cancer first, and I feel that I've done that. I feel confident with my choice of treatment, and I emphasize that to every man that I consult or talk with. I say, "Address the cancer first and do whatever is best for you. Do what is going to give you peace of mind in the end. Don't be in a situation where a little later on down the road you say, 'If only I had known.' Take your time, do your research so you can have peace of mind with your treatment."

ANDREW:
Let's talk a little bit more about how this intervention of prostate cancer in your life has changed your life. How are you different now?

TEDDY:
Well, I'm certainly more in the moment. I don't see my years as being infinite. I mean, not that I ever did, but this kind of brings it home. There's no two ways about it. You've got a certain amount of time and, you know, it's just time to make the most of it. I think that I have lived more in the present than I ever have before, and I'm glad to do it, too. I think it brings a concentration of life to you. I think it gives you a real appreciation, and a real sense of life.

ANDREW:
You smell the roses a little more.

TEDDY:
Yes, absolutely. I wouldn't say that I slow down any more but, yes, I do appreciate what I see and what I do. I'm kinder to myself, and I don't beat myself up about things. The moment is too fleeting, and you want to grasp every moment, every bit of it.

ANDREW:
Teddy, you're a bandleader and a professional musician. Has your career changed at all? Have you made any different decisions based on this diagnosis?

TEDDY:
Well, it's odd that you should mention that. I have, actually. I've decided to do less office work. As a bandleader, I do a lot of contracting and accounting, and all of that kind of stuff. I've decided to get off of that aspect of the responsibility.

ANDREW:
Get out there and play the sax.

TEDDY:
I still play, yes, and clarinet too. I play a lot. And I'll continue to play. That's not something that you ever put down. But as far as the workload, and the stress of running a business, which is what I do, I've decided not to do that anymore.

ANDREW:
Let's talk about marriage a little bit. Teddy, how long have you been married?

TEDDY:
Well, I was married in 1978, so 21 years, there we go!

ANDREW:
You mentioned about the impotence, and Derwin, feel free to chime in too. How long have you been married, Derwin?

DERWIN:
41 years.

ANDREW:
Okay, a long time. So, how does this change your relationship? Derwin talked about finding a silver lining, if you will, or even a blessing of bringing his family closer together. He talked about his three boys as well. Teddy, what about you? First, with your wife, did prostate cancer leave a legacy of impotence?

TEDDY:
Well, I would echo once again what Derwin said. It definitely deepened our relationship. And, at this stage of life, that's really much more rewarding than anything else. It's just worked out pretty well. It has changed our sex life, but it's not traumatic, and it's not a big deal. It still happens just the way it did before, it's just a little slower. You have to work at it a little more, but you also find out that that's not the most important aspect of a marriage or even a sexual relationship. I think that just the comfort that you get from your spouse is the biggest thing. And that what you share is far more important than, you know, just the immediate sexual sensation.

ANDREW:
Derwin, what about for you?

DERWIN:
Yes, I think I'm pretty much in line with the same thing. You become impotent, you can't have an erection, but it doesn't mean you can't have an orgasm. You know, you've just got to be creative in life. It doesn't really become a major factor. I know with some men it does. I know from the support groups that some fellows feel that it bothers them. But it just hasn't been that important to me.

TEDDY:
I don't think that it looms as large in life as you think it's going to before it happens. I was very surprised that I did as well with it as I did, frankly.

ANDREW:
Well, let's talk about this. I'm 49, just a little bit younger than you, Teddy. But for all of us, you get to middle age, and you've been married to the same person for a long time, and that wife looks forward to you being with them more. Maybe working less, slowing down, enjoying leisure activities more. And now, they can't help but have, somewhere in the back of their mind, the fear that they're going to lose you. Do you all talk about that? Do your wives verbalize that?

TEDDY:
My wife does. I found that there is a distinct lack in the system for wives of prostate cancer survivors. Actually, I'm working on that right now in the local area, trying to get something together for support for wives. My wife elected to see a psychologist about this, simply because there are things that you just can't talk about with your spouse sometimes. There are a lot of fears and anxieties, and in prostate cancer in particular, everything goes towards the man. The wife is oftentimes left out, and this isn't right, and needs to be corrected, in my estimation.

ANDREW:
I'm going to talk more about your activism. Derwin, what about for you with your wife?

DERWIN:
Well, we talk about it pretty openly. I've done some things as far as my finances, and some things I've done with long-term care for my wife. Of course, I can't get covered, but we've just openly talked about this.

TEDDY:
And I don't mean to imply that we don't talk. We talk about it as much as we can. It's just that there are some dark, deep-seated fears in there that she doesn't want to express to me oftentimes. And I know that. It's just better if we get a third party in there, and I think it's better for her, too.

ANDREW:
Derwin, you mentioned that you can't get insurance. Do you ever get anybody trying to sell you insurance, and that leads to a laugh?

DERWIN:
Yes. Every once in a while, some guy will call me up and try to sell me nursing home insurance, that kind of thing. But I've got a good way to get rid of them. I just tell them I have metastasized prostate cancer, and they're gone. They're gone in a hurry.

ANDREW:
Teddy, you were mentioning the efforts you're making in the Pacific Northwest to really break down some barriers, get support for women, and get men talking to one another. Why do you think it's so important for there to be more discussion, both in support groups and publicly, about prostate cancer?

TEDDY:
Well, I could go on and on about the answer to that one. I think it's important for people to talk, in general, in order to feel that they belong. I think it's important for men to talk about prostate cancer so that they don't feel alone. It's also important for them to get information and to share feelings with each other, simply because it can be such a lonely disease. Men are trained, men are socialized, I should say, to be loners, to bear it all, to be stoic and all of these things. And that does not serve you well when a disease like prostate cancer comes along. I think it's really important for men to talk to each other. I've been active in getting support groups together. I'm on the American Cancer Society national faculty, simply because I believe that this is a really good part of therapy. I believe it's been scientifically proven that men who are in support groups live longer, probably because of the diffusion of anxieties, and the feeling of being with other people that only comes from being in a group.

ANDREW:
There are men though, who don't talk about their feelings easily. They never have. Now, first they get blasted by the diagnosis of prostate cancer. And then there's either a strong indication, as you have, or the outright spotting of it, as Derwin has, that there's a recurrence. There's a spread of the cancer, and it's more than they can take emotionally. They just don't want to talk at all and so, they say, "The solution for me is just to forget it, deny it, and just go do something else."

TEDDY:
Well, I feel bad for those guys, frankly. I think that everybody certainly is entitled to their own reaction to it, but it's so much more comforting to share. It's so much more comforting to be honest about your life with other people, as Derwin said. I took the same route. I became very vocal about it, and I'm very evangelistic about prostate cancer awareness. It's my own therapy. It's the way that I feel best. That's the way that I feel really good. I feel like I'm helping myself, the community, and other men everywhere by doing it. And this gives me an energy that I need to fight my own cancer.

ANDREW:
Derwin, do you agree?

DERWIN:
Yes, absolutely. I think in doing that, you come to a realization yourself that really provides a sense of relaxation, and soul fulfillment, that, I think, helps the immune system. There's been a lot of work done on the area of relaxation response. There's Herbert Benton, up at Harvard, on the relaxation response. If we can just spend twenty minutes, twice a day, meditating or relaxing, or whatever form of spiritual connection that works for you...that really helps the immune system. It really gives it a chance to help the body.

ANDREW:
So, there's meditation on the one hand. But, do you feel that this sort of communication...that there's a therapeutic process in talking with others as well?

DERWIN:
Oh, absolutely.

ANDREW:
What do you think it's done for each of you? The fact that you've been so vocal in talking with other men, and other people, about prostate cancer?

TEDDY:
It gives me, as Derwin says, self-fulfillment. I think that's probably the best way to describe it. I'm that kind of a person anyway. I talk a lot, and I share a lot of feelings, and I have for a really long time. Fortunately, before I got prostate cancer, I was in a men's group for nearly five years. I had learned how to share, and how to come at the social role of the silent male, and this really served me well when I got prostate cancer. I was able to talk about it right away, and was able to share my feelings with a lot of people. And that connection is a life force that keeps you going. It really really helps me. It propels me all the time and I talk about it every single day.

ANDREW:
And that men's group you were in earlier, it had no connection with health or prostate cancer, right?

TEDDY:
No, it was just a general men's group. It was nine men for five years, and we just would talk about everything. I remember when I first started that group, I didn't know how to talk. I didn't know how to share, I didn't know how to talk about what was going on. It took me a long time, and I see the men in the prostate cancer support groups in a parallel situation. They come in and their wives have talked for them, their wives have interpreted for them for so long, that they're sometimes not even sure of their own feelings. Just because of the social orientation of men.

DERWIN:
Well, I think men are trained. We all want to be John Wayne, and take it on the chin. You can see that in the funding for prostate cancer research. Men just have not been as vocal. Women, I think, do a much better job of supporting each other, of taking initiative than men do. I think there's a sense among men, you know, you just take it on the chin. You roll with it, and don't complain about it.

TEDDY:
That's right.

DERWIN:
Because sharing your feelings might well be a sign of weakness.

TEDDY:
Well, the social role for men is to go out into the world and bring home the bacon. And the social role for women is to nurture the family. So women, basically, are oriented toward nurturing, and men have to keep their feelings to themselves in order to compete. So for men to talk is very difficult, because it's totally opposed to their natural social role.

ANDREW:
I have a bring-home-the-bacon question. Derwin, you mentioned at the time between Christmas and New Year's, when you had the surgery, that you were a consultant. You were getting other consultants to fill in and help with the load. But you were in business for yourself. How has that worked out? You mentioned about getting your finances in order so your wife can feel secure no matter what happens. But, there's got to be financial pressure that you feel when you are the breadwinner. And you need to keep plugging away even though you've had a life-changing adventure, if you will, with cancer.

DERWIN:
Yes. I've been very fortunate in the sense that, I don't know if it was fortunate or not, but I was in my early sixties when I was diagnosed. I was doing consulting work, but I was pretty well established financially. So the fact that I took a year off was okay. It didn't add another layer of pressure on me.

ANDREW:
Teddy, what about you? You're ten years younger.

TEDDY:
It's exactly the opposite here. I'm not particularly well off financially. I am only 55, of course, and a long ways from retirement. I think that the questions about financial stability are really different for younger men than they are for older men. I know that many younger men I've talked to are very concerned about being able to make a living for their families, while battling the cancer at the same time. This is a big thing for men who are not retired. Most men who get this disease are retired, but those who aren't do have quite a battle, and quite a struggle. I have decided to retire now. Not completely, of course, but in a lot of things that I do. And then just go about it as if I were 65. Simply because I choose to take this moment now, and just trust on faith that down the road, I'll be okay. This is a big leap of faith for me, and this is probably my most difficult decision.

ANDREW:
What stresses does that put on the family?

TEDDY:
Well, my wife is extremely supportive, and my daughter is old enough to be independent. So, it's just basically my wife and I. She ascribes to the same philosophy and encourages me. We're just going to live more simply and enjoy basics a lot more. Neither one of us know what's going to happen here, but I cannot address my cancer and address my job to the level that I had been doing anymore. I just need to concentrate on my cancer. I need to put that concentration in, and I'm very hopeful about it.

ANDREW:
Now, for each of you, and for any man listening who goes through this, who might be beyond the diagnosis of prostate cancer, and is dealing with a recurrence, or suspected recurrence...you have to confront your own mortality, not knowing what the future may hold. How have each of you dealt with that? Derwin?

DERWIN:
Well, it's always been there, it's nothing new. I think, as I was saying, there's a spiritual side of your life. It does bring that in. I mean, I'm 65 years old, and you always knew about that, you planned for that, but it does bring that to life. As Teddy was indicating, you really take a different perspective. I used to have all these things in my business that were so important, and they just aren't important. I still do my business, I'm still putting in my ten hour days, but I just don't get excited about some things. They just aren't important. Whether they get done today or tomorrow, that's okay. And if it's a beautiful day, I'll go down to the beach. I think you really get a sense of putting things into proper perspective. I wish I could have bottled it, and had it when I was 35.

TEDDY:
Well, I would echo those sentiments, for sure. I'm just going to run this by you here. I had one light bulb that sort of went off, that I would get about a year or so after I was diagnosed. I had always thought, "Well, I just really want to live to be very old." And there wasn't any reason why I shouldn't, because I lived fairly well and treated myself pretty good. Then, all of a sudden, one day it almost hit me. It was like I realized that it really doesn't matter, I shouldn't say matter, but maybe you can understand in the context here. It doesn't matter how long you live because, when you die, that's it. That's the end of a phase of your being. And if it's 60 years, if it's 90 years, when that happens, it's not like points on a scoreboard. It's not a game that you win or lose. It's just what your life is. Your life is what it is, from beginning to end, and the duration in terms of years isn't really that important. It meant to me that what I was doing with myself and with my time was okay, whatever it was. And it was going to last just as long as it was going to last and no longer. And that was okay too. When I said, finally, "That's okay," that's when I got some peace of mind.

ANDREW:
It was letting go of some competition or some measuring stick that would be applied to everybody's life...based on how much money you had, or how long you lived, or how many kids you had, or whatever.

TEDDY:
Yes. If I don't live until 70, am I going to feel ripped off? Well, no. Your life is just what it is, and that's all, and that's what it means. So I'm more grateful for every day and every year that comes along, and I'm happier about it. I'm not reaching for any goals other than what's right in front of me right now. And that's okay.

DERWIN:
Yes, I think it's almost like...quality is more important than quantity in the sense of everyday living. The joy of each day. If you can take all the sunshine out of a day that you can, and make memories for your grandchildren, that's it. Everything else is commentary.

TEDDY:
Almost like Socrates, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

DERWIN:
Right.

ANDREW:
Gentlemen, for the listeners who've been with us for this time, what would you want to leave them with? Men who are over 50 or so, and have dealt with prostate cancer, have a recurrence or a fear of one, what final thoughts do you want to leave them with? Derwin, let's start with you.

DERWIN:
Well, I guess my final thought would be the importance of keeping it in perspective. Not to let it control you, but for you to take control of it, and to keep it in perspective. To me, it's a real battle I have going on. The cancer cells want to grow and I want to stop them. What can I do reasonably to make that happen, and not let it have a dramatic influence on the rest of my life? I've got to keep doing all the things I want to do. There are holidays I want to take, and time I want to spend with my family. And in no way do I want to let the fact that I have prostate cancer get in the way of those things happening, or to stop me from enjoying every moment that I can enjoy.

ANDREW:
Good philosophy. Teddy, what about you? Final thoughts?

TEDDY:
Well, Derwin really said it very well. I would echo everything that he said. I think that was great, it was just terrific. One thing that I would urge folks to do, in addition to thinking the same way that Derwin expressed, is to reach out and connect. Try to reach out to other people. Try to find a connection that will help you, that will give you comfort, that will give you peace of mind. That's an important element, too.

ANDREW:
Those are beautiful thoughts, and we've gotten them from Derwin, in Connecticut, on the Atlantic, and Teddy in Portland, Oregon, on the Pacific. I have this vision of both of you really getting the most out of life as you go day by day, despite prostate cancer being somewhere in your life. I want to thank each of you for being with us and sharing your very personal perspective. Thank you, Derwin.

DERWIN:
Thank you, Andrew.

ANDREW:
Thank you, Teddy.

TEDDY:
Thank you very much.

ANDREW:
On behalf of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Survivors' Network, and from our HealthTalk Interactive Studio in Seattle, I'm Andrew Schorr.