Prostate Cancer: Surviving Together

While prostate cancer surgery, radiation and hormone treatments may lead to a cure, those treatments can also leave wounds that extend to the bedroom and the therapist's office. In this interview, Dr. Rob Rutledge and his wife Gabriela Ilie talk about the needs men have to overcome anxiety and depression and better relate sexually to their partners despite having the odds stacked against them.

@TheSocialNurse, Carol Bush, walks you through the process of working with your nurse to become powerful partners together in your prostate cancer journey. Learn how to connect with other patients through online sources, and gain the connections you need from your biggest ally, your nurse. 

A conversation with Mellve A. Shahid who heads up The Empowerment Network in St. Louis. What do men need when they get a prostate cancer diagnosis? More than anything, they need a friend who can identify with their story. @empowermentstl provides support through a unique program in the St. Louis community.  Hear how they do it.

A @broadinstitute / @DanaFarber research initiative partners directly with patients to accelerate and share discoveries in Metastatic Prostate Cancer. We talk to Dr. Eli Van Allen (@VanAllenLab) about driving precision cancer medicine through clinical computational oncology — so when you say "Count Me In," you're helping future generations. Find out how it works (it's free to you). Dr. Eli Van Allen - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Intimacy is almost always the giant unspoken about elephant in the room when we get a room full of prostate cancer patients together.  Thanks to Dr. Rachel S. Rubin, MD, from Washington, DC, we’re going to safely expose our listeners to more details than they probably even know existed. We talk about ED, injections, depression, and more. Not all prostate cancer patients have sex with women, and we recognize that, too. It's an honest discussion about how our heart and penis are closely related, and how to take better care of both. Follow Dr. Rubin on Twitter at @rachelsrubin1 or visit her web site at https://intimmedicine.com. Join the conversation!

After he was diagnosed with life-threatening prostate cancer, Intel’s Bryce Olson sequenced his genome which offered clues to new treatments for his disease. We talk about why it's important, and how to set it up with your doctor using the "battle card." Check out Bryce's web site at sequenceme.org or follow him on Twitter @sequence_me.

John Leifer discusses a variety of topics including PTSD and PSA anxiety in prostate cancer patients, trends and complications within the healthcare world, and his advice that Steve takes to heart and passes on to his newly-diagnosed friends. John is a consultant whose clients range from national health systems to pharmaceutical firms to state government and runs the gamut of major constituents comprising the care delivery and financing system.

Charles and Clare Sweeney talk about how clinical trials can be a valuable resource for prostate cancer patients, but they can be laden with twists and turns. What happens when a trial suddenly ends without warning, or an insurance company decides they won't support a patient's participation?

Our interview with Drew Saelens, Vice President of Government Affairs and Patient Advocacy at ZERO - The End of Prostate Cancer. We hear a lot about organizations who advocate for research funding from the government, but sometimes we wonder how the process works. Drew Saelens takes us inside the process and gives us hope for the future.

Our interview with Chris Haiman, ScD, about the RESPOND study.  Over the past year, the study has brought together a team of prostate cancer researchers and experts from across the country to launch a national study focusing on prostate cancer in African American men. This is the RESPOND study (Research on Prostate Cancer in Men of African Ancestry: Defining the Roles of Genetics, Tumor Markers and Social Stress).

Country music artist and spokesman for ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk, Jimmy Charles, joins the show for a discussion of his involvement in the ZERO Prostate Cancer organization and some musical samples of his work. Visit his web site at jimmycharlesmusic.com.

It's time to get "guinea pig" out of your vocabulary. Find out what's new in the world of clinical trials for prostate cancer patients, and demystify the process. Dr. Christine Mackay from the University of Kansas discusses clinical trials with us so we can make informed decisions.

The Patient and Investigator Voices Organizing Together, known as PIVOT, is one of the few cancer center patient advocacy networks that offers cancer survivors the opportunity to meet regularly with cancer center scientists to share suggestions and ideas that can help research better meet patient needs and improve quality of life.

Steve and Caesar recount the early days of their diagnoses, the struggles to find someone else to relate to, the impact of letting family know, and the formation of Prostate Network. Along the way, we'll learn about Caesar's pitching skills and how Congressmen end up on airplanes at just the right times. Visit our site at prostatenetwork.org and let us hear from you!