How We Survived Prostate Cancer: What We Did and What We Should Have Done (Paperback)

~ (Author), Peter S. Albert M.D. (Foreword)
Key Phrases: hormone ablation, hormone blockade, seed implantation, New York, Key West, American Cancer Society (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. More than just a personal memoir, this tour of duty from the wife of a prostate cancer survivor is packed with critical information on the nature of the disease, current treatment options and the process of choosing a physician. Both as individuals and a couple, the Hallermans made many mistakes--first among them was Dean's decision to hide his diagnosis from his wife--and this guide benefits enormously from their honesty (poet Victoria narrates, Dean contributes short personal asides). From treatment decisions made without adequate information to the drastic changes in their sex life, Hallerman is blunt and unflinching regarding their mortal and marital crises, and explicit in her advice to avoid despair, self-blame and isolation. Thorough, clearly written glossary and appendices cover treatments, side effects, resources for information and support, current research and a checklist of "must do's" from Dean's current urologist (who also provides a foreword). Though Dean suffered horribly before finding a doctor and regimen that worked for him, this moving and highly useful book proves his setbacks were not in vain.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"This book is a candid portrayal of the effect that the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer can have on a significant other. Filled with excellent resources, it will enable readers to broaden their understanding of the complexities of different treatment options." --E. Darracott Vaughan, Jr., M.D., New-York Presbyterian Hospital --E. Darracott Vaughan, Jr., M.D., New-York Presbyterian Hospital --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Newmarket Press (January 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557048193
• ISBN-13: 978-1557048196
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,350 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a no brainer - - get it!, February 15, 2009

By	Kenneth Wasserman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are points made in this book that will not only save lives but the enormous discomfort that can come from choosing the wrong therapy from the wrong source. Buy it, it is so worth the price. It makes such great points that I cannot imagine anyone not profiting from this book.

Point one: shop around. there is always time. Point two: take someone with you (this in its own way is more difficult than point one, as many men are extremely shy and falsely rugged when it comes to having someone present discussing penis stuff, potency, incontinence and the like). Point three: do your research: there is an enormous amount of up to date info on the web and don't rely on the main sources, or the doctor treating you - - find reports from those who have experienced first hand the different therapies - - like Hallerman's husband in her book. Point four: treating prostate cancer is a business, and you will be hustled to choose the doctor who is pitching a particular therapy, so buyer beware.

I speak from some experience, having just had prostate cancer treatment and done up to date research. My urologist was a generalist, yet advised me to have him operate even though that was not his specialty. Like Hallerman's husband, I had heard of radiation seed treatment, and that seemed better than being cut open, so I asked for a referral to a radiation seeds doctor, and went for a consultation. there I learned that my prostate was enlarged and would have to be shrunk a bit before the seeds treatment. i dreaded hormone therapy for all the reasons that Hallerman makes clear in her book, as does her husband whose voice is so welcome, so I kept looking.

Before going on there is another major point made by Hallerman - - the effects of radiation are not immediate. With surgery, you get better, hopefully in terms of potency and continence - - with radiation you get worse before you may get better. Also, after surgery you can do radiation if the cancer has spread, but not vice versa.

I investigated surgery with one of the top guns in NYC, and that was like being sold a car. He had brochures of happy patients, and brochures of letters from even happier patients. guys who had just run a marathon a week after surgery, guys who went fly fishing the day after. And the pitch was that urinary frequency would never be a problem again nor would the return of prostate cancer so long as the cancer had not spread.
And NO hormone therapy would be necessary. What I did like about this doctor was his professionalism and his focus on dealing with potency right after surgery by using Viagra etc. Smart both from a marketing point of view, and from an if you don't use it you will lose common sense.

But the idea of surgery was appalling - - I had read Michael Korda's book years before and it frightened me to death, and I thought surgery was a clumsy way to kill a tumor, given the delicate placement of the prostate where cutting it out affects continence and potency sometimes extremely.

So I investigated cryo surgery and that looked best of all though there can be side effects, like the time it takes to regain potency, though the ones mentioned by Hallerman are largely from the past as there have been marked improvements in cryo and much depends on who is doing it. What distinguished the doctor I saw was that he takes a lot of samples in biopsy, up to 70 instead of the usual ten to twelve, so that the tumor(s) can be precisely located and mapped. It would turn out that I had one small tumor, and its Gleason was less than originally determined from the biopsy done by my urologist (advice from old survivors of prostate cancer is to get a second opinion on the biopsy since Gleason score is extremely influential in determining what to do, what kind of treatment and how quickly - - this is very important advice and I never would have followed it but for the fact that the cryo doctor required a new extensive biopsy).

For example, my Gleason had been high enough from the first biopsy that the cryo doctor wanted to put me on Casodex and Lupron to not only shrink the prostate (which Avodard alone can do without the side effects) but to stop the cancer spread during the time it would take to shrink the prostate. When the biopsy he took came back with a lower Gleason, I did not have to do the hormone therapy and the Avodart shrank the prostate enough to make cryo safe. As Hallerman's book makes clear, both by her and her husband, hormone therapy is severe stuff and to be avoided if possible.

I ended up choosing an experimental procedure called irreversible electroporation (IRE) (not mentined in Hallerman's book) a method of isolating the tumor area and nuking it with a very short burst of electricity, and done right the side effects are very short lived - - potency can be totally unaffected immediately though you can't pee for days and have to use a catheter or learn how to self catherize - - which my doctor urged me to learn and it was much easier than I expected and led to a great freedom from having to wearing the irritating catheter and the urine bag. A major medical device company is doing trials with IRE, AngioDynamics, but unfortunately the FDA has suspended the trial not because of bad results, but because the FDA did not specifically approve the IRE device to treat prostate cancer. So you have to go offshore for the treatment.

What helped me a lot was a consultation with another urologist who told me that although what i was going to do in this experimental trial reminded him of the tv show Fringe, it was a harmless experiment because if it did not work i could always do another therapy.

If I have digressed, it is because so much of what worked for me was due to the kind of advice Hallormen gives - -buy the book or get it from your library, but get it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book., March 3, 2009

By	Jaclyn R. Sperduto (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hallerman's book is a captivating and touching story of two people in a fight against prostate cancer, and the struggles they face individually and together. While the book is incredibly helpful to those who are in the face of prostate cancer, it will also grasp the attention readers who are not prostate cancer patient related. It is medically informative, yet a story about love's endurance too. Hallerman retells the details of her husband's pain and suffering as well as her own, while making notes about what she wishes they knew at the time and things that they should have done. It is the genuine honesty of each page that causes it to be such a wonderful piece of literature. I would advise all prostate cancer patients and family members to read this book before beginning the process of treatment so that they can be even just a little bit more informed of what they should be doing, what they should know, and what to expect.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Memoir, March 2, 2009

By	Rebecca Hill Bruder (West Harrison, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How We Survived Prostate Cancer: What We Did and What We Should Have Done (Hardcover)

Victoria Hallerman has given us quite an exquisite and poignant look inside the journey she and her husband shared through this awful disease. She gives the reader an informative yet riveting story that will make the way clearer for people who are "shell-shocked" with a prostate cancer diagnosis. Not only is she an informative resource but with this book she succeeds in putting a face on this awful experience. She shows the human aspects of it, the need for emotional support both in relationships and outside - providing insightful advice for the partner of the patient who seems to be often left on the sidelines. While this book is written for the prostate cancer patient and his partner, it bears such an honest view of what a disease and the sometimes cold, antiseptic medical world can do to people that it could apply to anyone dealing with a serious illness.