My Stepfather's Prostate Cancer / Pneumonia Problem - HELP!!!

I sent this e-mail to my friend at UCSF, but if anyone reading this is a prostate cancer specialist please reply ASAP! Thanks, Zennie

Hi AJ,

Thanks for the call. Let me see if I can explain what has happened and give you a full picture.

Chester Yerger Jr. was found to have prostate cancer in 2003. It actually happened in that a blod clot formed in his left leg. He was given a kind of hormonal therapy and released, but with subsequent treatments, or so I am told.

After a few months, the entire problem resurfaced in October -- the blod clot in his leg, but this time two blod clots in his lungs. He was sent to Piedmont hospital in Atlanta, remained for about two weeks, then sent home. On Thanksgiving he was active and walking, though weak. He used a walker to get around.

On Christmas, he was still weak, and didn't use the walker as much; he was content to sit and watch TV -- a lot of football (GO BEARS!)

Anyway, when I returned in early February, he was still sitting in his chair, but would go to sleep more. His breathing was weird. On February 4th, Mom took him to the hospital where it was found that he had an irregular heartbeat. He was treated for what turned out to be 10 days and released.

Someone talked Mom into having him in a hospise program called Odessey. When I came to Atlanta - Fayetteville, GA this time, he was in a special bed set up next to his bed. He was with an oxygen tube. Then, at about 8 PM the night I arrived, he started wheesing and coffing -- as the night wore on, it sounded like he was drowning.

We called the hospise nurse.

She said that "You're watching a person who's dying." (No kidding) She said this four times. "There's nothing you can do."

I disagreed with her and called 911.

They took him to the closest hospital: Fayette-Piedmont Hospital in Fayetteville, GA (Fayette County). Here, they said he had pneumonia.

What they did when we first got him here (and placed him in ICU) was to pump the fluid out of his lungs that built up. Then, doctor Larry Vauhn put him on Calodex for the cancer.

What upset me at first was that the Dr. ordered the nurses to take him off the narcotics he had in his system and as they did he shook in pain, with no one other than me and Mom to see him in the room. So, I went to ask what's going on.

The nurses said that the physician was evaluating him without the narcs. I said "Isn't someone supposed to be there to monitor him?" They said "Good point."

So, I personally got the doctor off the phone and had him come in.

I also asked for a second cancer opinion. They called in a Doctor Johnathan Bender, MD. He said that there was little that could be done, and that I should look up "Hormone-Resistant Prostate Cancer" So I did -- in fact I collected about 200 pages of information.

I called Dr Bender -- who was more concerned that I called his cell phone than what I had to say -- Saturday morning. It was because I found information online about how his condition could be treated, where Bender TOLD ME it was not treatable.

See: http://www.prostatepointers.org/prostate/leibowitz/leib20.html

And: http://www.prostate-cancer.org/aboutus/acomplsh.html

And: http://www.phoenix5.org/advanced/UCSFtreatments.html

What caught my eye was Dr, Leibowitz finding that:
"He presented in February 1995 with a PSA of about 2400. He had obvious metastases to bone and lung. He was treated with 13 months of triple hormone blockade, then about 18 months of Proscar maintenance therapy. His PSA was unmeasurable when we stopped triple blockade, and slowly rose on Proscar alone to 23.51. He was treated with "The Magnificent Seven" protocol (triple hormone blockade, Aredia, T/E/D), and his PSA became unmeasurable again. At present, his only medicines are once a month Aredia and daily Proscar maintenance therapy. He is OFF triple blockade; and has been off Taxotere since 12/4/97. His PSA is still unmeasurable, and his testosterone level is returning to normal."

Zometa, I learned, is was approved by the FDA as a subsititute for Aredia.

When I presented this information to Bender, he claimed that Petit, the first cancer doctor, said this was done. They've not seen his medical records, so Bender's only going on what Petit told him.

Finally on Saturday, they got a room ready for him -- Room 337. By Friday and through Saturday, there was improvement by my observation: 1) his arm movements were less frantic 2) he would occasionally eat and talk two sentences each day, not just moaning, 3) there was no wheesing and the drowning sound was gone.

The one problem was constant pain, which caused him to moan and moan. We figured maybe there was not enough pain remedy, so they did give him some.and that seemed to work.

So, we left Saturday night with better feeling.

Today, he was -- it seemed better -- he ate for my Mom. I walked in and he raised his hand. But for some reason at about 1 PM he seemed to wheese again and he would wail his arms which he does when he's in pain...and moan.

Then at 3 PM the moaning continued and he at times looked like he was in a catatonic state, then would come out of it. It turned out that they gave him a new pain patch called Duragesic and placed it on his left upper pec area. There seems to be a coorelation between that and his current state.

I just talked to my Mom; they took the patch off him. He's still in his semi catatonic state.

As I write this, they have him on antibotics rocephin and zithromax for his pneumonia; the Calodex was stopped when Dr. Vauhn discovered that my StepDad's prostate cancer was hormone-resistant. He learned this from Dr. Bender, but no alternative was applied.

Thanks again, so very much!

...But I have been working!

Running an Internet business means I stay online a lot. Even with my folks' illnesses, I have found time to add new pages to Sports Business Simulations' website.

SBS also has a new Sim Development Advisory Board, with Dan Rascher my business partner and prof at the University of San Francisco, and top sports economists Rod Fort of Washington State, and Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College.

You can also buy and sell tickets to the Washington Nationals baseball games..that's a new page

Finally, I've updated the SBS business plan and gotten inquiries from three venture capitalists so far. We're working to raise up to $3 million in this second round. We raised $42,500 for the first round.

Dad, Stepdad, and Mom with Cancer - Walmart Not Good to My Dad

After a long day of a lot of research, help and great advice, I found and talked to my father. He's at a rest home in Niles, Illinois and was working at the Walmart last year before this happened. He fell right on his head which may have triggered the problem. Anyway, I could not have done this without a little help and a lot of encouragement from a lot of people who sent e-mail and called. Thanks.

What happened was that his number was not working, after I called and then that number was suddenly unpublished. Well, I did contact the state of Illinois, they gave me a list of possible places he might be. So, I called them one by one and finally found Manor Care. He had been discharged from there and to a new home in Niles. He has Dimensia and so when I talked to him, thank God he remembered me (this is all new to me) and was concerned about my Mom who is recovering from Breast Cancer, so I told him about what was going on with her.

I also talked to him about my Stepdad, who has advancec prostate cancer and has been given months to live. He's in a lot of pain and that is something I wish -- there's got to be some way to help him.

Anyway, Dad thinks he's working in a plant on a Motor of some kind, and that's fine. I have to read about this and learn about what it means to have a family member with this kind of problem. I appreciate any insight. So, I'm planning to fly to Atlanta for her on Wednesday of this week and then Chicago to see him in April.

This has been a rough period for me. What helps is the friends that have bothered to check in and see how I'm doing. I've learned -- sadly -- that some people are not friends and that while I know a lot of people, few of them are there when it counts.

As for my Dad, finding him has put me in touch with the oldest of my half-sisters I've not yet met in person. Amanda's 19 years old and has been going through Dad's illness literally alone. Plus, even though the Walmart Rolling Meadows HR director, Paula (don't have her last name) told me that my Dad's head injury was gotten while working at Walmart, they've not given him one dime.

Something's wrong with that, right?

What gets me in this entire episode, is just how terrible people can be to each other. Walmart could do better.

BREAKING NEWS! Oakland's Uptown Housing Project - Developer Forest City Asks for $11 Million more in subsidy!!!!

While eating with a friend who's a local developer (and that's all I'll tell) I learned this Wednesday evening that a centerpiece of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's so-called effort to revitalize what was once Oakland's theater district is in trouble.

The 400-unit "Uptown Housing Project" approved by the Oakland City Coucil last year and to be built on part of a 19-acre tract of land that was the focal point of a new baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics, needs $11 million more in public money over and above the $61 million subsidy that was approved by the City Council.

This is a project I was against and have been against. The best use for the 19 acres is for a new baseball stadium, downtown, for the Oakland A's. Everyone knows and understands this, and land use consultants hired to produce a study analyzing the best land choice for a new stadium for the Athletics, pointed to this great open land opportunity right in the middle of the north portion of Oakland's downtown.

But on June 12th, 2002, at about 12:35 PM, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown said "There's not going to be a downtown stadium as long as I'm (blank) Mayor of this down."

Well, Jerry, your time's running out. What I predicted -- that the developer, Forest City's subsidy request would just continue and go up and up -- has proven to be true. As a person who focused on the Uptown District while serving as Economic Advisor to Mayor Elihu Harris, every developer I have worked with and who's proposed a project there has tried to "lowball" their cost estimates to win the right build from the Oakland City Council. I never believed Forest City would be a different case.

I'd like to see the collective faces of the Oakland Economic Development people now. The ones who said that the subsidy would hold and that this was money well spent given the economic impact. Yep, the person had the nerve to make that statement given that the subsidy was at $41 million in 2002, then $61 million in 2003, and now $72 million in 2005. Wow. Someone's really trying to sell a project that's not worth touching.

I wrote it then in an e-mail battle with an undermanned Oakland Economic Development staffer, and I state it now: the project's not the highest and best use for that prime downtown real estate.

It's smack in the middle of Oakland and the Bay Area and served by three freeways and two major BART stations just one block away and four blocks respectively. One block in the case of 19th Street BART Station! Plus, it's just a 15 minute walk to Lake Merritt.


Plus, Jerry Brown's letting the dream of a real live "Times Square" center downtown drain under the weighty combination of his ego and frank lack of knoweldge of good urban planning.

Right now the total subsidy stands not at $61 million, but at $72 million. I'll tell you what. It's not going to stop there. It will get to over $100 million before the Oakland City Council is forced to drop the project.

Spending that much on housing is just not smart.

I worked for several years on a great plan to re-create Oakland's Uptown Area. I am also the one who originally brought Forest City to Oakland and not to do a dinky housing project, but to remake the entire area in a fashion not unlike Times Square and in line with that area's history as an entertainment district. Sports is a form of entertainment. The Plan caled for a large scale shopping center where this housing is slated to be built. But either retail or the baseball stadium with retail is better than yet another housing project.

I told Jerry this in 1998 and in 1999, but he can't seem to listen to get it: a downtown plan is a complex mix of land uses and strategies -- just adding 10,000 people to the downtown's not going to solve it's problems. Even if they live there, they can just hop BART to go to Union Square in San Francisco or SBC Park.

You see where I'm going with this.

The City Council should drop the housing project and bring the Oakland A's downtown where they belong.

Vikings WR Randy Moss Traded to the Raiders

This is one of the best trades in the NFL's 21st Century. Randy Moss has 90 Touchdowns and is a constant threat to catch the ball for a big play on every down.

The Vikings made a massive mistake in letting him go...or did they? Perhaps, given that he's a seven-year veteran and has been injured, the Vikings may feel that he's seen his best years.

I personally doubt it.

I've always believed that Randy Moss was never placed in an offense that fully showcased his abilities. The Raiders have the chance to draw up a new set of plays to isolate him against defensive backs and (yes) linebackers.

But if the Raiders can't stop anyone, then the trade's value from an organizational success perspective is lessened.

More on this later.

Jerry Brown's Disservice to Oakland - Part 1

I had to write this, or at least get it started, while it's on my mind. Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown has failed his city. Jerry has used the City to bring attention only to himself, and has no real notable victories to crow about.

I write this because the San Francisco Bay Area media gives him a free pass. For example, the San Francisco Chronicle had an extensive interview on him in the middle of last year. But it only focused on the issue of crime and how the rate of crime had decreased. I don't credit Jerry for that. I say he's the happy receipient of changing demographics: an overall older population that's less likely to go out and cause trouble than was the case of the 80s. Plus, Oakland, like every part of the Bay Area, is more expensive to live in, squeezing out the less fortunate who are more likely to commit violent public crimes. It's also more diverse, and the rate of black on black crime, the main problem in Oakland, has decreased as poor African Americans have moved out and more moneyed blacks and Asians and whites and Latinos have come in over the past 10 years.

The Chronicle didn't ask Jerry about the failure to redevelop Oakland's downtown. Or the overall lack of revenue generators to fill government coffers and close the city's massive budget deficit. Or the terrible morale of workers in the City of Oakland. None of that hit the article, making it one of the worst I've ever seen in my years in the Bay Area.

So, Jerry gets away with murder. Literally the murder of the city's image as he uses the crime issue to bolster his campaign for California Attorney General. See the connection? Oakland comes off looking like this bad city he tried to save, but it's too hard to do so, and so he takes off from the City to be a state official locking up the bad people. Right. Meanwhile, he leaves a lot of undone and unfinished work. Foremost is Oakland's image.

When Jerry was campaigning in 1998, someone said he would do this: come into the office and really not do much. Some Oaklanders are so blinded by his celebrity they can't think straight.

In my next post, I'll explain why Jerry came into power and the vast set of mistakes he's made while here.

I'll bet this: if he's elected AG, he'll leave Oakland. A carpetbagger who does not care about Oakland. That's typical of our city. We give the most respect to those who care the least.

Geez.

Paris Hilton's Personal Info Stolen - Why?

According to this CNN article Paris' Hilton's personal information, including cell phone numbers, was stolen and then posted on the web.

My question is why? Why would I want to have the phone numbers of entertainers that don't want to talk to me? This is -- in my view -- entirely different than the Associated Press reporter who managed to send out his phone numbers of every notable sports person in the World.

If you're a sports writer, that's of value. Plus, many of the numbers (which I saw) were office phone digits, so one could call and set an interview on a topic.

This is different. I feel sorry for Paris, in that she's been filmed, sued, and now violated, and really for what reason? Still we live in what seems to be an ever increasingly nutty world, so it's good to be careful. In other words, don't put your numbers of friends on a public server.