I am just completing open beam radiation therapy and am optiimistic I will, be cancer-free. I had a 5.7 PSA, 3+3, T1, 25% of one out of 12 samples biopsied malignant. However, I have also been rendered incontinent, impotent and in great pain, even before I started the radiation therapy. I was going to do brachytherapy, so I had a Lupron shot and then felt hustled into having a TUMT done. After the catheter was removed, the troubles began. And have only gotten worse. My urologist wants me to learn to self-catheterize, which I find barbaric. He claims I have a urinary tract infection from not emptying the bladder fully, which apparently I haven’t done for years. I’ve gone through 3 courses of antibiotics (cipro, levaquin and nitrofurantin) and I am still “peeing razorblades.” Would you suggest waiting until the radiation swelling goes down (late Dec.) or is there anything I can do now to try to get back on track? I dread going through another TUMT-like procedure such as the greenlight laser, but I’d like to get a portion of my health back. I’m 64, married, BTW.

Unfortunately, this is a case where you need conventional, mainstream medicine, at least for now. Not knowing anything else about your health other than what you have written above, it is unlikely that natural medicine can help you at this point.

Ask Dr. Espinosa

Geo Espinosa, N.D., L.Ac, CNS, RH (AHG) is the Director of the Integrative Urological Center at New York University Langone Medical Center. Before joining NYU, Dr. Espinosa was a clinician, researcher and director of clinical trials at the Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia University Medical Center. He is a licensed naturopathic doctor, licensed acupuncturist, a Certified Nutrition Specialist and a Registered Herbalist. Dr. Espinosa is an author of the naturopathic entry in 1000 Cures for 200 ailments, by Harper Collins; March 2007 and “Prostate cancer – Nutrients that may slow its progression,” Food and Nutrients in Disease Management - Maryland: Cadmus Publishing, 2009.

Ask Dr. Myers

Medical oncologist and prostate cancer survivor, Dr Charles "Snuffy" Myers was a key player in creating AZT, Suranim, and Phenylacetate while working at the National Institute of Health. With over 250 research papers published, Myers is one of the leading developers of today's prostate cancer canon on both the research and treatment side of the test tube. Former Cancer Director at the University of Virginia, Myers opened the American Institute for Diseases of the Prostate in 2002 to provide men with the kind of comprehensive care that saved his own life. Dr. Myers has long been popular among prostate cancer patients as a speaker because of his ability to explain science and medicine in easy-to-understand language.

Ask Dr. Latini

Dr. Latini welcomes your questions about the psycho-social dimensions of Prostate Cancer, particularly those presented by Gay and Bisexual men. Dr. Latini is an assistant professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine. Before joining Baylor, he spent six years in the Department of Urology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Latini is a clinical health psychologist whose work concentrates on cancer survivorship and symptom management for persons living with genitourinary cancer.