My Story

I’m a 2-time survivor.

Vietnam Veteran

In 2006, I was 56 years old. I had an annual physical and discovered I had Prostate cancer. The Gleason score was 7. I was in shock I had an aggressive cancer. I found that most likely my cancer came from my tour of duty in Vietnam from Agent Orange.

Treatments the first time around

I chose robotic surgery at Duke University hospital. The surgeon was excellent but the cancer had escaped the gland, he said I needed to follow-up with radiation in 6 weeks. I was devastated, I did not want radiation! I did the radiation 30 times and it wasn’t too bad. PSA was 0, I’m a happy camper. I had very little problems with leaking and my sex life was getting back to a new normal.

Rising PSA

Fast forward 18 months and my PSA test took a small step in the wrong direction, to positive .01 😩 We wait 3 months and do it again, not good it doubled and the race was on.

I returned to Duke and had tests run and found two hot spots in the Prostate bed. The radiologist told me it was in a spot they couldn’t reach with radiation nor could they surgically remove it. I just broke down and cried!

Starting hormone therapy the second time around

They sent me upstairs to the oncology department and I was told I needed hormone treatments and that they couldn’t guarantee that it would work. They said it would probably work for 18-24 months and then it would possibly move somewhere else in my body. That was not very encouraging...

I took the shots and the pills for a miserable 14 months. I lost all hair below the neckline, my testosterone went to 0 but fortunately so did my PSA.

I was anxious, depressed, tired all the time, couldn’t sleep and my Dr at Duke refused to give me a break from the treatments.

Finding hope with a new doctor

One night when I couldn’t sleep about 4:00 AM I was on a cancer forum and found a patient that was very similar to my case. He was being treated by Dr. Charles “Snuffy” Myers of Charlottesville, Virginia. Dr. Myers was a Prostate cancer specialist who had survived a severe bout with Prostate cancer himself. I called that morning and got an appointment. That was the beginning of my life-saving treatments!

He took me off the hormones and began his treatment plan which included vitamins and supplements that he knew would work. He also had my blood tested once a month watching me closely.

Vitamins, supplements and a new diet

One of the vitamins was D3, he had me take 4000 units a day. He said most men are low in vitamin D and it’s a big part of your immune system.

Long story short, I got better and stronger (my love life came back too!) and finally, after watching me for 3 years, he reduced my blood tests to every 3 months.

He believes in the Mediterranean diet and getting all your vitals in order. My blood sugar started going up and he noticed it right away and put me on Metformin which by the way has some cancer-fighting properties.

10 year cancer survivor

It’s been over 10 years now and I thank God for helping me find Dr. Myers. I believe in God and prayer and my prayers were answered! I’m hoping that this testimony will give someone hope...I was about out of hope and I know how that feels.

Dr. Myers has retired but his work goes on here. Look him up, he has a great reputation for helping men survive and thrive!