Life with Cancer

Prostate cancer is associated with cardiovascular disease!  Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the disease that keeps on giving.  “Cardiovascular disease is common in patients with prostate cancer and is a significant cause of death.”[1]

Fortunately, androgen deprivation has not been part of my aggressive prostate cancer therapy.  “Androgen deprivation therapy reduces muscle strength and increases adiposity, increasing the risk for diabetes and hypertension . . . “[2] Here the authors add another co-morbidity, diabetes! The way that I understand this study androgen deprivation is intended to reduce “gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists.”[3] 

Why not just say that androgen deprivation reduces testosterone that feeds your cancer!  When your therapy involves androgen deprivation you enjoy “male menopause.”  You gain weight, develop man boobs, retain water, you know all that stuff your wife enjoyed when she went through “the change.”

“The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) jointly issued guidelines in 2003 (1), which were revised in 2012 (2), that recommend healthy weight management, a physically active lifestyle and a healthy diet for cancer survivors.”[4] Diet and exercise are necessary additional therapies for we cancer survivors regardless if we are also on androgen therapy but more so if you are.  Diet and exercise will help you to maintain your weight, firm up your pectoral muscles so you won’t require a “manzier” or “bro”[5] and also help with water retention.

The University of Rochester Medicine Newsroom advises women, “Hormonal shifts during menopause, especially in the drop in estrogen levels, can lead to symptoms such as, weight gain, bone density loss, mood swings, joint pain, fatigue, and poor sleep quality.”[6]  I am speculating that men could substitute men for women and testosterone for estrogen in that sentence and be correct.  Their advice is, “A consistent menopause exercise plan can make a significant difference. Not only does it help ease symptoms, but it also reduces the risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes.”  And this is what men want when receiving androgen therapy . . . to reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Their advice for exercise is aerobic exercise, strength training, high intensity interval training (HIIT), and flexibility and stability.  I believe that a balanced and comprehensive diet and exercise program is necessary for everyone.  Perhaps if we practiced these early on, we would not develop cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in the first place!  

My aerobic exercise is now rowing.  I can sit and row my butt off while watching television.  I can vary my workouts to include periods of intense rowing that throws in highly intense intervals.  I can also increase the tension on my rowing machine to provide strength training.  I’ve found that a few minutes of tai chi in the morning is helping my golf game by increasing my flexibility and stability. 

Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, whether we have these or not our lives are becoming more stressful, dangerous, hectic, phrenetic, and chaotic.  The American Psychological Association released their research, “Stress In America 2025 a Crisis of Connection.”[7] I know that asking a psychologist if I’m stressed is like asking a coyote if chicken tastes good, their answer is yes.  The study reports that 62% reported that “societal division” to be a significant source of stress in their lives.[8]

Had they asked me society is a significant source of stress in my life.  Traffic congestion, employees, during my retail therapy, who can’t make change, know anything about their products, or ambivalent about serving me makes my trips to town agitating.

Moving on . . . the report cites 54% who responded that loneliness as a deeper, more pervasive strain with societal division intensifying this stressor.[9] The study says that adults reported “division in the nation” and that 69% needed “emotional support.”  I’m going to stop right here and call bullocks[10] on these respondents!

I completely agree that there is stress where there is division in America.  My stress comes when I interact with the demographic that seems to have responded to the research in this paper!  When dealing with a population filled with milquetoats[11] my stress level increases exponentially.  Well, I’ve gotten way off track here!!

Back in the day when television programming was free, there was one telephone in our hallway, and if you needed money, you could go out and pick up pop bottles life has gotten too complicated.  If life is stressing you out try a little exercise.  I’ve found that when I’ve just got to hit something there’s a little white ball and a beautiful green pasture.  “Happiness is a long walk with a putter.”[12]

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[1] Darryl P. Leong, Avirup Guha, Alicia K. Morgans, Tamim Niazi, and Jehonathan H. Pinthus, November 19, 2024, JACC: CardioOncology | Volume 6, Number 6, Cardiovascular Risk in Prostate Cancer: JACC: CardioOncology State-of the Art Review, (Online), Available:  https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jaccao.2024.09.012.

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Katsunori Tsuji, Hiroyuki Sasai, Kosuke Kiyohara, Yoshio Nakata, Hiroki Nishiwaki, Takahisa Ohta, Eisuke Ochi, Toshimi Takano, Noriatsu Tatematsu, Yutaka J Matsuoka, Japan’s cancer survivorship guidelines for exercise and physical activity, Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, Volume 55, Issue 1, January 2025, Pages 12–20, https://doi.org/10.1093/jjco/hyae126.

[5] Seinfeld, “The Doorman”, 104^th episode, February 23, 1995, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doorman_(Seinfeld).

[6] Nicole Cullen, June 13, 2025, University of Rochester Medicine Newsroom, Why Exercise is Essential During Menopause, (Online), Available: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/publications/health-matters/why-exercise-is-essential-during-menopause

[7] American Psychological Association (2025). Stress in America™ 2025: A Crisis of Connection. (Online), Available: https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2025/full-report.pdf.

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid

[10] “Alex J” in AmazingTalker on May 3, 2023, opines that “In some parts of the world, such as the UK, “bullocks” refers to young male cows or cattle, typically under two years old. In other contexts, “bullocks” can be used as a slang term for nonsense or foolish talk, similar to the word “baloney.” (Online), Available:  https://en.amazingtalker.com/questions/1495.

[11] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

[12] Greg Norman, Australian professional golfer (retired), 331 weeks as world number one, winner of 88 professional tournaments including 20 PGA, 2 Masters, and 2 Open Championships.