FYI/FYE November 18, 2008, 6:00 am Real Men Get Prostate Cancer By Tara Parker-Pope Hormone therapy to shrink or slow the growth of prostate cancer is one of the most common treatments for the disease. New York Times editor Dana Jennings, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year, talks about his own treatment with the drug Lupron. By Dana Jennings The day after my most recent hormone injection for prostate cancer, I told my wife, Deb, that I had a headache, hot flashes, cramps and was very, very hungry. Dana Jennings. (Lonnie Schlein/The New York Times) She said, .Sweetie, you.re having your period.. We both laughed. (Laughter is a crucial therapy in my treatment.) Those are just a few of the side effects I.ve been experiencing on Lupron, which is part of the hormonal treatment for my advanced case of prostate cancer. Lupron is a testosterone suppressant, designed to starve hormone-dependent cancer cells of the fuel (testosterone) that they crave in order to grow. My doctors believe, and studies indicate, that using hormonal therapy to complement my radiation treatments, which are scheduled to start next month, will give me a better chance of being cured, of survival. In the past couple weeks, I.ve also had back, joint and muscle aches, random itchiness: that spider-crawling-on-your-skin feeling, cotton mouth, sudden fatigue and fleeting bursts of pain in my jaw, chest and armpits. These are not complaints, just observations. Oh, and my testicles are shrinking. There.s also intermittent testicle tenderness and, sometimes, they get so warm they feel as if they.re on simmer. And the most unexpected side effect, so far, is that sometimes during sex, a Lupron headache suddenly descends and hammers at my skull. Essentially, my Lupron shots are inducing biochemical (but reversible) castration. Besides the hot flashes and shrinking testicles, another potential side effect is that a man.s breasts grow larger and more sensitive. Now, I.ll tell you straight up, no doctor ever sits you down and says, .Son, to cure you, we might have to kind of turn you into a woman.. I suspect that some men would almost rather die than have hot flashes and larger breasts. Prostate Cancer Journal One Man.s Story Dana Jennings blogs about his experience with prostate cancer. * The Good Cancer? These facts home in on why so many men often have trouble talking about prostate cancer. The treatment of the disease strikes at the very heart of our cliché John Wayne image of the American male. Impotence and incontinence, cramps and man-breasts just don.t sell pickup trucks and the King of Beers, hoss. These symptoms are not some mere midlife crisis . more like a change-of-life crisis . that can be salved or solved with topical (and typical) macho palliatives, like buying a candy-apple-red Hummer or having an extramarital affair. They shake the very pillars of what we talk about when we talk about being a man. I.m trying to cope with my prostate cancer, its treatment and its retinue of emasculating side effects by gathering myself each morning, seeking the man I still am . that I know I am . in the steamy bathroom mirror, and swearing to love all the things I love in this sweet old world more than ever: My wife and my sons, my faith, and my friends (and classic soul and country music). I refuse to become my side effects and have decided that side effects are only side effects, a dark but necessary door to walk through toward the possibility of being well. And, hey, at least my voice is still deep. Other common side effects of Lupron include lessened sexual desire (not yet, in my case), impotence (it depends on your definition) and osteoporosis . I.m taking a calcium supplement twice a day and walking miles and miles to try to prevent that. When it comes to my current side effects, the hot flashes are the strangest . and, literally, keep me awake at night. Sometimes, they feel like an unusually warm spring day creeping up my back. Other times, they.re like being jammed into a stuffed New York City subway car in August, and the air-conditioning is broken. My healthy red glow? Chemically induced. So, on any given Sunday this fall, you.ll find me nesting on the couch with my 22-year-old son, Drew, crunching on salty snacks (I told you that I was very, very hungry), nursing the one porter or stout I treat myself to, and watching the N.F.L. . my face flushed with the occasional hot flash, and .kegeling. all the while. You women remember kegeling . the contracting and relaxing of the muscles that make up the pelvic floor, exercises recommended before and after pregnancy. Well, prostate cancer patients need to do them, too, mainly to help improve bladder control. It.s true. Real men . even when they.re on Lupron . can kegel and watch the N.F.L. at the same time. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *