{"id":19794,"date":"2018-12-05T07:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T14:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=19794"},"modified":"2023-06-23T11:55:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T17:55:36","slug":"his-fear-of-battling-prostate-cancer-left-rob-almost-lifeless-until-he-finally-sought-a-different-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/his-fear-of-battling-prostate-cancer-left-rob-almost-lifeless-until-he-finally-sought-a-different-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Don\u2019t fear the treatment, fear the cancer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Sixty-two-year-old Rob Lagerstrom arrived at UCHealth Cancer Center \u2013 Harmony Campus<\/a> for his last day of radiation treatment wearing a blue and white-starred tutu, a gold belt and a red t-shirt with his superhero\u2019s name on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave no fear, LupRob\u2019s here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Rob Lagerstrom, right, as \u201cLupRob\u201d \u2014 a play on the hormone suppression therapy drug, Lupron. that he\u2019s been taking to battle his prostate cancer \u2014 poses with Dr. Joshua Petit, radiation oncologist with UCHealth in northern Colorado. Photo courtesy of Rob Lagerstrom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those not familiar with hormone suppression therapy for prostate cancer, Lagerstrom\u2019s superhero was a play on the hormone suppression therapy drug Lupron, which he\u2019s been taking since July 2018, when he finally decided to fight his cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Rob\u2019s attitude,\u201d said Dr. Joshua Petit<\/a>, radiation oncologist for UCHealth in northern Colorado. \u201cHis decision to use humor and a focus on helping others is a meaningful way for him to deal with the intense emotions that go along with having a life-threatening cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lagerstrom wasn\u2019t always so positive, however. His journey has given him a will to live again and a new message to push out with his video camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t spend 20 years worrying about prostate cancer. Just check it out, and if you have it, get rid of it,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t fear the treatment. Fear the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focusing in<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a teen, Lagerstrom found that being behind a camera allowed him to explore new things and it fueled his desire to connect with people through multimedia.<\/p>\n

His passion grew into a career, first at the Tallahassee Camera Center then on large-scale commercial productions in Birmingham, Alabama. Although he honed his craft shooting television commercials, corporate training and promotional films, he had a desire to connect to people on a more personal level.<\/p>\n

In 2010, he gave up the security of his job and health insurance \u2014 and headed west.<\/p>\n

\u201cA change in latitude, a change in attitude,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

But his new vagabond lifestyle was challenging, especially when he begin having health problems. \u00a0While living in Colorado in 2011, his doctor told him after a prostate exam that he needed further testing \u2014 advice he would not heed to for five years.<\/p>\n

\"video
Screen shot of Lagerstrom\u2019s 1950s-style, sci-fi-inspired short film called \u201cRobbie\u2019s Rad-ventures,\u201d which he\u2019s shared with others facing similar treatment in an effort to help them understand what they may have to go through. Photo courtesy of Rob Lagerstrom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is a prostate exam?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Two main tests are commonly used to screen for prostate cancer: a rectal exam, which involves a gloved finger inserted into the rectum to feel the prostate, and the prostate-specific antigen test, a blood test that checks for the tumor marker for prostate cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMen should ask their primary care doctor about prostate cancer screening, and if after discussing the risks and benefits they agree to proceed, then their doctor can obtain a PSA blood test and perform a prostate exam,\u201d Petit said.<\/p>\n

In a bind<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before 2010, Lagerstrom had spent decades paying for a health plan he never used, but now he found himself without one when he really needed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving without health insurance gets riskier every year older one gets,\u201d Lagerstrom said. \u201cThe chance of getting something like cancer is too fearful to comprehend, so one ignores it\u2026until they can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, in January 2016, Lagerstrom got a policy he could afford through the Affordable Health Care Act. He decided to follow up on the concerns the physician had voiced more than five years earlier.<\/p>\n

He got a PSA test, which revealed a score high enough to lead to more testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the PSA is sufficiently high and concerning, or if the prostate exam is also suspicious, then a biopsy of the prostate is performed,\u201d Petit explained. \u201cIf the biopsy shows there is cancer, then it is given a Gleason score, which reflects the aggressiveness of the cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Test results<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pathologists grade prostate cancer on a scale of 1 to 5 based on how similarly the cells in the biopsied tissue look like normal prostate tissue under a microscope, according to the American Cancer Society<\/a>. If it looks like normal tissue, it\u2019s given a 1; very abnormal is a 5. Patients suspect prostate tissue samples, however, often have two or more different scores, and that score is added to get the Gleason score.<\/p>\n

The first number assigned is the most common grade. For example, if the Gleason score is written as 3+4=7, it means most of the tumors are grade 3, while less are grade 4. Other ways the Gleason score may be listed are 7\/10, Gleason 7 (3+4) or combined Gleason grade of 7.<\/p>\n

The higher the Gleason score, starting at about an 8, the more likely it is that the cancer will grow and spread quickly, according to the ACS. And though Lagerstrom had a score of 8, his scans showed at the time that the cancer hadn\u2019t spread beyond his troublesome gland.<\/p>\n

Lagerstrom, though, had a high-deductible insurance plan, and the cost of the tests and specialty visits left Lagerstrom\u2019s budget stretched. He decided to try a different approach.<\/p>\n

Medical marijuana<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cI had been reading about how cannabis had been shown to cure cancer, so I did more research,\u201d he said. \u201cI decided to be a guinea pig for science and see for myself if I could cure cancer by taking large doses of CBD and THC oils.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBD, or cannabidiol, and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, are two of the most studied biologically active components in marijuana, called cannabinoids. According to the American Cancer Society<\/a>, scientists have reported that cannabinoids slow growth and\/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells growing in lab dishes. And some early clinical trials of cannabinoids are showing that they are safe for treating cancer, but studies have not yet proven that they help control or cure the disease.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Screen shot of Lagerstrom\u2019s 1950s-style, sci-fi-inspired short film called \u201cRobbie\u2019s Rad-ventures,\u201d which he\u2019s shared with others facing similar treatment in an effort to help them understand what they may have to go through. Photo courtesy of Rob Lagerstrom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lagerstrom was able to volunteer at a hemp co-op where he could barter labor for oil. And though his treatment wasn\u2019t<\/p>\n

costing him anything, it didn\u2019t seem to be working either.<\/p>\n

The lowest point<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lagerstrom had quit drinking alcohol in October 2016, but his use of THC increased to a level where he wasn\u2019t aware what his normal state was anymore. He was chronically fatigued to the point that he was sleeping 12 to 14 hours a day. He hadn\u2019t seen a physician in two years. He was picking up photography and video jobs here and there, but he was suffering \u2014 mentally and physically.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy spring (2018), the life essence had been drained from me,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought this was it for me. I was living to die at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

His income had fallen below the level where he could afford an insurance policy, and he was placed on Medicaid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been a proud, self-supporting person my entire life, always paying my own way and asking little of others,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a humbling blow to the psyche to have a life-threatening disease and no way to pay for it. I just assumed that any treatment Medicaid would pay for would be basic at best and nonexistent at worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to the doctors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It wasn\u2019t until he had a chest cold that wouldn\u2019t go away that, weak and sick, he decided to return to a physician.<\/p>\n

\u201cA quick chat with the doc about what I had been doing and another PSA test later was the inciting moment \u2014 as they say in the movies \u2014 for me to ask about what I could get for nothing on Medicaid,\u201d Lagerstrom explained.<\/p>\n

The answer heartened him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt pretty foolish but also very relieved that maybe my life was not over yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A clip from Lagerstrom\u2019s 1950s-style, sci-fi-inspired short film called \u201cRobbie\u2019s Rad-ventures.\u201d
Photo courtesy of Rob Lagerstrom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Battling prostate cancer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A bone scan showed the cancer had not spread beyond his prostate in the years he was using alternative methods for treatment. He would need 42 days of radiation and two years of hormone suppression therapy (Lupron) to starve the<\/p>\n

cancer of its testosterone supply. He stopped using cannabis oils.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like I\u2019d flipped a switch,\u201d Lagerstrom said. \u201cI was taking bike rides. I felt like a normal human being again.\u201d<\/p>\n

An idea to help others<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It was during his treatment at UCHealth Cancer Center \u2013 Harmony Campus<\/a> in Fort Collins that his desire to help others \u2014 his longtime passion \u2014 through social media came back to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, like most people, I didn\u2019t want to let everyone know I had cancer,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was only through my positive experience at UCHealth that I regained my confidence in the medical establishment and found some hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lagerstrom used his medical scans \u2014 and a narrative that explains what they mean \u2014 to create a 1950s-style, sci-fi-inspired short film called \u201cRobbie\u2019s Rad-ventures<\/a>,\u201d which he\u2019s shared with others facing similar treatment in an effort to help them understand what they may have to go through.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lagerstrom\u2019s 1950s-style, sci-fi-inspired short film called \u201cRobbie\u2019s Rad-ventures,\u201d which he\u2019s shared with others facing similar treatment in an effort to help them understand what they may have to go through. Photo courtesy of Rob Lagerstrom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen cancer strikes, we often cannot control a lot of what is happening to us,\u201d Petit said. \u201cHowever, we may have the ability to control our reaction to these things, and that is how Rob has chosen to approach things.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Lagerstrom explained, \u201cLike most people who have grappled with life-threatening situations, be it accident or illness, I discovered that it takes facing death to really find the value of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFear the disease, not the treatment,\u201d he continued. \u201cGet checked out early and often. Do not let it spread. Nip it in the proverbial bud, and get on with life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sixty-two-year-old Rob Lagerstrom arrived at UCHealth Cancer Center \u2013 Harmony Campus for his last day of radiation treatment wearing a blue and white-starred tutu, a gold belt and a red t-shirt with his superhero\u2019s name on it. \u201cHave no fear, LupRob\u2019s here,\u201d he said. For those not familiar with hormone suppression therapy for prostate cancer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2164,"featured_media":19795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,1210,457,468,6837,3492],"class_list":["post-19794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-cancer-care-oncology","tag-medicaid","tag-mens-health","tag-prostate-cancer","tag-prostate-cancer-treatment","tag-uchealth-cancer-center-harmony-campus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Don\u2019t fear the treatment, fear the cancer\u2019 - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"His fear of battling prostate cancer left rob almost lifeless until he finally sought a different reality. 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