I wish you did, too, Ralph.  But, you've done well with a G9.

Ralph,

There are a number of treatments that can help before chemo
is started.  Some that I know about include:

Various supplements:
  pomegranate extract
  vitamin C
  resveratrol and quercetin
(I know that sounds a little silly, but a friend of mine with advanced
PCa was given all of those by Dr. Charles "Snuffy" Myers, a well
known medical oncologist specializing in PCa.

"Second line" hormone therapy - including estradiol patches
and ketoconazole.

Revlamid.  This is a thalidomide derivative.  After Myers put
my friend on this for one month, his hormone refractory cancer
showed a PSA drop from 14 to 8.  It has gradually come back
and Myers is going to try another revlamid treatment for him.

And chemotherapy itself.  The "average" benefit from chemo
doesn't sound great, but it's misleading.  One problem with the
existing numbers is that, in the past, chemo has not been given
until symptoms developed, very, very late in the game.  Some
docs now believe it can be much more effective if used earlier.
Also, the response to chemo varies considerably.  Some men
tolerate it well and some don't.  Some get a great deal of
benefit from it and some don't.  The averages are not a good
predictor of how any particular patient will do.

I hope you have access to a good medical oncologist who
is committed to battling with all of the tools available.  You
might still have more years ahead than you would otherwise
think and, who knows, you might benefit from one of the
new treatments that are now in development - perhaps in
a clinical trial.

I wish you the best of luck.

   Alan