Bandit,
Went to University of Heidelberg in June 2019. Doctor said after the PSMA scan you have a very high response to the PSMA and we will melt your cancer like butter in the hot sun. Psa went from 365 to 200 at two weeks after LU-177 and will be doing Psa on August 7 6 weeks after treatment. Been fighting this for 20 years. The ingredients and dosages in Germany are different than the trials here in the US.
How is the drug different in Germany than the US?
I will get out the info and send later
They use 3 types of drugs where in the US trials it is only one drug.
problem at US customes , seems Plutonium is one and customs had to send info to scientist in DC. Said would not bother me the next time since they know it is me.
Hi! I am the “ negative reviewer” of the Heidelberg clinic. To be known as forevermore. LOL! Nevertheless, I can’t resist asking about these “three drugs” you received. One of them was PLUTONIUM?! Now I was never a star chemistry student but isn’t that element used in the construction of nuclear weapons? I don’t think the Customs officials would have let us back in the country if my husband could have been used as a component in the Manhattan Project! Our understanding was that the radionuclide treatment only featured the isotopes, Lutetium-177 and Actinium-225. Patients can be treated with one or the other or a combination of both. The half-life for those isotopes is only a couple weeks, whereas the half-life of plutonium can be anywhere from 7000 to 80 million years—give or take.
I have heard anecdotally that the radionuclides given in Germany are, indeed, stronger than those in the drug trials in the U.S. For one, Actinium alone is about 100X stronger than Lutetium. Obviously, any treatment featuring that isotope is going to be stronger. But I have also heard that the doses are higher in Germany. I can’t confirm if that is true; like I said, I’ve only heard anecdotal evidence.
I don’t know where your port of entry was back to the U.S. but both times we went through Detroit. At no point did those Customs/Ice officers ever tell us that once we were cleared the first time that they “wouldn’t bother” us subsequent times. Nada! That is their job. You set off every Geiger counter in the place! They check the letter that the German clinic gives you and immediately send it to the scientists at the USDA for clearance. This process takes some time so it is wise to keep that in mind when booking flights with connections. The officials in Detroit are very kind, even solicitous, and told us in the future to try to go through Detroit (if on a Delta flight) vs. Atlanta or Kennedy where the whole process would take hours and be very frustrating. If you are sick after your treatment this could make a meaningful difference.
I hope your treatment is successful and that travel is uneventful. Perhaps you will get to travel to Germany this fall and enjoy the crisp weather or, even, Oktoberfest.
Detroit authorities sent the information from there sensors to DC. this is what they said. Did they lie? Plutonium was what was told to me. I see you know a lot.
Yes, I am a regular Marie Curie. Seriously. Almost everything I "know" has been gleaned from this board or from firsthand experience. I am not saying the officials in Detroit "lied". I am saying that the first time we went through they didn't fully understand the treatment, only one guy had ever encountered a person coming through with it, and none of them ventured to explain what the USDA had to say about it. The second trip they were more familiar as they had had more contact with traveling patients and found the checking process more routine. The lady officer explained to us during our long wait that we shouldn't be concerned, that they were just doing this "to check for bad guys who might be trying to smuggle in the stuff needed to make a nuclear bomb." Things like plutonium. A few particles of plutonium dust injected into your body would kill you; it is rated the MOST poisonous chemical substance on earth (look it up) and has no medical application. I guarantee you that nowhere on your letter from the University of Heidelberg does it mention plutonium. If ICE officers in the Detroit airport told you something different, they either misunderstood or you misunderstood them. Who is more proficient in physics, the scientists at the U. of Heidelberg or the guys in Detroit? Whatever. Just please stop telling people they are going to be injected with plutonium. I wish you well. Please take it as such and stop the snarky remarks.
Facinating,good luck!
Glad to hear the positive news...
Who are you seeing at the hospital.
Good health and good wishes, M
Best of luck.
Great result, good luck.
We recently read here about someone else’s experience in Germany with their PSMA treatment. They complained about the way they were treated, the food given and the clinics’ setup etc.
How did you find your experience in comparison?
What was the cost.
Who was your Dr there?
I read the other negative review. I've been to Germany to visit, to the German part of Switzerland for treatment. The complaints were almost entirely about cultural differences. Germans tend to be brusque and quick. That doesn't mean they aren't very nice people, many are, but as always there are a few jerks.
As for German food, what can I say? It's not to everyone's liking. When was the last time you saw a German cooking show on PBS, or a stellar review of a German restaurant? I happen to enjoy German food but I like French and Italian more.
There's a joke I heard from a street comic in Copenhagen.
"Where would we be without a sense of humor?"
...
pause
...
"Germany"
The one I like is: QUESTION "Why did the French plant trees along the Champs-Élysées?"
ANSWER Because the Germans like to march in the shade.........
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Monday 08/05/2019 5:11 PM DST
Good luck for your treatment! Please give a hint where you have been treated in Switzerland (Zurich, Berne, Basel?) Switzerland is neither part of Germany nor of the European Union and has its own healthcare system. Second-most expensive in the world after the USA, though.... Food can be different according to whether you have been treated in a public hospital or a private clinic... But the point is clinical competence
In any case, take care and all the best
I was treated at the Paracelsus Clinic, near St. Gallen. I would no longer recommend it. A few years ago it was sold to overseas investors, the emphasis shifted from whole person treatment to a more pharmaceutical approach, and most of the best staff left, including my oncologist, whom I like very much.
👏
Cost was about $13,000, They are very busy and seem to be brusque. Not a problem . In this part of Germany the food is different. Mornings are cheese, bread, sausage,coffee.
Lunch is there hot meal , dinned is the same as breakfast. This is in the hospital. Food was good. I think they just get tired of people who do not speak German. Planning on learning some German just to show them I have some interest in them.
Thanks
"The ingredients and dosages in Germany are different than the trials here in the US."
Please explain.
In the U.S. "Vision" trial, the "standard" dose of Lu-177 is 200Mc. Mine was manufactured by a radiopharmaceutical company located in the Bronx, N.Y. I flew 4 days after treatment and the TSA folks in Denver asked no questions.. The Lu-177 has a half life of 6.5 days so it has a rather short shelf-life..
Therapy at U of H Germany.a solution with 4GBq Lu-177 and 2.4 GBq. Y-90 l
Labeled PSMA-Ligand.parallel 2000 ml sterofundin was given to stimulate urine clearance.
At US customs Detroit airport entry sent their findings to the scientists in Washington because they said my radiation was something they had not seen before that it resembled plutonium. Was cleared and told they would not bother me the next time since they will know its me.
Viva Heidelberg !
Just Finished Radiation Therapy 
Tertiary 5 at the bladder neck. 
PSMA Scan at NIH Day 1 of 2
Six cycles of Lu-177 treatment
Should/Can I take zytiga/xtandi et al without metastasis diagnosis
