E-LETTER #4 - GO TO INDEX FOR EARLIER LETTERS   YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

Prostate men need enlightening, not frightening November 5, 2011 Another good man gone Many prostate cancer men will have 'met' Steve Jordan on internet forums. He was always helpful and had a quirky sense of humour that wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but which I liked. Steve's advice to newly diagnosed men never varied: get second opinions, especially for the Gleason grades: don't listen to anedotal evidence: check the sources of any information you come across. Sadly Steve passed away in early September. No one is quite sure what happened, but it seems from what is known that it was not his prostate cancer that carried him off. That seemed to have been under control when he died. Our thoughts and condolences go to Steve's family and friends. Back to the Future - YANA open for business I was wrong. When I said I was closing the Experiences pages of the Yana site for new entries or updates of existing entries I thought that everyone would transfer their stories to the myProstate site as I suggested they should. This site seemed to me to be superior to Yana and I thought it an ideal solution. Turns out that, seemingly, very few people agree with me. Only about 5% of the men who shared their stories on Yana have transferred to myProstate and a number mailed me to say they found the site antiseptic, impersonal and too hard to load. A greater number mailed me to thank me for my past work and, whilst they said they understood my decision, said that they felt that Yana was a very valuable resource and that it had been very helpful to them. So …… my conscience pricked, my batteries recharged, I have decided to open the flood gates again, while still looking for another solution for the future. From today the site will operate as it has the past. New stories can be added by going to JOIN US - SHARE YOUR STORY and updates submitted by going to UPDATE YOUR STORY So now Yana is back in business, get cracking and update your story if you have one: put your story up if you haven't. Can you help? Although I have opened up the Yana site to operate as it has always done, I am hopeful that there will be a better, more effective, less labour intensive solution in the future. Jim, a man far more knowledgeable than I, has mailed me with some excellent suggestions – and he says that he and his son should be able to help me. I am sure that, from what he says we will be able to get to a position where Yana will be refurbished as YANA-2, maintaining the essence of the current site but making it easier to find information and contribute your experiences. Jim makes a very important point when he says: This is the way I would think you would want to develop a YANA-2 “ first draft a somewhat detailed proposal (written in MS Word with pictures of proposed screens, etc.). A small group of folks would exchange these documents on how the new site would look and operate “ add comments “ revise the spec “ etc., until a detailed plan existed. That was essentially what we did in developing the basic site that grew into Yana and I'd like to do the same thing again. So if there is anyone who would like to be part of this process - it will not be onerous and will not require any IT knowledge - just a view on what PCa men might find useful please mail me and let me know. Using myProstate You may want to read the stories on the myProstate site and perhaps put your story there. Although men are genetically unwilling to read instructions, try reading this Using the myProstate site - it will help what seems to some a complex process. Please pay particular attention to Creating Your Story and Ordering Reports Useful Links - including a FaceBook one Subscribe to this E-Letter Choosing A Treatment YANA Experiences Index Survivors Talk About Prostate Cancer YANA Forum We had a great cruise. Thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes ahead of our cruise to the Baltic and Mediterranean. It was a marvellous break and my batteries are fully re-charged I have put up pictures on FaceBook if anyone would like to see why I feel so good: 2011 Baltic Cruise and 2011 Mediterranean Cruise and you can even read about it on my blog at Travels With My Wife.

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