the transcript from the larry king show:
Transcript of "Larry King" segment on Stills' prostate cancer
voxant.com
18 December, 2007
Graham Nash told TV talk show host Larry King in a telephone interview late on Monday that Stills is set to undergo an operation on January 3, which happens to be his 63rd birthday.
This is the transcript of Larry King segment on Dan Fogelberg and prostate cancer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KING: Next, musician Dan Fogelberg died yesterday. He knew a lot of big rock stars. Two were Joe Walsh and Graham Nash. They will join us to talk about the untimely death of their friend. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back. Singer/song writer Dan Fogelberg died Sunday in his home Sunday in Maine after battling prostate cancer. You most likely remember his hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same Auld Lang Syne." he Helped define the soft rock era and he was only 56 years old.
Joining us to talk about Dan Fogelberg and the disease that killed him, in California is Joe Walsh, the famed singer, song writer and guitarist with the Eagles. On the phone is Graham Nash, the legendary singer with the group Crosby, Stills and Nash. In New York is Dr. Dean Ornish, the founder and president of the Nonprofit Preventative Medicine Research Institute. And in Atlanta., our good friend Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent.
Joe, did you know how ill Dan was?
JOE WALSH, THE EAGLES: Yes, I did. I had followed him for some time and -- and it was kind of expected. But it was a sad story.
KING: Did you speak to him fairly recently?
WALSH: No, I sent him an e-mail. He kind of wanted to be private. He went to Maine to be near his doctors, and he just kind of wanted a private life here towards the end.
KING: Graham Nash, how well did you know him?
GRAHAM NASH, CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH: Well, you know, how well do you know anybody, Larry, really? I sang with Danny on a song called "Power of the Plan," which Joe Walsh got me involved with happily, and we sang together at maybe about ten years ago on the tribute to Nickolette Larson (ph), our friend who died and Danny was part of that benefit. I talked to him about a year ago about his disease and he was optimistic. But then afterwards, as Joe said, his e-mails kept coming back with a standard reply that Danny is feeling well and he loves your prayers and good wishes.
KING: Did he kind of disappear from things by going to Maine?
NASH: I think that he realized that his final days were coming and I think he very smartly realized he wanted to fill them with love and family and friends. And I believe that's what he did. I spoke to Irving Azar (ph) this afternoon, who was Danny's good friend and his manager, of course. And Irving told me that his last three years were wonderful for Danny. He built a new house in Maine and he built a new boat for himself.
He married Jeanne, of course. And he filled his days with what he wanted to do, sailing and skiing and good things.
KING: Before we bring in Dr. Ornish and Dr. Gupta, Joe Walsh, how -- how important a musical figure was Dan Fogelberg?
WALSH: Well, he was an amazing song writer. I met him about 1974, as far as I can remember, and here was this really humble kid, undiscovered, with these wonderful songs, and finely crafted songs. And I brought him out to Los Angeles to try to help him do an album, and our whole community kind of took him under our wing. He was really a big influence as a song writer and a musician to us all.
KING: Graham, how would you rate him?
NASH: Well, anyone that can pour out their heart in a song and touch your heart is OK in my book. And Danny was right up there. What person who -- who didn't like "Profound Way?" "Leader of the Band" was a fabulous song. Danny
was a great song writer, as Joe says.
KING: We will come back with Joe and Graham and we'll bring in Dr. Ornish and Dr. Gupta to talk about prostate cancer. First, let's check in with Anderson Cooper, the host of "AC 360." Anderson, what's up tonight.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Larry, the top of the hour on 260, endorsement fever. Just about all of the major candidates picked up an endorsement over the weekend, some expected, some not and some just kind of weird. The question is, do any of them really make a difference with the voters and the issues that voters care most about? We will dig deeper on that.
And a far different story tonight, a chilling tale about how one serial killer took what amounted to cop classes so he could out-smart the people who would chase him for years. All that and more, Larry, at the top of the hour on 260.
KING: That's Anderson Cooper, 10:00 eastern, 7:00 pacific. We will be right back. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: Dr. Gupta, with all we know about prostate cancer, should no one die of it?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's about between 200,000 and 250,000 cases of prostate cancer every year and about 27,000 people die of it. It's a tough cancer, Larry, because the screening that people talk about, which is PSA test, Prostate Specific Antogen test, just tells you whether there's some sort of abnormality or not. It doesn't tell you how bad the cancer is, how aggressive it is, if it is something that will grow quickly or not.
We are not -- we are not where we should be, in terms of being able to detect it and tell people specifically how this cancer will affect them. So we have learned a lot, but we have a lot more to learn, I guess, in answer to your question.
KING: Dr. Ornish, when we hear that Mr. Fogelberg's was inoperable, that means what, it had spread?
DR. DEAN ORNISH, PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: In his case -- I'm not one of his doctors -- but when his diagnosis was occurring, he had an advanced case already, which meant it had already spread. But, you know, prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer. Most men, if they live long enough, will get it. But some kinds don't spread and others do. And we don't really have the tools to determine which are the most dangerous, but if you have what is called a High Gleason score, if your PSA is rising rapidly and if the tumor is large when they first diagnose it, you're more likely to benefit from conventional therapy than others, once it has already spread where it can be more difficult to treat.
KING: Joe Walsh, do you fear it as a male?
WALSH: Yes, I think everybody my age has, you know -- we know that we are not eternal now and I fear -- I fear cancer and all of that. And Danny -- Danny's wish was really to get the word out about early detection. He didn't want anybody to go through what he went through. And that's why I'm here tonight.
ORNISH: Let me build on that for a second, if I may, Larry, because what Joe has said is so important. If you're over 40, you should get a PSA test. As imperfect as it is, it can be helpful. And to give you a hopeful message, in collaboration where Dr. William Ferrer, who was the chair of Urology at Sloan-Kettering here in New York, and Dr. Peter Carroll, the chair at UCSF, we did a randomized trial of men who had early prostate cancer, and we found that those who made intensive changes in their diet and life style were actually able to reduce their PSA. And when we looked at their tumor grown in vitro, we found that it was inhibited by 70 percent, versus only nine percent in the control group.
KING: Michael Milkin a classic example of that. Graham, is it true that one of your band mates has been diagnosed with prostate cancer?
NASH: Yes, it is. It is my friend Stephen --
KING: Is that Stills?
NASH: Unlike Danny, who left it too long to be seriously checked, Stephens found his at an early stage. And he, I believe, is going to be operated on, on his birthday on January 3rd.
KING: And that's Stephen Stills, right?
NASH: Indeed.
KING: He will be operated on January 3rd.
NASH: Yes. And don't forget, it was the very first Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young concert in Chicago in 1969 when Danny, as a 14- year-old kid was sitting in the audience, and made the decision right there and then that he would become a singer/song writer. And the world is a brighter place for his music.
KING: So Dr. Gupta, in a sense, it may not be preventable but it is certainly treatable, right?
GUPTA: Yes, it depends on what stage you catch it. I think that's the message you're trying to send tonight. If you catch it early, it's very treatable. Many men may die with the cancer. And it won't be the cause of their death. But if it is advanced, as was the case here, stage four is what I heard -- so maybe it spread -- it is very difficult to treat at that point. Luckily, because of some of the screening that Dr. Ornish was talking about, we are getting fewer and fewer of those sorts of cases.
The problem, Larry, is though sometimes doctors don't know what to do with a test. They get a PSA test that's high and they say, well, we are not sure this means anything. It may mean a biopsy. It might mean surgery. And all of that could be normal and you sometimes just get a lot of anxiety and no real change in outcome.
KING: As they say, many die with it, not of it. As we go to break, here are some images of people you know, men who tragically lost their battle with prostate cancer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Those are famous people who had prostate cancer and defeated it, along with Stan Musial and Joe Torre, Rudy Giuliani. Another who died from it was Jerry Orbach. We are in our remaining moments with Joe Walsh, Graham Nash, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Do you think the message will get out, Joe?
WALSH: I certainly hope so. Maybe -- maybe Danny's wishes will start some momentum to get the word out. Because this -- this situation -- it doesn't have to be. If you can catch it in early detection, you stand a really good chance. Dan got lazy with it, and it got the best of him.
KING: Yes. So I'm going to do everything I can in the future.
ORNISH: And not just early detection but also prevention. If you eat really well, if you exercise, if you manage stress, if you have a lot of love in your life, that can really significantly reduce your risk.
KING: Really?
ORNISH: Absolutely.
KING: For more information, the Prostate Cancer Foundation website is ProstateCancerFoundation.org. That's all one word, ProstateCancerFoundation.org, if you want more information. Do you get your checkups, Graham?
NASH: I do indeed. I have them done every year. And let me just leave you with the words to the chorus of the song that I sang on with Danny. It's called "Part of the Plan," and the words are, love when you can, cry when you have to, be who you must; that's a part of the plan. And Danny's life embodied that sentiment completely.
KING: Dr. Gupta, you think we will ever cure it?
GUPTA: I'm very hopeful, Larry, about that, about all kinds of cancer. As you know, this is something I think about all of the time and personally and professionally I have dealt with this. I really hope so. Prostate cancer, luckily, I think we have made a lot of progress. We made a lot of progress with breast cancer. But there's a lot of work to do, Larry.
I was just a conference talking about the X-Prize for cancer over the weekend, talking about all sorts of just mind-boggling things to try to cure this. I think it will happen.
KING: Thanks so much Sanjay. Thanks to all of you, Joe Walsh, Graham Nash, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Don't forget, ProstateCancerFoundation.org is the website for more information. If you haven't been to our website lately, check out CNN.com/LarryKing. You can download our current podcast, email up coming guests, participate in our quick votes. If you have a web cam or cell phone, you can even send us a video email. It's all CNN.com/LarryKing.
Now, without further ado, slash to New York, Anderson Cooper and "AC 360." Anderson?
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR
SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT
http://www.voxant.com
