Sigh.
The prostate biopsy results came back this morning and I have prostate cancer. It's "large and aggressive," but still probably treatable via normal radiation therapy. We won't know for sure until I get a CT scan and a bone scan that tell us whether the cancer is limited to the prostate or has metastasized elsewhere.
I'm not especially worried since prostate cancer is generally not too dangerous. That said, mine is either Stage 3 or Stage 4 depending on what the CT scan shows. For those of you who are savvy about such things, my biopsy samples had a Gleason score of 8 (on a scale of 2-10).
Sadly, this means we'll probably have to cancel our Danube cruise next month. Even now, my doctors don't seem to feel any big sense of urgency about this, but it's still best to treat it sooner rather than later. Blah.
The Gleason score is a combination of two grades, and those individual grades, as well as their order, tell you more than just the combined Gleason score. (I'm guessing you had a 4 + 4...) You may be able to take that cruise after all. I was told that the thing to look for is the doubling time of the PSA score... slow is good. Best of luck to you.
Sorry to hear that news, Kevin. I hope it hasn't spread and will be easy to treat.
May I suggest contacting Loma Linda University Hospital for proton therapy. It's close enough to you to be commutable, non-invasive, covered by most insurance and all together a positive experience. I went through treatment there in 2010 and found it almost enjoyable. LLUH bills their program as a "radiation vacation" and that's what it was for me. Fourteen years later my PSA is 0.2 and I remain cancer free. http://www.protons.com
Man, I'm sorry for you.
I have a very rare late stage lung cancer. Doctors missed it over-and-over, accused me of vaping, "sure, an athletic guy like me vaped". I wound up in the ER, they released me saying I had a rash, which while technically true, the cancer caused a rash, it slowed down my follow up coverage, probably by 4 months and those months would have mattered.
I'm in a trial that works until it doesn't, but, hey, the prior drug tried to kill me.
Kevin, I thought I saw City Of Hope roll through a few times in the blog. Good people there, wish I didn't know any of them, but you could do a lot worse. I visited them for a consult. Wish I'd worked remotely with them or UCSF. I can't speak to prostrate cancer, but I wouldn't wait.
Good luck!
Hopefully they take care of it soon for you. Best wishes for a full recovery!
They didn't feel any particular sense of urgency about my wife's breast cancer either. Come back in 6 months, they said. Fortunately, her son is chief of orthopedics. But not everybody has that, and 6 months with breast cancer can be the difference between treatable and dead.
Bummer, man. That just sucks.
I’m very sorry that you’re going through this. Although I’ve never met you, this blog and it’s distant children even back to Calpundit are part of my daily ritual, and you are important to a lot of us. I hope you recover soon.
Kevin, I am so sorry. With good help you can beat this. We are all pulling for you.
Lu-PSMA-617 (Pluvicto)
Best Wishes
3% Clioquinol Cream
Cabergoline
Casodex
ZnPicolinate
Vitex
Tough break. Best wishes for an easy and successful treatment.
I'm so sorry to hear that Kevin! Getting older isn't for the faint of heart for most of us, but that's rough.
Best of luck to you!
Sadness and commiseration (as opposed to Greetings and Felicitations....)
May you have love and grace in it all.
You see this is why you should always use plenty of sunscreen on the prostate whenever you go outside. Especially in California!
I was so happy with the news about the myeloma being undetectable and now sorry that you don't get a break. I would encourage getting second opinions about any diagnosis. Please keep on blogging.
I'm sorry this is happening to you.
Sorry to hear this; hoping for successful treatment.
I wish I knew what to say - everything I begin to write sounds .....shallow. When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, I refused to discuss it. Kaiser was fantastic and I am doing fine. I have admired and respected your unwavering dedication to sharing information and updates. I have taken in many insights from your blog over the years. I wish you the best as you face this with your characteristic and much respected resilience.
I'm joining your other readers (fans) to say I'm so sorry to read this bad news--and thank you for sharing it. You are quite essential. I hope the rescheduled Danube trip will turn out to be so superb that it'll make sense that it needs to be postponed. BUT I hope you don't have to bear too much worry or misery in the meantime. You're so vigilant about checking various (related?) numbers, so it's frustrating that it could get to stage 3 or 4 before the docs saw what was happening inside exceptionally dear and vital you. Take care.
I'm sorry to hear about your illness and wish you a successful (and tolerable!) treatment.
I greatly appreciate your writing, whether I agree with you or not, in part because your fundamental kindness and strength of character is impossible to miss. Those qualities are a real tonic to me in this ugly world. So, thank you, very much, for doing what you do.
I wish you the best of health.
Your second paragraph to KD is elegant and rings true. Lovely. You both make the world better through words. (KD through photographs and clever graphs too--maybe you too?!)
I elected for surgery instead of radiation because then (12 years ago), surgery could not be performed following radiation if radiation failed to eliminate the cancer. I wanted to have a backup plan other than hormone therapy if surgery didn’t fix it. People I knew who underwent hormone treatment hated it. DaVinci robotic surgery spared the nerve tissue and it was an overnight stay in the hospital. I was able to work from home par time after about three or four days. My pre-op Gleason score was 4+4. PSA now is still undetectable. The challenges with surgery are incontinence and regaining sexual function. These do improve over time and rehab is available to deal with both.Things may have changed since then, but I would encouarage a consult with a surgeon if surgery has not been ruled out for you. Not an easy choice because either course of treatment has upsides and downsides, which make second opinions definitely worthwhile.
Best wishes!