I got my bone scan a couple of days ago and the results were back in a couple of hours. Would you like to see them?
Impression: Evidence for abnormal activities in the spine ribs and pelvis and questionably long bones. A PSMA PET scan is recommended for correlation
Findings: There is suspicious increased radiotracer activity in the skull multiple thoracolumbar vertebral bodies multiple right and left ribs pelvis and questionable long bones.
Foci of mild activity is seen in both knees both ankles and both shoulders in a pattern most consistent with degenerative joint disease. The kidneys, bladder, and soft tissue are unremarkable.
My take is that this means the prostate cancer has probably spread to my bones, but I'm not sure. My doctor will tell me next Tuesday.
Also, my knees, ankles, and shoulders are slowly disintegrating due to old age, just like everyone else, which I already knew. My hips too, which the scan oddly didn't pick up. It's possible that the hip pain I've had for the past year is actually due to the cancer spreading into the thoracolumbar vertebrae, as noted above.
Hi Kevin,
My cancer story, it’s been a ride, a short one so far, but a helluva ride.
I found out in September that I had Stage 4, actually B, lung cancer. I lit up like a Xmas tree. I was scheduled chemo and a hearty good luck (actually didn't get the good luck).
On the way to chemo I get a phone call, “don’t come in”. I ask, “is this good news”, “I think so”, says the nurse. And it was good news, I had a mutation, ROS1, and they could target it with a med. I’d get more time. Well, the med worked and it didn’t. 90% of the cancer below the neck and I’d guess 50% above went away. We'd have made 100% except for one problem.
But the med was hard. I think I suffered 16 side-effects, the worst being double vision, mania (I went cuckoo) and Congestive Heart Failure. There were other issues: balance, cognitive slowness, midnight bathroom visits (and I drank around 125 ounces of water per day, so….) where I lost consciousness because I’d tense while peeing.
This all ended in January when I noticed my heart rate got below 40 at night and an echo showed my left ejection fraction at 45%. My oncologist ordered me to immediately stop. Protocol on the drug is 5-day stop, test, if better go on a reduced dosage. We couldn’t schedule the echo until 17 days later. 2 days later I’d meet with a trial leader for a drug switch where I was assured that I didn’t need to be on a drug as “the cancer would only grow 1mm”. Well, it grew 1mm, and all the other mm’s too.
I had what is known as a TKI flare (coming off the med cancer explosion) does that in about 23% of the cases according to a study I found. This a-hat, had to have known this could happen, he’s head of a thoracic oncology department with a name all of you know (seriously, you know it, and it's not City of Hope). As a nurse said, “how could he have known”, regarding a 1mm growth. He f-ed me up to say the least.
Then, to add to the fun I got thrush, the first 2 med’s sucked, I stopped eating (maybe cancer part of the problem too). So, by the time of the trial starting I could barely walk, no joke I was holding onto a friend for balance. But, thankfully, they took me in.
February was thrush month, it was also the month my father had a cardiac event. So, I’m sick as hell, he’s whacked, and what do my relatives do? Send me orders to do things. Note, to a-hat relatives, I’m laying in bed hoping to eat 1,500 calories today. Not one letter or thought of condolences from the relatives do I get. I take that back, one of the relatives asked where my body would be. Nope, not kidding, where’s your body gonna be, but there’s more, and better, coming.
At this point, I have another bout of the crazies, cancer is running around inside of me, I haven’t eaten, and I go off, unfortunately on my father, more than once. It’s complicated, really complicated like this whole story.
So, he decides to rewrite his will, also on my suggestion as, you know, Stage 4. Well, here come the relatives, getting demanding on wealth they’d never have seen otherwise. Holy S-T guys, I have cancer, leave me alone, STOP IT…………
And, believe it or not, it’s messier than that.
But, I’m still kicking, it’s mid April and I’ve gained 15 pounds since starting the new drug (I hope a good sign), feel much better, and hopefully a journey of many normal years, or at least until something new comes along. Kevin, you, I hope, won’t face any of this crazy. Prostate is more normal than TKI treatment, and predictable, and you don’t have my S-t-y family to deal with. So, I’m hopeful for you.
You are the one blog I read daily, don’t F that up for me.
Seriously, man, all the luck to you, well I need some too, but get well.
I appreciate the rawness of your story. It's only fitting to cut loose a little about rotten experiences that could visit any of us some day if they haven't already.
Love your work!!!
possible help for you:
Data on diet-based treatment of advanced prostate cancer:
https://youtu.be/jnC2OeDVJeM
(Dr. Michael Greger short video)
My favorite composer is JS Bach. I’m atheist but his music is religious, of course. Sometimes it’s meaningful beyond theology. BWV 146. The cantata for Jubilate Sunday after Easter. I wish it were true.
I am ready
to bear my Cross patiently;
I know that all my troubles
are not equal to the glory
that God will reveal to the chosen flock
and even to me.
Now I weep, since the turmoil of the world
seems joyful next to my suffering.
Soon the time will come
when my heart will rejoice,
and when the world one day will weep without comfort.
Whoever strives and battles with the enemy,
will have the crown placed upon him;
for God carries no one to heaven in his hands.
https://youtu.be/WK1dDEbPdlo?si=zNXx56jxHaZcvFMR
Crazy talk. God carries no one to heaven in his hands. True that.
Man, that sucks!
Hang in there and hang on......the Doctor's will be able to fill in the blanks with options. It's the waiting for test results and information that sucks. You are such a strong advocate for yourself, and your sophisticated grasp of technical medical information is so superior - that if I were your Doctor - I would stay alert and on the cutting edge! Wishing you and your family the very best as you learn more about the next steps. Take care.
Get well, Kevin Drum.
Bad news. Best wishes. You're still in this; keep fighting it. Cancer's a pain, but historically humans are just as fierce, if not more.