I have faith and accept what life has to offer. You have to accept that the modern medicine will allow life to do its best. You never know how life treats you, even with cancer you can’t give up on life.
Cancer has returned after being free for just about seven years and it started with the simple PSA blood test. This test turns out to be an accepted routine but in this case it was a red flag. The PSA numbers almost doubled and that was not a good sign. The first think that crosses your mind that the prostrate cancer returned. So even after over seven years you sort of think that everything remains the same. Not the case, testing is again required to check that maybe the PSA test was a false positive.
Taking it is never an easy thought but at the same time you have clear your mind and continue believing that it has just started. My position was to keep going into the source and verify that it is a true indicator. Friends and family suggested to wait and taker another test within the next six months. For me that was not an option I needed to know. Life can treat you in many ways but you have to control your own health and destiny.
The testing process was never my choice but then what else could be done. Meeting the urologist is never fun but it was my choice. Quickly learning that radiation is a one time treatment, but first more tests was required. Proving you have cancer is not something you would enjoy but it had to happen. Making the appointment was the easy part.
The first test required before any other was a bone scan. It included a injecting a radioactive tracer into my vein in the arm. By asking questions you learn what these test were all about. This radioactive tracer travels through the bloodstream and at the same time into the bones. Like a tests it takes time, a special gamma camera took photos of the trace in the bones. This test could find problems in days vs. months using a regular X-ray test.
Once the tracer is in your body you have to wait about 3 hours and this was just the first of other tests required. On the same day ones the bones scan test was reviewed the next protocol was a Prostascint Scan again using nuclear medicine. This test was fairly new and only on local hospital offered this test. This scan is used to locate prostate cancer. It reveals disease areas that may not show up on other types of diagnostic tests.
Again asking questions you learn more about your body. This Prostascint Scan test took three days and requires that you have to have negative bone scan, which I had. This test took three days. On the first day of the test there was an injection of a radioactive isotope, which acted like a tracer.
Waiting a couple hours before the first of many hours required to complete the imaging sessions. The first day was for the tracer injection and an imaging session. The next imaging time was two days later. The last imaging sessions was after another two days. During all the imaging process it took over four hours per session and the body could not move.
Once the two weeks past another visit to the urologist to learn the result. This makes a person wonder how everything turned out. The results showed that the PSA with other tests showed that prostate had advanced another it was the fear we all don’t want to hear, cancer. So there left me few choices, but you wonder what the next test that the body can accept was.
For me there was no other test; you just have to make a choice. Again you wonder how long will it ever ends? So making a decision is never easy, but doing nothing was a part of my life. So I decided the hormone-releasing hormone because it is designed to reduce growth, but like always it is not a cure for advanced prostate cancer.
So I started with a 6-month hormone therapy for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The hormone therapy with 2 injections at 6 month intervals covers a full year. Every 6 months you still follow your PSA.
I learned that the common injection site side effects were temporary burning and stinging, pain, bruising and redness. I also was warned of the side effects and it could temporary, but the most common systemic would be mild to severe like hot flashes/sweats, fatigue, weakness, fever, muscle pain, testicular shrinkage and breast enlargement.
Now you wonder if this really will work, but I have faith and accept what life has to offer. You have to accept that the modern medicine will allow life to do its best. You never know how life treats you, when cancer is in your body, but you can’t give up on life.
I'm really sorry to read that you have to go through this, but I've read that every man, eventually develops prostate cancer as part of the aging process. My grandfather never went to the doctor until he told my father about his problem. By the time prostate cancer was discovered, it was too late and he died within a few months and 73 or so.
About three years ago, my brother-in-law was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He had surgery to remove the prostate, and, as far as I know, he is doing quite well and got back to his regular routine place soon after the surgery.
You are right about modern medicine. I think that the fear of prostate cancer will be history very soon.
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Living With A Nightmare Cancer © 2015
