Friday, March 26, 2010

the latest PSA

I met with the oncologist tuesday of this week and it was the usual. Get weighed, get blood taken, talk to the Dr.. about how I'm feeling and once every 3 months I get a shot of Lupron, one of two medications in the fight against cancer.

The nurse called me yesterday to tell me the PSA was "less than 0.01"
great news, the medication is still working.

Strict orders from the DR. start running and lifting weights. It's time to ward off muscle atrophy and to get back in shape. We'll do this for 6 months and watch the results.

My Dr. said there is another drug in trial for Prostate Cancer and a study done in Canada which had some promising results.

it's been 13 months, time flies when you're having fun.

Like the saying goes.... 'Life is short, play hard.'

Make it a great weekend.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The real deal

one year ago today, Kathy and I sat down with Dr. Kris Gaston my urologist here in Charlotte and over a 55 minute period he laid it out on the line. "You have the real deal" meaning the aggressive, high risk prostate cancer...not the 'normal prostate cancer'.

He had us read 2 books from 2 leading PC Dr's....Peter Scardino and John Walsh and after absorbing just over 1,000 pages in one week, Dr. Gaston said "most of what you read doesn't apply to you unfortunately. We're going to have to throw everything under the kitchen sink at this, surgery, radiation, chemo, hormone therapy, everything."

Well 3 out of 4 so far and fortunately no chemo yet. If you hear I need chemo, that's not good news.
But I won't go there.

Today I have my quarterly visit with my Oncologist, PSA test and the ever exciting Lupron shot in the derriere.

Speaking of the derriere....how are your NCAA brackets shaping up? What a great year in the tourney....since my chances of winning the pool are slim, I'm pulling for Northern Iowa and Cornell to make it to the final 4. Go underdogs.

I still can't believe it's been a year since getting the cancer news.

later

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

One Year ago today I was told......

"your biopsy results are positive, you have prostate cancer. Your Gleason score is a 9 out of 10 which is not good."

It was a Monday morning that life changed a year ago. While I was feeling a ton of anxiety because of the high PSA tests, hearing these words, the confirmation was a wake up call to say the least.

My attitude immediately switched to one of...."Okay, what's next, how do we beat this sh_t."
The battle begins and for me, it starts mentally. I'm naturally a 'glass is half full' kind of guy and here is where I really need it because I'm the 'marker' that my family will follow...if I'm upbeat, they will be positive, if I'm down and out, they will get scared, especially the kids.

More tests to come but in my mind, I'm ready for the challenge.

The Journey begins...

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Abiraterone, Zero Cancer

Another drug in the pipeline, abiraterone, is showing encouraging results in men who have exhausted standard treatment options. This is for patients who exhibit evidence of metastatic cancer so it's a late stage efforts. It's drugs like this that we're hoping for to combat prostate cancer.

Zero Cancer....go to www.zerocancer.org and check it out. I had an awesome conversation with the CEO, Skip Lockwood yesterday and I'm committed to play a very active role in helping raise awareness about PC. What is Zero? you'll have to visit the site to find out.

1 out of 6 men will get prostate cancer....if you're a male 40 or over, get your PSA check.

The bottom line is this, getting tested is nothing more than getting a blood test. Even if you have no symptoms, men should get checked at the age of 40 (according to my Urologist, Judd Moul, chief of urology at Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center)

Be safe and for no other reason than for peace of mind.

that's it, my rant for the day.

Oh, hey, 72 degrees today in Charlotte...it's about time.

later :)

Monday, March 1, 2010

provenge

kind of sounds like the drug from the Harrison Ford movie Fugitive (it was actually Provasic or something like that).

well, this drug, Provenge is real and could get FDA approval as early as May 1, 2010.
The Seattle-based biotech company, Dendreon, is focused on targeting and eradicating cancer. This is a revolutionary new way to fight cancer. The key is that DNDN's scientists are on the forefront of introducing a new class of therapy known as active cellular immunotherapies ("ACIs"). This approach uses live human cells to trick the patient's own immune system into fighting cancer.

very cool...drug advances are going to be my hope going forward so focus on research is high on my priority list. Research funds won't come until overall awareness happens. so next time you see me, ask me for a blue 'prostate cancer awareness' wristband. Maybe I should call Lance to get him to promote greater awareness of prostate cancer. Now where did I put his cell number.....

Later :)