one year check up with the surgeon

This week I went in for a one year follow up to the surgery to visit with my surgeon up at Duke.
All went just fine and he's very happy with the effectiveness of the hormone therapy and the very low PSA. He wanted to take his own PSA so we'll see what that comes back as but I don't anticipate anything other than good news.

I happened to be wearing my 'cancer warrior' shirt and he liked it so I showed him my tattoo and what a hoot, he first asked "is that a real tatoo?" Heck yeah, so he called almost everyone in the department over to take a look at it and in fact, he wanted a picture of it to include in a presentation he was making at a symposium. done deal, I sent him the picture.

Hard to believe it's been over a year since going under the knife and 18 months since this whole ordeal started, time flies when you're having fun I guess.

on the medical front, I'm going to check into MDV3100, a drug in the clinical trial phase that my Dr. has mentioned, wondering if I can take part in the clinical trial.

now it's back to fighting the weight gain

later

Gabapentin

Hey all, it's been a while, busy I guess just like the rest of you. One of my last posts centered around the side effects of my hormone treatments of which the hot flashes is included. (not the most frustrating, the freakin weight gain is, ugh!)

So I talked the Dr. and he suggested I increase the amount of Gabapentin that I take and that along with the flax oil should do the trick. Well, unfortunately no....which at this time of the year (warmer weather) isn't such a big deal, I can blame the hot flash/sweating on the weather. It only gets uncomfortable during sales meetings with clients.

But in the end, it gives me a reason to talk about it and help raise awareness so in the end, it's worth it.

quick post tonight, hope you're all doing great.

I promise I'll be back in touch soon.

Be well, I will :)

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

Wow, turn down the thermostat....no wait, now turn it up.
Heck, my body can't make up it's mind. One byproduct of the medication I'm on are the hot flashes. Yes men, I'm slowly being turned into a woman in mid-menopaus.

I''m the only guy on the block who can take a walk or run when it's 45 degrees outside and still wear short sleeved shirts and shorts :). With all of the sweating I'm doing, the washer and dryer are getting worked overtime, hah!

I had the good fortune of hearing from someone who's father was diagnosed with PC and he had surgery last week. My new contact, Leslie was seeking someone who could help them through the experience and I'm flattered and happy to help. Prostate Cancer patients unite!!!

On saturday I had a stranger ask me about my cancer and we had a very frank, open discussion. The guy was 29 and mentioned his great grandpa had PC and his grandpa just had surgery and he said he has some symptoms. Bingo, my opportunity to raise awareness...I told him to go get the simple PSA blood test done and I'd be surprised if he didn't. One down, 150 Million men to go...raising awareness is the mission.

Great, great weekend, the weather was wonderful, I had a day with Bradley at a Boy Scout camp, (he's bridging from cub scouts to boy scouts in 2 weeks) and it was great.
My daughter who is in the chamber choir of the Charlotte Children's Choir had a 'private performance' on saturday and it was awesome. Especially seeing Rachel interact with adults, she's growing up and quite mature, I'm so proud.

Well, my health is hanging in there, aside from the recent heavy hot flashes, the weight gain has me bumming a bit, way too much around the belly but even with being active it doesn't seem to go away. Maybe it's time to run a marathon :)

that's it for now, be well everyone.

Bob

follow up with the surgeon

I had a follow up appointment last week with Dr. Moul and what was nice was he patiently sat with me and spent some time. Usually he's so frantically busy that I don't get any more than 5 minutes of his time.

this time was different, we talked about my progress on hormone therapy and discussed some drugs that are either in late clinical trials or about to be approved by the FDA (that's the hope anyway).

I told him about the fact that I record every Dr. appointment where discussions take place letting me listen to them later or to have Kathy listen if she wasn't there. I told him that almost everything we heard from our very first Dr. meeting with Dr. Gaston here in Charlotte has come true. Then I asked the important question....

Will you ever be able to say I'm "cancer free"?
Well, his hesitation and somewhat stumbling response gave me my answer, most likely no.
Oh well, the glass is still half full and as I've said all along, I'm 'kickinPC' whether it likes it or not. I have too much yet to do.

Oh, btw, the weather finally turned for the better, low 60's today and yesterday so I was finally able to get out and swing a golf club. Awesome feeling I must admit :)

Make it a great week