Alan Runfeldt's Prostate Cancer Blog
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GENERAL OUTLINE OF THIS PAGE
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| Annual Physical
- PSA score 16 I went for my annual physical in January - after having been "too busy" to do it for the last 3 years. Boy, did I screw up... Had this been spotted two years ago - or even last year, I might be in much better shape to stop it before it becomes deadly - or really affects my quality of life. |
Dr. Choi - Biopsy
reveals a Gleasons core of 4+7
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VA Benefits -
Could be helpful-
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Agent Orange -
Possible/likely cause in our case
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| UPDATES 3/8/2009 Hey Guys - Just a quick note to let you know I'm alive. (Gee, not so much of a joke anymore, is it?) Anyway, things are moving along here. Cathy's been a great help. She's a nurse and knows this stuff and is pretty much heading up my support team. She's got me scheduled for some tests on Wednesday - bone scan and CAT scan to see what's happening where. Lots to think about - and learn about regarding treatment options. Lots to learn about VA stuff, too. I've got some good resources and am talking to other guys that have dealt with the VA, so it's not as intimidating at all as it once was. Apparently, if I submit my claim right, I should be able to get some financial support as 100% disabled ($2600+/month) for a year or so. That would be very, very helpful. I'm not into begging for bennies, but in this case, the time I have to spend with prostate cancer issues is time taken away from earning money, so I might as well see if I can get some help. Gee. I wish they'd pay me to maintain the web site, too, eh? ;) Anyhow, I'm doing fine. There's no pain. It's all just 'test results show....", so the only inconvenience to me at all at this point is the time it's taking to deal with everything - and that's mostly just reading a lot of stuff. Cathy's got me on some vitamins and stuff. It seems that Lycopene is universally accepted as really good at slowing - possibly even reversing prostate cancer. I dunno. The pills are small and they're no problem, so I take 'em. I could drink V8 juice and get similar benefits, but for now, I'm fine with that. I am starting a new web page - http://8thmob.org/va_issues/index.html - which I hope will be helpful to the next member of the group to have a PSA test result of 16... I'm also still trying to find the time to fix the forum and stop the hackers, but I might as well just turn it on again and deal with the spam as I did before. So. Watch the site for news and keep the faith. seeya - Alan 3/10/2009 CT SCAN and BONE SCAN scheduled for 3/11 I drank my Barium Contrast liquid at 10 pm as requested. It tasted okay, I guess, sort of the texture and flavor of apricot juice. Only it's white. It should be orange... printing out more information on prosate cancer and treatments. I'll add links here to web sites I found particularly interesting or well-written.
3/11/2009 CT SCAN and BONE SCAN. Piece of cake. Had to drink some more of that barium contrast liquid and they shot me up with some radioactive saline solution to make better images of my skeleton, but all in all, it was a pleasant day, with some very nice technicians. Next: see the results... 3/13/2009 We are not alone: One thing I have to add right here is the overwhelming support I am getting from other MOB guys - and the webmaster of an Arty site and a VSO from down south. One thing any of us can look forward to when something like this comes up is the support of our buddies - some of whom we don't even know yet... And this support can be very helpful - especially in learning how to deal with the VA if VA support is needed. The VA is indeed a vast bureacracy, and as Al "Buckwheat" Glenn just pointed out to me, we have to go in with a game plan and be prepared to be persistent. 12/5/2009 Yeah. I know. It's been months since I updated this page, but I figured it was about time. I don't mind admitting that I'm getting a bit nervous. Surgery is scheduled for this coming Friday. The VA came through, btw, pretty well. I applied for benefits with the help of the Legion. They took down my information, processed the paper work and a few months later, I began receiving monthly checks for 100% disability - $2600/month. It will continue for at least a year, possibly even for six months after treatment. That took a lot of pressure off of me and gave me the time to learn more than I ever wanted to know about prostate cancer and let us come to a decision as to the next step to take. We chose Cryoablation as the least invasive, most successful technique with the least chance of unwelcome side effects. HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) would be even better, but it's not approved for use in the USA - yet - although my urologist offered to fly me down to the Bahamas for treatment - a treatment he would do himself at a clinic he's associated with - if I could come up with $25k cash... Neither the VA nor any Health Insurance company we know of would pay for it. He's real jazzed about HIFU, but is not allowed to perform HIFU in the U.S. He has to leave the country to learn how to do it and to treat his patients, so for me the best option available is Cryo. Ironically, HIFU appears to be the best treatment of all - and it IS available outside of the United States. Men in nearly every other country except ours have access to this most advanced state-of-the-art treatment, but we don't. In fact, the machine used to perform the treatments is made in the United States. So. Our choice is Cryo. Cathy did a lot of research on the options - and gave me lots and lots of links to web pages to read - which I did. I agree with her conclusion - and appreciate the fact that she is as supporting and encouraging as can be. I'm very lucky to have her support - both technical and moral. I guess the biggest issue to me, actually, is that going through total Cryoablation of the prostate - without having any sperm frozen on a shelf somewhere means that I'll be giving up the option of ever having any children - although, at 60, it's a bit late anyway. Cathy's only 44, but her daughter Tina is 23 and having a child now just doesn't seem to be in the cards. Let's just hope that luck and my general good health are with me and that the after-effects and side effects are minimal. I'll let you know. P.S. One of the interesting aspects of the doctor we selected - and the hospital he practices at... I was born December 12, 1949 at Hackensack Hospital in NJ. My treatment will be at Hackensack Hospital in NJ on Dec 11, 2009. I will wake up the next morning in the same hospital I was born in exactly 60 years ago - to the day.... Now, if there's not something encouragingly cosmic in that coincidence, I don't know what would be.... Yeah. So wish me luck. I'll take all the good kharma I can get... 12/13/2009 Well, it's over. Had the cryosurgery on Friday, spent the night in the hospital, then came home yesterday. But I am feeling quite lazy, so I'll keep this short. Just wanted to let you guys know that everything went fine... well, at least according to the doctor... "Textbook" is what he said. No more cancer, but then again no more prostate either. Ah, well. At least Cathy's happy that now I will live for ever... ;) - and, I can't disagree with the doctor's assessment. Pretty much no pain, just a bit of fatigue and general discomfort, but really nothing to complain about. But I am feeling pretty darned lazy, so I think I'll go back to goofing off and watching tv from the recliner now. The good news is that I am sitting at my desk now - 48 hours after the surgery - with just about no discomfort at all. That's something I had been concerned about. Got a bag strapped to my leg, and that will be an annoyance for a few days, but pretty much a small price to pay. I'll post another update when my head clears up a bit more and my normal energy returns and I feel up to composing something worth reading... - Alan |
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