treatment

Hello again! When I last left off, I posted that I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and that I had undergone a biopsy of the prostate gland, which showed the presence of cancer. There were several other factors involved in my diagnosis. They look at the results of a blood test called a PSA, which measures the level of a certain protein in the blood, giving them a clue that the disease is present. Also a factor is something called a Gleason score, which measures how advanced the disease might be. This is information that I am over-simplifying, for the sake of space. There is more information on this at wikipedia, under Gleason score. There are also several good books available on prostate cancer, through Amazon, or Barnes and Noble. Definitely one of the most nerve-racking trials a person goes through is wading through all the information available on cancer, and at first, you are in a state of shock and disbelief about your diagnosis. I totally understand this, but it's not impossible to get through, and if I may make a suggestion, I don't know how much you need to understand all the technical information, at first anyway. Understand that at first, you are in a panic state, so it is only natural to try and gather every bit of information possible, to give yourself the most in-depth level of understanding possible about your situation. Here is something I would like to give you. Don't be afraid to get a second opinion. It is good to educate yourself about the disease, and I think you should. But you don't need to try to understand it all at once. Talk to your doctor, don't be afraid to ask questions. There are no stupid questions, if it is on your heart and mind, ask it, the doctor works for you. You really need a good urologist. If your doctor recommends one, go see him or her. Also make an appointment to see a surgeon. Discuss all your concerns. Write them down before you go so you don't forget anything. If there is even a slight nagging in the back of your mind about the doctor's skill level, see someone else. When I was choosing my specialist, I went to a hospital that my insurance company worked with, and saw the chief of radiology to discuss treatment of seed implants, since I had already been advised that this was the best option for me. I promise you I am not making this next part up. This doctor was new in his position, and he was very pleased to spend most of my appointment trying to impress me with the book he had just written, on radiology, not on prostate cancer. I asked him point blank, "Have you ever done the seed implants, and how many have you done"? His reply was, "Yes, I did one , I think about five years ago, I'm sure I could do it again, I think I remember how it feels, when I have the seeds placed". The next radiologist I went to said that I was looking for someone who had done up in the thousands of these procedures, and was concerned about his patient, not how many books he had written. True story. Of course I went to the second doctor, at a different hospital, which meant a three month wait. But I had a slow-growing cancer, so I felt comfortable with the wait. Unfortunately, I believe it was during this time that the cancer broke through the outer wall of the prostate. My point is, that you have every right to be completely comfortable with your surgeon. Also, there are so many new treatment options available now, that weren't available when I was diagnosed, that I believe the seed implants are just about obsolete. The new standard is the robotic arm surgery, and I have several friends who have undergone this option, with wonderful success. I underwent the robotic arm surgery myself, to remove five infected lymph nodes in the pelvic region, but that treatment also failed for me. It is just about impossible to detect cancer on a small enough scale to know if it's moving around inside your body after a treatment such as surgery. There is always a possibility of recurrence. This is why you must have follow-up visits the rest of your life. Think about it this way. Imagine the prostate, or the lymph nodes as being a part of a hornets nest, and the doctor is trying to reach inside to get one bee, without disturbing the rest. It'd be pretty hard to not make the rest stir up a little bit, huh? This is why I believe I had so much trouble. Four biopsies to the prosate, one to the lymph nodes, a lymph node surgery, and no cancer cells moved anywhere else?  I have my doubts about that. If I had it to do over, I believe I would have questioned the need for the other three biopsies. To sum things up, there are just a few things I want you to take away from this post. First, educate yourself at a rate that you can fully absorb all the information you have on your disease. You won't understand it all in one day. Take a little time to let things sink in.It will help you later from being confused about the facts. I so happen to have a sharp wife who understands completely what I take for granted. This is a huge help. Second, I have a saying that I repeat to people all the time....half of the doctors in America graduated in the bottom half of their class....think about that for a minute. They can't all be at the top of the heap. Doctors have different skill levels and abilities just like everyone else. Be choosy. They all have diploma's, so, interview them...like I said before, they work for you. It is important for you to have confidence in your provider. Third, don't be afraid to ask questions, and make them explain more that once if you need to. This is everyday for them, but it's a major deal for you. I hope that this has been helpful to someone, remember, your doctor and surgeon are very important people in your life, choose the right one, and then go forward with them. Hopefully, you will be looking back at cancer as a bump in the road, that God helped you navigate through. Blessings, Mike

diagnosis

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004, as I said before. But before that, I'd like to give you a little background. My father was also diagnosed with prostate cancer, later in his life. He went to the doctor for checkups for years, but they never tested him until he was already sick. When he consulted with his surgeon, he was told that he could have a few choices with his treatment. Surgery, to remove the gland, or radiation therapy, or radioactive seed implants, which are about the size of a grain of uncooked rice, that are implanted surgically into the prostate gland, to burn the prostate up, and kill the cancer. He was told by his doctor that no matter what he did, he only had five years. Or, he could do nothing, and he would still have five years. The biggest mistake my dad made, was that he believed his doctor. He was told he had five years, and that is how long he lived, even though he elected to have surgery. Now I love my dad with all my heart, and at the time, I didn't know any better, or I would have told him that the doctors don't know everything, even though sometimes they think they do. It's not up to the doctors to tell anyone how long they have to live, they don't know, they are human, just like the rest of us. They can make a good estimate, based on historical data, and probabilities, and maybe even a good percentage of the time, they turn out to be right. But it's not up to them to tell anyone they will only live a certain amount of time, only God can do that. I miss my dad every day, and would love to have a conversation with him now. I know my wife and kids feel the same way about me. Do you see why I say that you can never give up hope? Without hope, and faith, the struggle is too hard to bear. You can't do it by yourself. I began having PSA tests annually in the early 1990's. This type of cancer has a strong probability of being passed down through generations.And in 2004, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Now I want to mention here, that I became a Christian in 1986. Before then, I had no hope. I had no idea what real, abiding faith meant. It was all too confusing for me. I believed it was just foolishness, and wouldn't help anyone. But then, I reached a point in my life where I hit the bottom. Circumstances in my life were such that I was out of control, and had no hope of getting it back. One day I fell to my knees and cried out to God, "If You are real, please show me. I know I have sinned, and I'm lost, and if I die, I'll go to hell.I don't want to go there. I believe Jesus died for my sins, and rose again so that I could live forever. Please save me, God". And He did. The most incredible feeling of peace came over me, and I knew I was saved. I wasn't in church, I was in my home. It was a meeting just between me and God, no one else was there. You can have this same peace and assurance if you want it, all you need to do is ask for it by praying a simple prayer, similar to the one I told you about a minute ago. You don't have to hit rock bottom, or be in a jail cell, or a hospital bed, you just have to realize that we as humans have no right to stand before God on our own merits, because our best efforts will fall short. God's standard is perfection, and we have all fallen short. Romans 5:12 tells us this. Then Romans 6:23 tells us that even though we have fallen short, we can be forgiven, and have eternal life, by believing Christ made that sacrifice for you, and turning away from your sin, and walking in His way. I hope you will see your need for this relationship that God offers you, whether you are sick or not, because living a good life won't help you, or giving all your money away, or even sacrificing for others. You have to come to God through Christ alone.

But we still have to go through this life. We have to deal with ups and downs. Bad things are going to come our way, as well as good things, whether we are Christian or not. God doesn't insulate us from the hard things in life, but He does go through them with us, if we belong to Him. So when I received my diagnosis, I was terrified at first. I didn't know what to expect, and a thousand questions went through my mind. But then God's peace settled in on my spirit, and I knew that no matter what happened, He would never leave me alone. I spoke to the surgeons about treatment options, and they wanted me to have a biopsy of the prostate gland. This was so they could determine the likelihood of the disease being confined to the prostate, or if it had broken through the outer wall and spread elsewhere. The exam revealed that the cancer was confined to the prostate itself, so after discussing my options with a team of doctors, I opted for the radioactive seed implants. They did an absolutely top-notch job of placing the seeds, and I got coverage of the entire gland with the radiation. The problem for me, was that too much time had passed while waiting for my procedure, and some cancer cells had escaped the prostate, and infected some nearby lymph nodes. My PSA count kept going up slowly, and in the end, I went through 3 more biopsies. I will continue again on another post, but the story is far from over. Again, thanks for visiting, and I hope something here will help you, or someone you know.

beginnings

Hello, and welcome to the Straight Path. I opened this blog to have a place to share my experiences as a cancer patient. I was diagnosed 9+ years ago with prostate cancer. Since then, there have been many mountains and valleys, but I'm so thankful that I haven't been alone. You may have been invited here, or directed here by a friend or family member. Maybe you're just curious, or maybe you're like me. One thing I'm aware of is that you go through several stages in dealing with cancer. Not just the progression of the disease, but also stages of stress, acceptance, disappointment, joy, and many other types of highs and lows. In future posts, I will attempt to recall my whole experience as faithfully as possible, but I want to say up front, there is always hope! I believe the worst thing you can possibly do is give up hope. Dealing with cancer is a constant fight, mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and many times as a cancer patient, you are just left to yourself to try and figure out how to keep yourself engaged, and confident that the sun will come up tomorrow for you, just like it does for everyone else.

Mentally- There are challenges concerning the ability to keep up with your job. Questions come into your mind that will challenge your confidence in being a provider. Also, how long will I be able to have a good quality of life? Should I make a decision on a major purchase or not? How will I be able to pay the medical bills? Not all the mental challenges concern finances, but you can see, among other things, it is a very present reality.

Spiritually- I have known of people who have gone through disease, treatment, recovery, and more, backwards and forwards with no regard for any spiritual comfort at all. I have seen people put their trust in different types of  spiritual remedies, because they answer what they consider to be the biggest problem...How will this help me fight this disease? I am not here to say that either of these outlooks has any more merit than the other. People do what they want to do. But consider this: If God were to offer you your life back as it was before cancer, would you take it? Of course you would! What if God offered to not only see you all the way through cancer, but personally escort you over to the other side into eternal life? That possibility is more real than anything else even comes close to. We will talk about that some more later.

Physically- Any health professional will tell you about the importance that diet and exercise will play in your management of cancer. There are many diets out there designed expressly for cancer patients. I will post some, and give links to others, but when you research, just be aware, there are people out there who will take advantage of you because they know you are searching.

Emotionally- Many of us bottle up about bad news. Many of us have to share every thought we have. There is a whole spectrum out there, and everybody fits in somewhere. I believe we can all learn from each other. Again, I will post articles and links, that I believe might be helpful.

I would also like to make clear that I am not a health professional in any aspect, or capacity whatsoever. I may share information that I have received from health professionals that I have dealt with, but I myself do not dispense medical advice or diagnosis. Well, I'd like to thank you for visiting, I hope you will stop by again,  God Bless you, and stay healthy!