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What Do YOU Want To Do?

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I am so tired of being asked that! I do like to be in charge of the decisions that have to be made. I do want to know all about my various test. I do like to know all the options. I just wish it was more clear as to what the best course of action is. In my last visit with my Radiation Oncologist he asked how I was doing on the ADT. I told him my minimal side effects and the ones that bothered me the most. Then I told him that when I ordered the next shot from the pharmacy they told me it was the last one. I was puzzled because it would only be 8 months on that and he told me in the beginning that I should be on it for 18 months. He then asked if I wanted to quit it.  That is what bothers me. No one seems to know what is the best course of action. From the the very first diagnoses the Doctor gave me literature to read. He asked me what I wanted to do. When I asked him about alternatives he seemed a little put off that I was asking him about treatments that where not his specialty (open
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Over Half Done with Radiation --- The Good Cancer

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I am kind of celebrating tonight. Today was treatment 18 of 35. I am over half way through radiation treatments. And I feel pretty good.  My last post ended on a fairly up note. I did not have Covid-19 but I certainly had other issues. One thing about this cancer, it sure removes ones dignity. Between having a vital part of ones sex organs removed to being exposed and prodded in the most intimate and personal places, I don't have much dignity left.  Although I was very pleased that I did not have Covid-19 I was having all kinds of troubles with my bowels. Part of the treatment is to have an empty bowel when you show up for your appointment. For that reason I was attempting to eat in such a way as to keep things moving extra well. Maybe it was my own fault or maybe the treatments where finally doing their damage. Once a week each patient has a planned interview with a nurse, but one can request a meeting any time for any reason.  So on Tuesday I ask the receptionist that I wanted to
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Off Balance

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  When I go for my radiation treatments the first thing I do after checking in is to collect my hospital gown and go to the change room to strip and put on the gown. Each patient has a slot for the gown which is stored in a small cloth hospital bag. My slot is #96. They ask you to use the same gown for a week or so and there is a ready supply of clean gowns and bags for you whenever you want a change.  There are four change rooms. The first several days I used the first one but then one day I arrived and that room was occupied so I selected the second one. I was surprised that the second room had no chair so I had to stand up to change, which means sometimes I lean against the wall, a little bit, to remove my shoes and pants. Do you see it coming?  😁 Well this day I was stripped down to my birthday suit and fiddling with the gown when there is a loud insistent knocking on my door. I was about to tell this rude person that someone is using this room, when I hear a voice say, "Are
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Scheduling Is Tricky

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This is on the way to my radiation treatment at the cancer center. It was a beautiful day to be out and about. This picture is taken at Mill Lake just a couple of blocks from the hospital.  Someone had spread seed for the ducks and geese so they were having a wonderful time getting easy food.  The scheduling at the cancer center was a bit of a gong show for me today. When I checked in about an hour before my appointed time they did not have me on the computer. My card that they gave me with my times said 12:48, but their computer said 4:12. The receptionist made me feel like it was my fault because I had not confirmed the time with her yesterday. She even used Whiteout on my card and changed it to the 4pm time so I did not even have proof of what the card had originally said! Later the technician wanted to see my card, but it had already been changed so I had no proof of what I said. I don't quite see that it was my fault because the receptionist filled out the card herself. T
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Seven Radiation Treatments

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Me here in my treatment room with the life saving Varian Clinac 21EX Accelerator After seven treatments here I am.  Overall I am happy. My original nervousness is mostly gone and I feel a peace that I am in good Good hands.  Everyone at the Cancer Centre is very kind and helpful. 💚  Most days I ride my bike to the Cancer Centre between 7 and 9 kilometres depending on the route I take. The longer route has less hills and takes about the same amount of time.  I am figuring out just how much water to drink and when in order to be full at the right time. That is probably the most difficult thing here in the beginning. I think that I was not so nervousness but actually was real shivering from drinking all that cold water at once. I know I should drink warm water but I just can't stand it. 😅  The last couple of days they put a warm blanket on me during the treatment and that really did make me more comfortable with no shivering.  After three days of getting x rays as part of the proces
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First Day of Radiation

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  It was with a certain about of nervousness that I have been anticipating this day.  Part of the requirements for doing this treatment is to have a full bladder. That made me very nervous because since my prostate surgery I don't have much capacity. So I dreaded the procedure. Once I was up and prepared I packed up about 3 liters (a little over 3 US quarts) of water. I needed to start drinking one hour in advance of my treatment and consume a minimum of 1.5 liters 45 minutes before.  I chose to ride my bike to the hospital because I need the exercise to counter the side effects of the drugs I am on. The exercise really helps my mood. If I don't exercise I get emotional and bad tempered.  The hospital is 7 kilometres from my home and goes up and down hills. It is not an easy ride. I took it slow because I did not want to get to hot and sweaty!  I arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes ahead of my appointment, and had already drunk 2 liters. Because of my nervousness and conce
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Radiation Planning

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  The process began today with the CT scanner.                                                                This is a very simple process for the patient (me). With some very high tech equipment.  I started off several days ago preparing by eating extra high fiber to make sure my system was working smoothly. Also I had to drink a bit more than usual. For the treatment you must have full bladder and empty bowel. This is so the bladder and bowel are positioned as far as possible away from the area getting radiation.  After completing a questionnaire on a tablet which asked a lot of very personal questions about bowl, bladder and sexual function I was questioned by the radiation therapist. He also got very personal about the above items. This preparation is crucial to having successful treatments with minimal side effects. Also I was told I must not have accidental leakage on the scanner so if I can't hold it they will stop and allow me to empty then I would have to drink more to ma
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CT Scan

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This scan also was quite painless. The only hard thing was to drink three cups of water two hours before scan then another cup just before scan. I was not required to hold that, but it was still a bit more than I usually drink all at once.  They had me remove any metal objects.  They positioned me on the scan bed. This involved a comfortable wedge type pillow under my head.   Then they gave me a shot of some kind of dye solution for higher contrast of vessels. After a minute or so that solution gave me a kind of warm sensation especially in my lower body. The machine whined and click and made other noises and the bed moved a bit in and out of the donut shaped scanner  It told be to hold my breath for a few seconds and then it was over. The cancer center called me about a week later and told me that the scan was negative for cancer (all good). I am thankful for that I now carry on with the ADT treatment.  Neither the bone scan nor the CT scan found evidence of cancer so it is too small
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Bone Scan

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On May 26, 2020 I had the Bone Scan.  It is an easy process that  involves an intravenous  injection  of a small amount of a low-level radioactive substance that is preferentially taken up by damaged  bone . ( Bone  can be damaged by  cancer  as well as by osteoporosis and other  bone  diseases.) A special  scanner  is then used to detect the radioactivity. The injection was painless. I was then allowed to leave the hospital and return after 3 hours. I went about normal activity including drinking plenty of water. They want you to drink at least 16 oz in that time. When I returned they had me use the washroom first because the scan takes about 45 minutes and they don't really want to interrupt it for anything. They had me get on the machine bed and put a triangle under my knees and a wedge pillow to hold my neck and head in place. Then they instructed me to hold my big toes together and then they used tape to hold my feet in that position so that my legs were slightly spread. Then
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The Journey Continues

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It has been a long time since I added to this blog. Only read this if you really want to know my condition or are curious about prostate cancer and the possible treatments.  I am doing this to help with my own organization of my thoughts and plans for myself more than to share with the world. But, if someone is interested, here it is. I recovered from my prostate surgery pretty well and was pleased that after about 3 month I was completely dry! That is a real blessing because so many other men who have this surgery struggle with incontinence for month, years, and sometimes for the rest of their life. The only real follow up is to have regular PSA test. After surgery one would hope that after a few months all the PSA is out of your system and you are done with cancer. The PSA should be so low that the lab calls it undetectable. My surgery was in January 2019 and in March 2019 my PSA was .05, which is very low almost undetectable. I was pleased and hoped it would stay low. In Sep
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