We met with Dr. Davis this morning, and again we left much more hopeful! He's good, take my word for it!
Here is the insight:
> 4.64 in the grand scheme of things is not anything to panic about. When compared to where I came from (219) it's not so bad. If I were just a guy off the street and this was my first test, the doctor would likely just put me on a "watch and wait" program, without medications.
> Yes, the up tick in my PSA is not good, but it is also not unexpected. Yes, we/he had hoped we would not have reached this stage so soon, but it is what it is. The cancer cells have basically begun to outsmart the hormone blockers and now we need to make changes.
> Next step is to stop the daily oral blocker. There has been good success in taking this path. In laymen's terms it basically confuses the cells that are starting to get around the hormone blocker and the cells die off, lowering the PSA number. We begin this step today and will follow up with a blood test December 15th to check the progress. If the number comes down, we ride it out as long as possible. It could be successful for many months. If it goes down and then at some time starts back up, we begin the oral meds again. Long term, we try this on/off/on process as long as we can.
> If the PSA number from the December test rises, then we consider going to see a General Oncologist to pursue clinical trials and/or experimental treatments(probably Sloan-Kettering in NYC) That will mean chemo etc., but I'm not going to get ahead of myself. First things first!
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As for the title above, it is somewhat misleading, I don't consider myself to be "on top" of anything except perhaps my mental attitude toward my condition. So, after a brief two day funk, I'm back and ready to kick cancer's rear end!
This is an excerpt from the title track of Van Morrison's 1999 album "Back on Top". Many thanks to my friend, my brother Pete for turning me on to this one - an EXCELLENT album that brings back fond memories of strolling the streets Zurich back in March 2000.
How you get there will be anybody's guess
With all the so called trappings of success
Left all the deadbeats on the top of the hill
Too busy raisin' cain
I'm back on the street again
I'm back on the top again
Back on my feet again
I'm back on the street again
I'm back on the top again
1 comment:
"And Jesus said unto them ... , "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to younder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."
~Romans 1:17~
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