June 08, 2010

Turn the page

During last month's Greenhouse fundraiser I met a great couple, the Clarks. She invited me to attend a support group they are members of and asked me to share my journey. I gladly accepted though I did so with some trepidation. Most times I can tell the story and speak of the treatments and issues we've experienced with ease. Other times it becomes too emotional.

Tonight was their monthly meeting and Mary and I fought our way through a massive thunderstorm to arrive about 10 minutes late. The meeting began with the members of the group sharing their names and their stories. I was by far the man with the most advanced diagnosis and based on some of their expressions and reactions, I think they were somewhat stunned by our journey.

On a daily basis I guess in some ways I forget everything we've been through. When I lay it out like I did this evening, and tell 'our story' it is sort of overwhelming. I am glad to report I completed the tale without getting emotional. There were a few points when I had to pause and take a deep breath.

I share all this as a prelude to the latest chapter in the journey. What I am about to share is certainly a new part of the journey.

First the blood test and MRI: my PSA was down almost 18% from the previous week! And the MRI expressed some stable area but others there showed noticeable increase in activity. The Radiologist was careful with his assessment, they always are, but this time he was comparing the MRI to a CAT scan from last October, eight months ago. The one area that was rather clear is my right thigh has a tumor that has nearly tripled in size. I wish there was more to report but that will come tomorrow when we meet with the Radiology Oncologist. It is all but guaranteed that My next step in dealing with the pain will be radiation treatments. The question remains how many? Will we go after the hips and the leg? How successful can we be without compromising my bone marrow in case I need future chemotherapy?

Only time will tell, fortunately, time in this case, is less than 12 hours.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prayin' for you my friend.

R

LeftTenant said...

Bravo! Great news on the PSA drop.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much again David and Mary for coming last night to speak to our group. Your story is amazing and I know the group really learned a lot from it. We hope you can make back to another meeting in the future. Good luck today at the Radiology Oncologist.

Matt Martinek

Anonymous said...

David,

Glad to hear about the PSA drop. Hopefully you will find the quickest and best path to ease the pain you've been experiencing. Good luck today.

Anonymous said...

Good PSA David.. I think you are going to Dr. Smally, correct? Hes a good guy and Dr. Tell him I said Hi!

Im Praying for you Brother.

Tom T.

Terry Herbert said...

Good news/bad news, David. Any drop in PSA is good news, but I was sorry to read of the problem with your right thigh.

Hopefully the radiation will help there.

As ever, my admiration of you and what you do is undiminished,

Unknown said...

So sorry to hear about the tumor in your leg. But good to hear about the drop in the psa numbers, thanks for keeping us posted we think of you often. You are in our thoughts and prayers fighting this battle too it is helpful to read others stories then you dont feel so alone on this journey.

Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

David , The PSA drop is very good news. I have always been skeptical about what they can determine from the scans , However it is certainly good news to read in your next post that the pain has subsided with radiation.
I wanted to say in regards to the title of this post " On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha. You can listen to the engine moaning out it's one lone song"
I enjoy all Your music references and I know we have very similar musical taste.
Dan J