Yes, I test every year because I am over 50. This year my PSA count was high. We re-tested a month later and it was still high. So I made an appt to see a urologist. We decided to do a biopsy. For men who are fretting about this, here is a video of my biopsy experience. So the results came back and the doc found cancer. I am an intermediate risk group. Prostate cancer is very treatable cancer and is slow growing. Men in the low-risk group often are not even treated but watched. They will die of old age first. But being in the intermediate risk group, I…

Okay, well, we are on the calendar for removal of my prostate.  That will happen on March 19. I think I will be staying overnight.  Then I get to live a week with a catheter.  Oh joy, oh delight! But then it will be done. I go in on the 12th to talk to the doctor about the procedure and preparations. That should be straight forward. I thank the Lord for a real peace about the whole thing.  I would normally be fretting in the corner like a little girl but I have felt unusually fine about the whole thing. Well, the Lord has always been there for me. I…

So I had a pre-op meeting Monday with my doctor. I will begin a special liquid only diet on Sunday. Then I will eat nothing on Monday. I go in Monday at 11am. The surgery is at 1pm. It should last 2 or 3 hours. I will stay overnight and come home Tuesday as long as there are no complications. Then I live a week with a catheter and after that, everything should be fine and over.

March 19 –  We arrived at the hospital at 11 AM to prep for my operation. I went into a small surgery room where they get you ready and the nurse got me changed, cleaned and prepped for IVs. Out of the blue an old church friend who worked at the hospital stop by and prayed with this for minute. That was nice. Then shortly before 1 PM, they wheeled me into the operating room. Now this procedure was going to be a robotic procedure with laparoscopy. The room looked like a Star Trek set with large lights and large stainless steel equipment all over the place. They placed me…

On Monday, March 26, I visited my urologist to have my catheter removed. The previous week had been difficult, but without incident. The doctor removed the catheter and I went home with a follow up appointment in 5 weeks. That evening, Deni went to visit her brother and sister-in-law who were in town. While she was out, my bladder started spasming with extreme pain. I was not able to get out of bed. I called her and she came home and gave me a strong pain pill. i was able to sleep that night, but the next morning, I was still not able to get out of bed without extreme…

So now I am back home. It is Thursday, March 29. My catheter is back in. My infection is gone and I am weak but improving. On Monday, April 2, I woke at 4:30 am with instructions to remove my catheter. I removed it in preparation for an appt later with my urologist. At the appointment, my urologist was glad to see me doing well without the catheter, but had me come Tuesday to check me again. Monday night, my bladder just sort of kicked into gear and has been working well since. I have follow up appointments with both my doctors but am finally on the mend. Today I…

Okay, I just had my first PSA test after my surgery. The idea is that with no prostate, my PSA should be 0.0. Well, mine is 0.1. My doctor says its nothing to worry about. We will test again in 8 weeks. He expects it will be 0.0 by then. A reading other than zero means that for some reason, PSA is still in the system. It could be that it has not all been expelled. It could also mean the doctors missed a piece of my prostate. And since my prostate was 70% cancerous, that would not be a good thing. The bottom line: we keep a close look…

Sucks to be old. But first the good news. My last PSA test showed about .05. That’s not 0 but it is lower than previously. My doctor says as long as it doesn’t start climbing, I’m in the clear. The not so good news is that I have developed either a complication or a new issue. Blood in the urine and passing what looks like small blood clots. It may be nothing but we have to do some testing to eliminate possibilities. Therefore, I am scheduled for a CT scan in May, possibly followed by a cystoscope. Old age is not for sissies.

In 2020, I noticed I had blood in my urine a couple of times. I also had passed some tissue of some kind a few times. My primary care physician had me do a urine test and a blood test and an X-ray. He concluded there was nothing seriously wrong. I was still seeing my urologist every 6 months for follow ups on my prostate cancer. During my next appointment, I mentioned the blood and tissue in my urine. My urologist answered unequivocally, “This means we need an CT scan and maybe a cystoscopy.” Well, to make a long story short, there were indicators I had bladder cancer. We followed…

I’m on two regimens; 1)my BCG treatment where I am finishing my first maintenance series of three treatments one week apart. Then I’m off for 6 months. Well, not really because the other regimen is 2) quarterly Cysoscopies where the doctor checks to see if the cancer is growing back. If it is, then I go in to the hospital to have the cancerous tumors removed from inside my bladder. I’ve had three cysoscopies so far, resulting in three hospital visits. So I expect to be reasonably busy with this whole thing. The good news is that as long as we stay ahead of the cancer, I will not die…

I went in for my quarterly check. New cancer growth was very minimal for the first time. The doctor was able to remove it right there in the office so I didn’t need a hospital visit. Hopefully this will continue so I can hopefully do this less often. I’m still on BCG treatments. That entails 5 more series of 3 weekly treatments separated by 6 month periods. When these are over, all that will be left are the quarterly checkups – maybe by then they will be twice a year. That would be nice. My next checkup is in one week. I’m very late with this report.

Well, I forgot to update last month when I had another cysoscopy. We found a tiny bit of cancer regrowth and we’re able to scrape it out there in the office – no hospital visit. Last week (1/17/22) I started my next BCG treatment. There are a total of 3 so I have the 2nd one tomorrow and the last one in 2 weeks. Then I get a 6 month break I think. Maybe it’s a 3 month break – I’m starting to forget. Anyhow everything is fine. There is no bad news.

Well, I just had another visit to the OR to scrape out some cancer growth in my bladder. It has generally been routine. But this time the doctor found “BCG refractory carcinoma in situ”. That means he found cancer that is resistant to the BCG treatments I’ve been having. Fortunately there has been no penetration of the bladder wall but this cancer presents a danger of that happening. So it seems we need to step it up a notch. So I am being referred to Dr. Jonathan Wright at the UW. And may be facing a cystectomy, loss of my bladder with a urine bag hanging on my side. There…

Since seeing Dr Wright at the UW, we did another induction series of 6 BCG treatments. Two days ago, I went into the hospital and they took some biopsies. Next week, I should find out if the BCG is working on my refractory carcinoma in situ. If it is, then I will most likely continue with maintenance BCG treatments every 6 months or so. If not, I will need to move on to the next step. That will be one of 2 choices. I can either start a trial where they are testing a drug to kill this kind of cancer OR I can have my bladder taken out. We…

Well, I got some good news after my procedure. Dr Evans found NO cancer in my bladder. The biopsy he took to check and see if we defeated the CIS came back negative. That’s real good news. My BCG treatments can kill CIS and it seems it has. Now there is still a 2nd type cancer. I don’t know exactly what to call it so I’ll just call it the Ta cancer. This is the cancer we have been chasing for the last 2 years and going in periodically to “mow the grass” in my bladder. It is hindered by my BCG treatments but is not killed by it. It…

It’s September 2023 and a lot has happened since my last post. The CIS cancer came back and we tried a maintenance dose of BCG. The CIS cancer remained. So Dr Wright is now saying no more BCG. We initially decided to participate in a trial scheduled for October that would be a chemo drug that shows a lot of promise. There was a year of treatment mapped out. But I got a call from Dr Wright and he said the company doing the testing cannot assure him they will start in October like they had planned. Now I have opted out of the trial and instead have decided to…