Waiting For The Bell To Ring

It has been seventeen months since I went through radiation therapy for prostrate cancer. During these past seventeen months I have been taking blood test every three months to monitor the level of PSA in my blood. Remember in November, 2005 I told you that my PSA scores were 12.1 and 9.9 before radiation therapy. After treatment it should have dropped to near zero. Well, it never really got down anywhere close to zero. Six months after therapy, my best lowest number was 6.4. Unfortunately since then my PSA level has been rising consistently.

While my PSA has been rising, my doctor and I took a “let’s wait and see” approach rather than making a decision before we had more information. He said that a rising PSA score alone and without clinical symptoms don’t show the complete picture. So, taking blood test and having prostate examinations has been the order of the day. The hospital receptionist and parking attendants know me and my Tahoe on a first name basis.

My Oncologist and I decided that if the March PSA was still rising, I would need to have some scans done. He said that while my prostate feels normal, it may be that some of the cancer cells survived radiation. If this is the case, we need to find out why it is rising and from where it is coming. He said it could be coming from another place other than the treated source. And if the cancer has moved outside the prostate the more likely places it will go are the lymph nodes or bones. But he reminded that my Gleason score and MRI scan before treatment indicated early stages of prostate cancer and that it was confined to the prostrate.

Wednesday I underwent a CT scan and on Friday (3/9) I had a CAP scan. The CT scan looks at body tissue and CAP scan looks at bone mass. Wherever the source, old or new, the scans will tell. Monday I meet with Oncologist to look at the results of the scans and talk about treatment options, depending on what the scans found.

When I started radiation therapy twenty months ago surgery, radiation therapy, seed implants, hydrotherapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy were some of my options for treatment. I entered into a protocol or clinical trial where the number of my treatments was reduced and the dose of radiation I got was increased. It wasn’t cutting edge, but it was relatively new.

Today, twenty-months since I was diagnosed, there are so many new treatment options. Laparoscopic is the newest type of robotically controlled surgery to remove the prostrate. A cancer vaccine combined with hormone therapy can help patients with recurrence of prostate cancer. A lot of the clinical trials and treatment options are dealing more with helping your body immune system fight the cancer rather than radical surgery. I remain very optimistic.

Sitting and waiting for ten months has not been easy. It has been dreadfully tough. When I was going for daily treatment, I felt like I was fighting back. I was active. Waiting is not proactive. Waiting is not fighting. It’s like sitting on the stool in your corner between rounds waiting for the bell to ring. Waiting for the bell to ring signaling you won the fight or signaling let the next round commence.

What ever it may be, “Let the fight begin!”

Later, on down the road.