Harry's Prostate: 2014

Friday, August 8, 2014

On Our Way

Entry 67

Having been encouraged by my urologist/surgeon to enjoy the summer, I will return to see him in the fall after a six month period (instead of the usual three month interval) to have a check up. The last blood test in March revealed that my PSA is still slightly under 1 ng/ml. It's hard to believe that it has been more than four years since we learned that I had prostate cancer and began to explore the options for treatment.

The summer continues to be a busy time for me. I drove with a long time friend to Nova Scotia then flew home in June, drove to Vancouver and back in July, and tomorrow I'm heading out on a paddling adventure in northern Manitoba to commemorate Harcus Strachan, the only member of the Fort Garry Horse to receive a Victoria Cross and for whom a lake in Manitoba has been named. We will be placing an engraved aluminum plaque in his honour on the shore of the newly named Strachan Lake.

We expect to be on the water from August 10th until the 22nd.

Update: We have returned from the canoe trip. I added a few pictures below that were taken by Ed Loewen, one of the paddlers in our group.

Commemorative rock cairn beside plaque

Harry cooking

The paddling group. (left to right, Brian Greenberg, Joe Greenberg, Mike Sellors, Ed Loewen,

Bob Williams, Harry Stimson lying in front)

Bob Williams and Harry Stimson

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

2014: Fourth Year of the Journey

Entry 66
January 8, 2014

I had my first visit of the new year to Urologist/Surgeon Dr Jeff Saranchuk yesterday and for the most part it was positive.

The PSA # (Prostate Specific Antigen number) was up again. It has trended up over the last 9 months from a low of 0.01 ng/ml (negligible reading) to 0.33 to 0.66 to 0.96 (yesterday's readout).

The reason this reading is interesting is that the previous assessments indicate that the numbers are 'doubling' ie 0.33 to 0.66 ng/ml. In Urologist speak this means the 'velocity' (speed at which the cancer is recurring) and the 'volume', (the amount of cancer present) is doubling. This time however, it went from 0.66 to 0.96 ng/ml - it didn't double.

This at best is a minor accomplishment but in the big scheme of things it means the cancer is not moving fast, and, as measured by the PSA#, there isn't a lot of it - and that's a good thing.

To put this into perspective it still hasn't broken the solid number 1 yet. Prior to going in for the surgery to remove my prostate gland my PSA# went from 5 to 18 ng/ml in 18 months - the above numbers show it has taken 24 months just to go from 0.01 to 0.96 ng/ml! Yay!

So, all in all, pretty good news from my point of view. But - and there is always that word when it comes to cancer, the very fact that I have a PSA reading means the cancer has metastasized, in all probability into my lymph nodes. As Dr Saranchuk has pointed out, don't get too giddy about the low PSA. The doubling is the issue - it becomes a logarithmic equation. Now I don't know a logarithm from a ski pole but I do understand doubling - 1 becomes 2 , 2 becomes 4, 4 becomes 8, 8 becomes 16, 16 becomes 32 etc etc. Once it gets going it can happen in a hurry. That's why Cancer Care monitors me every 3 months.

So what happens next. Well - not much really - I keep doing what I have been doing. When the PSA# starts to ramp up again - and it will - I will go back on the ADT (androgen deprivation therapy) and hopefully it will do the same thing as last time and knock it back down to that negligible 0.01 number again. My body responded well to that treatment last time and I assume it will again. It is worth remarking that typically metastatic prostate cancer patients have to return to the ADT within a year of stopping. It would appear in my case that timeline will more than double! To me that's fantastic and a clear vindication of the route we chose to go in dealing with the disease.

One thing for sure, I feel considerably more myself off the therapy than on it. That comment may fall into the ' amazing grasp of the obvious ' category but nevertheless it's true. ADT is NOT chemotherapy - many people confuse the two - however it does come with its own set of side effects that are less than pleasant, but I hasten to add, tolerable. I find it very difficult to explain to people what it's like to function without testosterone.

We will see what the new year has in store.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this. All the best to you and yours for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.

Lunch with friends
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