Welcome


Welcome.

When I wrote that banner above, I was just days into this adventure. I'm a pretty analytical guy, and the simple act of writing every day helped me wrap my head around the fact that I had just introduced the word "cancer" into my vocabulary, and it helped me rationalize my treatment options. It also helped keep friends and family informed on my status.

Those daily updates tapered off to weekly updates and eventually to monthly updates (which I continue to do on the 11th of every month, the anniversary date of being told I have cancer).

I've kept this blog going because I remember how helpful it was for me to hear first-hand experiences of other prostate cancer patients. I wanted to return the favor by sharing my own journey in order to educate others and increase prostate cancer awareness.

But I wanted it to be a truthful sharing of details, so you will quickly see that I didn't sugar-coat much of anything. That means that you'll find some pretty graphic descriptions of the male anatomy and biological functions in this blog.

Finally, if you're reading this as a fellow prostate cancer patient, please understand that I am not a medical professional, and you should not construe any of the content of this blog as medical advice. Each case is unique, so please solicit the advice of your own medical team.

I wish you all the best as you go through your own journey.

-- Dan

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Month 14 - New Year!

Happy New Year!  Hopefully, this year will be a bit better than last.

The holidays were generally good for me with the exception of catching a stomach bug that was going around.  Let's just say that stress incontinence was the least of my worries for about 30 hours beginning at 6:00 AM on Monday, 26 December.  At least mine waited to kick in.  My sister and brother-in-law suffered through it beginning Christmas Eve, and my nephew's step son fell victim to the bug on Christmas day.

Later this week I get my blood drawn for my one-year PSA test.  I'll get the results on 19 January, so keep your fingers crossed.  I hope that I won't get as worked up about this round of tests as I did for the six month test back in August.  I'm sure that I will for a little while.  I mean, really, if the PSA comes back showing something, then that means the cancer is elsewhere--bones or organs--and that will be much more problematic to treat.

I'm beginning to think that I'm about as good as I'm going to get when it comes to the stress incontinence.  I just haven't noticed any real improvements since the last posting or two.  I'll talk to the surgeon about it when I get my results. 

It's not that it's all that bad...  But it's enough of a nuisance to frustrate me.  Somedays are nearly perfectly dry; and then there's the off day where a pad might have been needed.  Unfortunately, I can't predict how the day will go.  It just happens.

So that's about it.  Look for a special post next week with the PSA results.
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