Special Update - PSA Undetectable

Another round of good news: My PSA results were undetectable at the 21-month mark, so I remain cancer-free. 

The next go around will be in May 2013--back to a six month monitoring schedule.

Two Years

It was two years ago today that the word "cancer" officially became part of my personal vocabulary.

It certainly was an emotional day, and the ensuing treatment option research and selection was one of the largest emotional roller coaster rides I've been on.  Still, the surgery has been a success in eradicating the cancer, but not without some costs.

I don't think there's a day that's gone by where I haven't thought about having had cancer, but it's not always in a bad way.  In other words, I don't dwell on it.  Instead, my thoughts around cancer are focused more on increasng awareness and sharing my experience.  Yes, there are practical thoughts about stress incontinence and sexual function, but those are minor and part of every day life now.

The other thing that I really don't give much thought to at all is the chance of recurrence.  Yes, it's a little cloud that follows me around, but I certainly don't lose sleep thinking about the possibility.  I'd much rather focus on doing the fun things in life now, on the off chance that the cancer does return later.

None of us would have chosen this path for ourselves.  But we can choose to educate ourselves after the initial diagnosis; evaluate all of our treatment options and select the one that best fits our own personal situation; understand and accept the risks; and then live with the outcome knowing that we made the best possible decision with the information we had at the time, and with the support of our families and friends. 

The operative word, of course, being "live."

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Wow.  Hard to believe, too, that this little ol' blog that I started initially to keep friends and family informed, has had over 7,000 views in those two years.  Mind-boggling.

 

That said, however, the reason I kept the blog going was to share my experience with others diagnosed with prostate cancer, so I guess I've succeeded with that.

 

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I go for my next PSA screening this week, with the results given to me early next week.  Keep your fingers crossed.

 



Month 23 - Itching Revisited

It was two years ago that I went in for my physical and my doctor felt a mass on my prostate during a DRE and kicked off this journey.  Hard to believe.

 

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As I've gained more experience blogging, I've noticed that the two most common sources of traffic for this blog are Google searches on:

 

1. "Bend over and spread your cheeks."  (I won't even begin to wonder why people Google that...)

 

2. "Prostate cancer and itching."

 

 

BIOLOGY AHEAD



 

Looking back at my post on Day 70, I talked about the topic, but only superficially, so I want to revisit it and provide more details about what I was experiencing.

 

As a refresher, I had my radical prostatectomy on 4 January 2011.  Through mid-June of 2011, I experienced a pretty constant itching sensation in my urethra that varied in intensity.  Early on, it was pretty strong and nearly constant. As time progressed, the intensity would wane and there were periods where I would be itch-free.

 

The thing that bothered me wasn't so much that the itching was completely driving me nuts, it was that it made me feel as though I had to urinate nearly all the time, even though I really didn't have to go.  That made me run to the bathroom much more frequently than I needed to.  And when I did urinate, the itching sensation often returned shortly after.

 

There were no signs of any urinary tract infection at my PSA screening in late February and, I'll have to admit, being a stubborn/foolish guy, I really didn't pursue the issue with my urologist.  I just endured it, thinking it was part of the package deal.  I don't recommend that approach.

 

In June 2011, it was pretty interesting in that the itching sensation pretty much stopped suddenly, as though a light switch had been thrown.  That pleased me to no end.

 

So now, 21 months after my surgery, I'm 98.7% itch-free.  The only time that I get an itching sensation in my urethra is after a stress incontinence event.  (By the way, my stress incontinece has improved significantly as well.)  If I have a substantial sneeze or cough, I can sense that a little urine will make its way into my urethra, but not all the way out the end of my penis.  When that happens, I itch until I urinate and clear the urethra.

 

So I hope that provides some better and more meaningful insight into my experience with prostate cancer and itching.

 

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Okay...  So a little editorial venting here...

 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and, if you watched any NFL football games this weekend, you saw many players and coaches decked out in pink Nike shoes, pink wrist bands, pink towels, and pink ribbons.

 

Don't get me wrong.  Breast cancer is a horrible disease and every effort should be made to eradicate it.

 

Yet the NFL didn't do squat for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month last month.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  Nary a blue ribbon to be found let alone blue shoes, wrist bands, or towels.

 

Considering that about 10 men on each team will be affected by prostate cancer, it's pretty sad that they don't acknowledge it even exists.  Imagine how many men they can reach with a message of awareness over the course of four Sundays in September?

 

Guys need to get much better at increasing prostate cancer awareness (the main reason I've kept this blog going) and do much better at marketing the issue and cause.

 

Alright.  I'll step down off my soap box now...