Hi, Kiddo.
I just received a phone call from the doctor who did my June 27 saturation biopsy, which confirmed that I have prostate cancer. Only 1 percent of the prostate was sampled in the biopsy, and the cancer that was found from that sample didn't appear particularly aggressive. But it was something to keep an eye on.
At the time of the most recent biopsy, my PSA had been measured at 19. It is now 25, a 31 percent increase in less than three months.
In May 2006, the score was 8.1, when 4 would be the standard range. It climbed and fell a bit over time, but in May 2014 -- eight years later -- the score registered at 8.9. Sometime after that it began climbing, and now the climb seems to be accelerating. This has my doctor's attention.
My understanding is that radiation is a very effective way to kill off prostate cancer, so I am scheduled for a consult with a radiologist on October 6, after I return from a road trip to Colorado. If the radiologist gives the go-ahead, then my doctor will have me in the office for a procedure very much like a standard biopsy to place what he calls "markers," and what I call "targets" in my prostate so that there will be a means of aiming the X-ray machine at the offending organ. You'll recall, I hope, my description of my non-anasthesetic biopsies over the years. The procedure will be something like that. A little uncomfortable, but nothing miserable.
The greatest inconvenience will be that, if I have the radiation treatments, they will require me to be on hand for several office visits, which may postpone my plans to visit you this winter. I'll let you know more when I know more. Because of the timing, whether I go ahead with radiation treatments and how that will affect my travel schedule won't be resolved until October 6.
Sorry about that.
Love,
Dad
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| Cancer--The Crab |
