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Dunrobin · 40 · 13812

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Offline Dunrobin

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Just a quick update:  I got the results of my blood work, and my doctor is very pleased with the results of the hormone suppression therapy so far.  My PSA level, which is normally supposed to be at or below 4.500 ng/ml, had shot up to just over 100 ng/ml by this past Dec. 21st, when we started the therapy.  My result this week was a reading of 0.158 ng/ml - damned near zero!  The PSA is an indicator of cancerous activity, so the low reading means it has been stopped in its tracks (and I have reason to think it may have even shrunk a little.)

I go in for another injection in July (the day before my birthday, no less.  Happy birthday, here's a jab in the butt!)  They'll do another blood lab then as well, and, depending on those results, I'll probably have to go in for some more imaging scans so they can compare them over several months.  I guess at that point they'll be making recommendations on removing it.

So I guess the hot flashes and total loss of interest in sex are worth it, if it keeps the cancer at bay.   [scratchchin]


Offline HomokHarcos

Great to hear this news, thanks for giving us updates. Hopefully you can still enjoy your birthday this year, despite the circumstances.


Offline Shemp_Diesel

Glad to hear you're doing better Rob. Here's hoping for the day when you're totally cancer free....
Talbot's body is the perfect home for the Monster's brain, which I will add to and subtract from in my experiments.


Offline Paul Pain

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Rob, glad to see you're doing so well.  Maybe, just maybe, you'll be one of those tough guys who completely kicks cancer in the nuts. [pie]
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Offline Dunrobin

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Great to hear this news, thanks for giving us updates. Hopefully you can still enjoy your birthday this year, despite the circumstances.

Glad to hear you're doing better Rob. Here's hoping for the day when you're totally cancer free....

Rob, glad to see you're doing so well.  Maybe, just maybe, you'll be one of those tough guys who completely kicks cancer in the nuts. [pie]

Thanks, guys!   [stooges]


Offline Dunrobin

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Hi everyone!

I know it's been quite a while since I last updated this thread, but to be honest there hasn't really been anything more to say, as everything has been pretty much the same.  I've been continuing the treatments, and today I got confirmation that it has been working! 

The mass in my right pelvis has shrunk significantly.   Originally, it measured 8.0 x 5.2 cm, but today it measured 2.8 x 1.6 cm,  It's down to around a tenth of its original size.  My enlarged prostate has also gone down a bit, from 6.5 cm across down to 4.9 cm.

So I guess the hot flashes, no sex drive and lack of energy have been worth it.  lol  I'll post another update after I hear from my doctor on where we go from here.


Offline metaldams

I’ve been listening to really long progressive rock live albums this week - a sure sign my sex drive is also gone.  [pie]

Glad you’re doing well, Rob.  That’s really good news and I hope it continues.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Dunrobin

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I’ve been listening to really long progressive rock live albums this week - a sure sign my sex drive is also gone.  [pie]

Nonsense.  PINK FLOYD RULES!   [headbang]

Quote
Glad you’re doing well, Rob.  That’s really good news and I hope it continues.

Thanks.  I haven't heard from the urologist yet, but I'm hoping they'll say it's small enough now to easily remove the remaining bits altogether.  :)


Offline Paul Pain

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Rob, this is fantastic!  Thanks for the update!

Also, yes, Pink Floyd is awesome!  But, I've got to get on with these reviews... [pie]
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Offline Dunrobin

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Metaldams made a comment in a PM that made me realize it's been several months since I posted an update, and since a lot has been happening I decided that I should share it here as well.  :)

Just to recap, throughout 2022 I was receiving quarterly injections of a drug call Luprin, and taking a daily dose of bicalumatide, which shuts down the production of testosterone, which is turn starves the prostate cancer.  So far, so good, and I even had a consultation in late December with a Radiologist to discuss radiation therapy to finish the cancer off.

But life interfered.  It turns out that when you buy a nice, brand-spanking new van from a dealership, they give you the cheapest set of tires they can get away with (at least if you're not paying attention.)  We hadn't noticed before, but when winter hit we realized that the tires were practically bald.  Radiation therapy would require me to make an 80-mile round trip down into the city for the 20-minute procedure every weekday for a month, and I wasn't prepared to do that in a west Michigan winter on bald tires.  So that all got put on hold until we could get new tires (we did, btw) and/or the weather improved.

And in the meantime my work life suddenly became a hell of a lot busier.  The hospital I work for decided to shift all of their current database systems into a unified Oracle cloud system, and it has turned out to be a much bigger project than they initially anticipated.  They know that I have database and SQL experience (I've been running my own server for the finance department for 20 years), so I got recruited to help them extract data for the conversion.  It's (for me, at least,) fun and challenging, as I've never worked with any of those databases before, nor the applications that use them, and they have little or no documentation for them.  So I get to blindly grope in the dark, so to speak, trying to figure out where the data we need to extract is stored.  It's always so satisfying when you realize that you are finally pulling together the right data!  lol

But that's been keeping me distracted, and I suddenly realized this past weekend that I couldn't remember going down to the city in January to get my quarterly Luprin injection.  I checked my Google calendar (I've always been absentminded, so I rely on it to remember things I need to do,) but the last entry was for the appt. back in October.  I always make my next appt. while I'm there at the urologist's, and I usually enter it into my Google calendar before I leave, but I must have gotten distracted in October and forgot to do it.

So, anyway, I called the urologist's on Monday, told them what happened, and scheduled an appointment for today to get the injection.  But when the nurse called me yesterday to confirm the appt., I told her what had happened (apparently whoever I talked to Monday didn't pass it on) and she sort of freaked, since it's been 5 months since my last injection.  I guess there's a specific sequence for these injections, and apparently since I went so long since the last one we have to start over again. So I'm re-scheduled now for this coming Tuesday to re-start the injections, and I'll probably have to get more blood work done.  Oh well.

So that's my news.  I'm feeling okay - I mean other than getting more arthritic, cracking and creaking when I stand up and move, having little energy and absolutely NO sex drive - but otherwise I'm fine.  lol


Offline Paul Pain

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Rob,

Hard to believe that a drug that stops testosterone production would kill the sex drive.  Almost like that stuff is involved in getting a boner.

Hopefully the next medical report is positive!
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Offline Dunrobin

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Rob,

Hard to believe that a drug that stops testosterone production would kill the sex drive.  Almost like that stuff is involved in getting a boner.

Hopefully the next medical report is positive!

It's called "chemical castration" when they give it to sex offenders, but for prostate cancer it's called "hormone suppression therapy."  It's effective in both cases.  lol

Yeah, I'm hoping I didn't mess up too much by being absent-minded.  I'll know more next week.


Offline metaldams

Definitely keep us updated some more Rob.  Hopefully this injection procedure gets back on track and everything is fine.  You’re in my prayers.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline archiezappa

It's been a long time since I've been on here. Sorry to hear about your illness. I hope that you get to feeling better soon.


Offline Dunrobin

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Wow!  I can't believe that it has been more than a year since I last posted an update.  It's been a hell of a year, too.  A lot has happened:
  • My little brother, Pete (Piper), had married a Filipina woman in 2022.  After getting stymied at bringing her to the U.S. quickly, he decided last April, 2023, to move to the Philippines instead, so he sold the house we had bought together in July, forcing me and his handicapped ex-girlfriend to both move within 5 months.
  • Initially, I considered moving to the Philippines with him, but I still wasn't ready to retire, and then I got an excellent job offer from the hospital's IT department, so I decided to stay in the U.S. and keep working.
  • Pete's ex-GF was having a hard time finding a handicapped accessible apartment that she could afford on disability, so I offered to find something that suit both of us.  I eventually found a place to rent that I could afford that would work for us, but it's half the size that our old home was, so we had a hell of time figuring out what we could take with us.  I ended up giving away a number of pieces of furniture  It was a very trying experience, especially considering that we were leaving what was supposed to be our "forever" home.
  • Then, on April 2nd, my little brother suddenly died, just days before his 62nd birthday.  He had been rushed to the hospital due to an infection he got in a hernia that he hadn't gotten treatment for, and he had a heart attack before they could even stabilize him for treatment.  They were unable to revive him.  Even though I had been mad at him, I was devastated by the loss.  (Still am, but I'm learning to deal with it.)

So it has been a very stressful year. 

On the plus side, however, the hormone suppression therapy has kept the prostate cancer at bay. Since I started taking it, my PSA levels have been consistently below 1 ng/ml; normal for a man my age is < 4.5 ng/ml, so the treatment is working.  The negative side of the treatment, however, is that because I have no testosterone, I have no energy.  It seems like a major effort to do anything.  I also eat too much and have become as fat as a sea cow, which doesn't help.  lol

And in 10 days I'll be 69 years old.  How the hell that happened is beyond me.  At one time I doubted that I'd make it past 30.