Five months ago, life was normal.
Father, grandfather and great grandfather in retirement. Along with raising an 11 year old grandson. Enjoyment of life with SS and Medicare.
During a normal 6 month checkup , it all changed.
I cannot stress enough for all men to always get their PSA checked regularly ! Wives please be diligent and make them have it checked! That alone has most likely saved my life!! No symptoms whatsoever, NONE!
A high PSA level in my regular 6 month bloodwork lead to a trip to the Urologist.
From there some scans and biopsy confirmed high level stage 3 prostate cancer. At the same time, abnormalities were seen on another PET scan. Many tests and biopsy later ultimately showed stage 4 Renal cell carcinoma tumor on right kidney which has metastasized into bone on shoulder and vertebrae.
From there Hormone treatment was started for the Prostate cancer which deprives it from testosterone and keeps it a bay while treatments start for the RCC. Radiation treatments for the shoulder and spine have been completed and Medical Oncology has immunotherapy in progress to “teach” my immune system how to fight the cancer cells as opposed to getting chemo which attacks the cancer and has many side effects!
This can stop the growth and stop any more cells from migrating elsewhere to attach! Time will only tell at this point , with the hope it works which will give the time needed to move forward Hopefully the next PET scan will be clean of any other areas of metastasis, so we can focus on removal of the kidney and then radiation for the prostate cancer. A long journey thus far and much further to go at this stage.
Therapy isn’t causing too many side effects and I feel good for most days with only slight fatigue.
The visits and treatments can feel overwhelming at times due to the costs since while medicare does help, it still lacks the benefits and bills keep coming due to the high out of pocket which has skyrocketed this year.
Costs are ridiculous today with the high out of pocket in today’s Medicare Advantage and copays on tests and hospital care.
All contributions are so much appreciated even if its just a thoughtful comment or prayer!
I cannot stress enough: Care is given in many ways for support.
Couple of critical updates, when PET scan takes place later this month and trip to Oncology Radiologists afterwards.
Father, grandfather and great grandfather in retirement. Along with raising an 11 year old grandson. Enjoyment of life with SS and Medicare.
During a normal 6 month checkup , it all changed.
I cannot stress enough for all men to always get their PSA checked regularly ! Wives please be diligent and make them have it checked! That alone has most likely saved my life!! No symptoms whatsoever, NONE!
A high PSA level in my regular 6 month bloodwork lead to a trip to the Urologist.
From there some scans and biopsy confirmed high level stage 3 prostate cancer. At the same time, abnormalities were seen on another PET scan. Many tests and biopsy later ultimately showed stage 4 Renal cell carcinoma tumor on right kidney which has metastasized into bone on shoulder and vertebrae.
From there Hormone treatment was started for the Prostate cancer which deprives it from testosterone and keeps it a bay while treatments start for the RCC. Radiation treatments for the shoulder and spine have been completed and Medical Oncology has immunotherapy in progress to “teach” my immune system how to fight the cancer cells as opposed to getting chemo which attacks the cancer and has many side effects!
This can stop the growth and stop any more cells from migrating elsewhere to attach! Time will only tell at this point , with the hope it works which will give the time needed to move forward Hopefully the next PET scan will be clean of any other areas of metastasis, so we can focus on removal of the kidney and then radiation for the prostate cancer. A long journey thus far and much further to go at this stage.
Therapy isn’t causing too many side effects and I feel good for most days with only slight fatigue.
The visits and treatments can feel overwhelming at times due to the costs since while medicare does help, it still lacks the benefits and bills keep coming due to the high out of pocket which has skyrocketed this year.
Costs are ridiculous today with the high out of pocket in today’s Medicare Advantage and copays on tests and hospital care.
All contributions are so much appreciated even if its just a thoughtful comment or prayer!
I cannot stress enough: Care is given in many ways for support.
Couple of critical updates, when PET scan takes place later this month and trip to Oncology Radiologists afterwards.