The Daily Grind

Every morning when I awake whether it is a 6:30 am or 7:30 am or 8:30 am, my first order of business after putting on my pants is to take my thyroid pill and then make sure that I don't eat anything for 30 minutes which is usually very easy since I have to be up and about for 3-4 hours before I feel like eating anything.

My routine continues with giving a small snack to our 3 cats who by this time are loudly crying as they encourage me to hurry.  With the treat dispensed, I put on my shirt and prepare myself a cup of coffee while the cats clean themselves and disappear to catch up on must needed rest.

With a cup of coffee in hand, I set about watching FOX NEWS and drink my coffee until I realize that they are covering the same news over and over again, except approaching it from different angles by asking different people the same question.

The television is turned off and I retrieve my laptop and begin updating my blogs, the first of which is my Cancer Blog (this one) which I have deemed to be the most critical and reflective of my current health situation.  Today, I am feeling a little concerned but not stressed over the biopsy that has been requested on my prostate by my Urologist...  and, while he does not seem too concerned there is definitely an urgency in setting the date for the procedure.

The odds are that if I have Prostate Cancer that it is the slow growing kind based upon the lack of symptoms that are being witnessed and conveyed.

It the tests prove positive, this will be the THIRD CANCER that has invaded my body since I turned 60 years of age, almost 13 years ago.  What a pisser.

VIDEO Conference with Urologist

Yesterday, I had another video chat with my Urologist as a follow-up to recent blood work at his office and my PSA numbers had dropped from over 8 to over 6 which according to him was still a little high and I again listened to him explaining how this could be nothing or it could be something and that some Urologists would go ahead and perform a biopsy while others would wait... even though there are some fast growing and "wicked" prostate cancers.

He suggested that since there were no other adverse body symptoms that I should wait and in 3 months do another PSA test and see... if the results stay the same or reduce, then we wait some more but if the result are higher then we do a biopsy.

Interestingly, this is exactly how my treatment for Lymphoma began... wait and see... then 6 months later I began treatment and it has never ended... and, according to the Oncologist will never end...

Through Another Lens

A couple of days ago, I talked with my new Urologist about potential prostate cancer via video conference (like Skype I suppose) and while our sound did not work as was intended, we talked to each other on the telephone.  Interestingly, he said that of his 6 video calls that week, he experienced audio problems with 5 of them.

Our meeting lasted about 12-15 minutes and he patiently described the situation about having a high PSA number of 8+ as not being that alarming since it had only happened once, especially since I was not experience the other, more traditional, symptoms of prostate cancer.  He wanted to do another blood test in a couple of months to see if the PSA increased/decreased or stayed the same.

The next step was to do a biopsy of the prostate but because of COVID-19, no biopsies were being performed unless the patient had a PSA of 15 or higher.

He reassured me that prostate cancer was slow growing and since this was my first high PSA that there was nothing to worry about, since it was very early in the process and especially since prostate cancer typically was slow growing.  He also answered my question with a NO that there was no connection between prostate cancer and either Lymphoma or Melanoma; although there had been some evidence that treatment for Melanoma had helped prostate cancer patients.

What I liked about this video conference was that I did not have to leave my house and my first thought was that this is the way it should be normally for all FIRST TIME visits to keep patients from driving to the office and spending time with others in a waiting room for 60 minutes or so...   Perhaps, some follow-up visits could happen like this as well.

HOPEFULLY, this corona virus will change how we conduct future healthcare in this country.

About Prostate Cancer

Video Conferencing

A video conference is a live, visual connection between two or more people residing in separate locations for the purpose of communication. At its simplest, video conferencing provides transmission of static images and text between two locations.

This Thursday, I will be having a video conference with my Prostate doctor because of COVID-19 and while that my be convenience, it is not without concern:

The main concern is that there can be NO PHYSICAL examination

On the other side of the coin, I strongly believe that video conferencing will be the future of healthcare in this country...  especially when it comes to follow-ups which is typically handled my Nurse Practitioners and not the actual physician.

This will be my first appointment with a Prostate Specialist and for the most part, I would suspect that all that will happen is a few questions asked to try and pinpoint the situation and then set up future tests to verify the diagnosis.

As I understand Prostate Cancer... it grows slowly...  so, there is plenty of time...