Even though these last 3 months have proven to be a bit of a roller coaster for us, my family and I have been blessed countless times this year; our 25th wedding anniversary in August, our family trip to Canada, great doctors and nurses, fantastic post-surgical test results, and supportive family and friends like yourselves.
We wish you all, and your families, a blessed and safe Thanksgiving Day.
Turkey for everyone! Cheers!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Drum roll please . . . .
Today was my 6-week post surgical follow-up appointment.
After a more than two hour delay sitting the waiting room, Dr. G's nurse practitioner, Anna, came out to talk to us. With a big smile on her face, she says "Isn't that great news?". What is she talking about?
As it turns out, she was talking about the PSA level from my recent blood work. Assuming we had called to get the results, she came in with a big smile on her face and excitement in her voice. Anna went back to her office to get the paperwork.
There's another great reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving. My PSA level is at a "near undetectable" level. This means that the surgery was successful and that it seems as if the cancer has all been removed. YAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
So for now, we're thrilled and feel very blessed with this news. In the coming months I'll continue to to have PSA tests to be sure that the level doesn't rise. Once the 3 month healing process has passed, I'll begin radiation treatments to assure that any cancer cells that are roaming around are killed off.
Happy Thanksgiving!
After a more than two hour delay sitting the waiting room, Dr. G's nurse practitioner, Anna, came out to talk to us. With a big smile on her face, she says "Isn't that great news?". What is she talking about?
As it turns out, she was talking about the PSA level from my recent blood work. Assuming we had called to get the results, she came in with a big smile on her face and excitement in her voice. Anna went back to her office to get the paperwork.
There's another great reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving. My PSA level is at a "near undetectable" level. This means that the surgery was successful and that it seems as if the cancer has all been removed. YAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
So for now, we're thrilled and feel very blessed with this news. In the coming months I'll continue to to have PSA tests to be sure that the level doesn't rise. Once the 3 month healing process has passed, I'll begin radiation treatments to assure that any cancer cells that are roaming around are killed off.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tests, news and yet another personal word or two.
Today I have my six week follow-up appointment. The results of my first blood PSA test since surgery should be in and we'll know from those results whether or not there's a significant amount of cancer still in my system.
Overall I'm feeling really good and just dealing with some extended discomfort from the surgery. I'm only able to sit comfortably for about 2 hours or so, but this is improving. Far from the amount of time I sit at my work station when at work.
I'm walking about 2 miles each day - weather dependent - in order to get some exercise and help the healing process. I am hoping to be able return to work soon, but my office seems to want me to wait until I'm able to work the full 10 hour day though I could come in and work about 6 hours or so and be pretty productive in that time.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
With all that drivel aside, a more important thought , , ,
As we in the US approach a national holiday where we reflect on the daily blessings of our lives and on the country, those of us who are facing a cancer diagnosis, nearing a surgery or are under treatment have many things to reflect upon. In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, and for the battle that many of us here are facing, I'd like to present these words from Ralph Waldo Emerson.
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense." –– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Peace, blessings and good health to you all. Enjoy this day of Thanksgiving with your family and friends.
CJP
<><
Overall I'm feeling really good and just dealing with some extended discomfort from the surgery. I'm only able to sit comfortably for about 2 hours or so, but this is improving. Far from the amount of time I sit at my work station when at work.
I'm walking about 2 miles each day - weather dependent - in order to get some exercise and help the healing process. I am hoping to be able return to work soon, but my office seems to want me to wait until I'm able to work the full 10 hour day though I could come in and work about 6 hours or so and be pretty productive in that time.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
With all that drivel aside, a more important thought , , ,
As we in the US approach a national holiday where we reflect on the daily blessings of our lives and on the country, those of us who are facing a cancer diagnosis, nearing a surgery or are under treatment have many things to reflect upon. In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, and for the battle that many of us here are facing, I'd like to present these words from Ralph Waldo Emerson.
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense." –– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Peace, blessings and good health to you all. Enjoy this day of Thanksgiving with your family and friends.
CJP
<><
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Five weeks out . . .
and getting better. Yesterday marked the 5th week since my radical prostatecomy on Oct. 14th.
Time has passed kind of quickly, though boredom has crept in on occasion. I sometimes feel like I've missed an entire season as the leaves are now off the trees and Thanksgiving is just a week away.
I feel much better, though there is still some discomfort while sitting upright for extended periods of time. I'm sleeping a bit better at night, so I'm not nearly as tired through out the day, but I'm usually ready for bed by about 8pm. I'm not sleeping through the night yet. I still wake up 3 or 4 times a night; get up to stretch my legs a bit, trip to the bathroom, and try to fall back to sleep.
I've been out walking for at least two miles a day for the last week, either around the neighborhood, or at St. Mary's park in Bridgeport along Long Island Sound. It helps to get my legs back under me and lessen the muscle pain I've been experiencing, as well as some of the pelvic discomfort related to the surgery.
Tomorrow, I go for my first blood work since the surgery. If all's right with the world, I'll have a PSA reading that is the vicinity of 0.05, down from my pre-surgical level of 63. Next Tuesday, we'll be meeting with my surgeon for a six week follow-up appointment. We're looking for continued good news.
Time has passed kind of quickly, though boredom has crept in on occasion. I sometimes feel like I've missed an entire season as the leaves are now off the trees and Thanksgiving is just a week away.
I feel much better, though there is still some discomfort while sitting upright for extended periods of time. I'm sleeping a bit better at night, so I'm not nearly as tired through out the day, but I'm usually ready for bed by about 8pm. I'm not sleeping through the night yet. I still wake up 3 or 4 times a night; get up to stretch my legs a bit, trip to the bathroom, and try to fall back to sleep.
I've been out walking for at least two miles a day for the last week, either around the neighborhood, or at St. Mary's park in Bridgeport along Long Island Sound. It helps to get my legs back under me and lessen the muscle pain I've been experiencing, as well as some of the pelvic discomfort related to the surgery.
Tomorrow, I go for my first blood work since the surgery. If all's right with the world, I'll have a PSA reading that is the vicinity of 0.05, down from my pre-surgical level of 63. Next Tuesday, we'll be meeting with my surgeon for a six week follow-up appointment. We're looking for continued good news.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Almost four weeks post surgery . . .
Did I expect things to progress quickly? Yes, perhaps only because everything until this point has been happening quickly. Overall, I am feeling better. . . more mobile, stronger, and lighter having lost 24 pounds since surgery. (I don't, however recommend, the process)
With my catheter out after 3 weeks instead of one week, my urinary recovery has been delayed and slowed a bit. It's going to take me a bit more time before I am able to regain any kind of control . . . which I am only beginning to see signs of.
I am still having some leg pains due to positioning during surgery, but it's beginning to level out and reduce, though it does flare up at times.
It's supposed to make it to nearly 70 degrees today, so a couple of long walks are in my plans. If I was able to drive, I'd head down to the Fairfield beaches or St. Mary's park and walk around down there.
I had a nice surprise yesterday with the visit by some of my "Trainiac" friends. These "trainiacs" are some of my local friends who I first met when we moved to Connecticut four years ago during my daily commute into New York. Thanks so much to Sheila, Mark, Semi, Ben and Steve for stopping by, and for the basket of goodies and the gift certificate for a dinner out for Janet and I. Your visit, gifts and friendship mean a great deal to both Janet and I.
Thanks also to my friends Mark & Tess Szamatulski, home brewing authors and shop owners of Maltose Express in Monroe, CT. When I told Mark and Tess of my cancer and surgery, and the fact that I'll need to wait on my home brewing for a while as I cannot lift anything heavy for a number of months, they made a very generous offer.
Each year they do all-grain brewing demonstrations at their shop for their customers who may be interested in getting into the all-grain brewing process. Mark & Tess have offered to brew one of my recipes - my "Enrico's Holiday Hearth" holiday spiced English ale - instead of their planned ale recipe from their newly published third book. The 10 gallon batch they are going brew during the demonstration will be split into two 5 gallon batches. Five gallons available and be served at the brew shop during the holidays as one of their two samples they keep on tap. Tess and Mark have graciously offered to keg the second 5 gallons as a gift for me so that I have some fresh home brew around the house for the holidays. A very thoughtful gift from some good friends.
If you're in the area and are interested in seeing the batch brewed, their shop Maltose Express is located in Monroe, CT. The brewing demo will be done by their staff all-grain guru Dave Fitch and is scheduled to begin about 10am on Saturday, November 14th. Just go to http://www.maltose.com for directions and more information. Just click on the EVENTS button for additional info.
As I said from the very beginning of this journey, I'm going to make it through thanks to my Christian Faith, family, friends and my sense of humor. All of which remain totally intact.
- - - - - - - - - -
As a small note, one of my goals with this blog was to help spread the word about prostate cancer and how important early detection can be. I've received email messages from as many as 15 people - some friends, mostly strangers - letting me know that the telling of my experience(s) here has provided comfort, information and has served as a call to action for many to be checked during their next doctor's visit. I appreciate the emails so very much, and I am so very happy that my diagnosis and the story I've shared may help others with an early diagnosis and to prepare others that may be facing treatment and surgery in the near future. My thanks and prayers are with you all.
Chris
<><
With my catheter out after 3 weeks instead of one week, my urinary recovery has been delayed and slowed a bit. It's going to take me a bit more time before I am able to regain any kind of control . . . which I am only beginning to see signs of.
I am still having some leg pains due to positioning during surgery, but it's beginning to level out and reduce, though it does flare up at times.
It's supposed to make it to nearly 70 degrees today, so a couple of long walks are in my plans. If I was able to drive, I'd head down to the Fairfield beaches or St. Mary's park and walk around down there.
I had a nice surprise yesterday with the visit by some of my "Trainiac" friends. These "trainiacs" are some of my local friends who I first met when we moved to Connecticut four years ago during my daily commute into New York. Thanks so much to Sheila, Mark, Semi, Ben and Steve for stopping by, and for the basket of goodies and the gift certificate for a dinner out for Janet and I. Your visit, gifts and friendship mean a great deal to both Janet and I.
Thanks also to my friends Mark & Tess Szamatulski, home brewing authors and shop owners of Maltose Express in Monroe, CT. When I told Mark and Tess of my cancer and surgery, and the fact that I'll need to wait on my home brewing for a while as I cannot lift anything heavy for a number of months, they made a very generous offer.
Each year they do all-grain brewing demonstrations at their shop for their customers who may be interested in getting into the all-grain brewing process. Mark & Tess have offered to brew one of my recipes - my "Enrico's Holiday Hearth" holiday spiced English ale - instead of their planned ale recipe from their newly published third book. The 10 gallon batch they are going brew during the demonstration will be split into two 5 gallon batches. Five gallons available and be served at the brew shop during the holidays as one of their two samples they keep on tap. Tess and Mark have graciously offered to keg the second 5 gallons as a gift for me so that I have some fresh home brew around the house for the holidays. A very thoughtful gift from some good friends.
If you're in the area and are interested in seeing the batch brewed, their shop Maltose Express is located in Monroe, CT. The brewing demo will be done by their staff all-grain guru Dave Fitch and is scheduled to begin about 10am on Saturday, November 14th. Just go to http://www.maltose.com for directions and more information. Just click on the EVENTS button for additional info.
As I said from the very beginning of this journey, I'm going to make it through thanks to my Christian Faith, family, friends and my sense of humor. All of which remain totally intact.
- - - - - - - - - -
As a small note, one of my goals with this blog was to help spread the word about prostate cancer and how important early detection can be. I've received email messages from as many as 15 people - some friends, mostly strangers - letting me know that the telling of my experience(s) here has provided comfort, information and has served as a call to action for many to be checked during their next doctor's visit. I appreciate the emails so very much, and I am so very happy that my diagnosis and the story I've shared may help others with an early diagnosis and to prepare others that may be facing treatment and surgery in the near future. My thanks and prayers are with you all.
Chris
<><
Sunday, November 1, 2009
OK, here it goes . . . the pathology report.
Did I set this up right?
I got the phone call late Friday morning from Dr. Bertrand Guillonneau, my surgeon at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and he explained the results of the pathology report.
First off, the final Gleason scaling of my cancer is an 8 (grade 4). This places my cancer in an aggressive category (8-10). At this grade level, the possibility of metastases is common.
The next part of the pathology report is the status of the surrounding lymph nodes that were removed during surgery. At the time of surgery, 20 lymph nodes in the area of my prostate were removed in order to get as much of the possibly affected tissue is removed.
The pathology report stated that 19 of the 20 nodes appeared to be "clear of cancer/metastasis", but that one lymph node showed signs of significant metastasis. As I am to understand, this node was located very near where the prostate capsule breach had taken place and the high level of metastasis is probably due to this fact.
Dr. Guillonneau believes that even though there is some metastasis, that is has been limited only to what has been found at this point and that this report is very promising and that he is very confident in these results.
The next step will be the blood PSA results in another couple of weeks. If the PSA level has dropped from my pre-surgical level of 62.7 to a "non-detectible" level of 0.05 or better, then I will be facing a round of radiation therapy that would begin sometime In January and will take place over a period of weeks/months. If the PSA level is elevated at all, indicating metastatic disease, then I will go through testosterone-reducing therapy in addition to the radiation therapy.
So for now . . . once again, this is good news that there is little metastasis and that there seems to be little indication of any severe spread of the cancer even though I have an aggressive grade of cancer. As a matter of fact, I'm taking this (cautiously) as very good news, and count myself as very fortunate and blessed.
Tuesday I should finally get my catheter removed - YEAH! I will be headed (with Janet) into Sloan- Kettering to be tested to be sure that my sutures are no longer leaking and then have the catheter removed. After all, it's only been 3 weeks with this thing (it was only supposed to be a week).
Thanks so much again for all your prayers, support and concern. My surgery was only the beginning of what I know is going to be a long road to recovery, and I feel blessed to have so many wonderful friends behind my family and I in support. We'll update you again soon.
I got the phone call late Friday morning from Dr. Bertrand Guillonneau, my surgeon at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and he explained the results of the pathology report.
First off, the final Gleason scaling of my cancer is an 8 (grade 4). This places my cancer in an aggressive category (8-10). At this grade level, the possibility of metastases is common.
The next part of the pathology report is the status of the surrounding lymph nodes that were removed during surgery. At the time of surgery, 20 lymph nodes in the area of my prostate were removed in order to get as much of the possibly affected tissue is removed.
The pathology report stated that 19 of the 20 nodes appeared to be "clear of cancer/metastasis", but that one lymph node showed signs of significant metastasis. As I am to understand, this node was located very near where the prostate capsule breach had taken place and the high level of metastasis is probably due to this fact.
Dr. Guillonneau believes that even though there is some metastasis, that is has been limited only to what has been found at this point and that this report is very promising and that he is very confident in these results.
The next step will be the blood PSA results in another couple of weeks. If the PSA level has dropped from my pre-surgical level of 62.7 to a "non-detectible" level of 0.05 or better, then I will be facing a round of radiation therapy that would begin sometime In January and will take place over a period of weeks/months. If the PSA level is elevated at all, indicating metastatic disease, then I will go through testosterone-reducing therapy in addition to the radiation therapy.
So for now . . . once again, this is good news that there is little metastasis and that there seems to be little indication of any severe spread of the cancer even though I have an aggressive grade of cancer. As a matter of fact, I'm taking this (cautiously) as very good news, and count myself as very fortunate and blessed.
Tuesday I should finally get my catheter removed - YEAH! I will be headed (with Janet) into Sloan- Kettering to be tested to be sure that my sutures are no longer leaking and then have the catheter removed. After all, it's only been 3 weeks with this thing (it was only supposed to be a week).
Thanks so much again for all your prayers, support and concern. My surgery was only the beginning of what I know is going to be a long road to recovery, and I feel blessed to have so many wonderful friends behind my family and I in support. We'll update you again soon.
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