The Elephant in the Room

So I have a secret, not a dirty one, not one that I had people sworn not to tell, but still I had information that only family and close friends knew.  I HAVE CANCER!


Cancer can come in many forms, some such as pancreatic cancer are deadly and some like basal cell carcinoma are just annoyances. I have prostate cancer, and a particularly aggressive form at that.


This latest journey started in February 2014 when I had my annual Physical part of which is the usual blood tests for cholesterol, sugars and PSA. All things came with in my norms except the PSA was rather high. Normal PSA counts are under 4, mine was 21. Well for my doctor alarm bells started ringing and a roller coaster ride of emotions was soon to begin. At this point I have none of the major symptoms, I don't get up frequently in the night, I don't hurt, I have a steady stream, in short what is all the fuss about.

I'm going to make a commercial announcement here; there is a lot of controversy over the PSA test. There are many that say the amount of false positives out weigh any good a PSA could do. A high PSA could mean an infection in the bladder, a false reading or as in my case prostate cancer. I believe it, the PSA test, is just a tool, an indicator that perhaps something is wrong. My male friends; use it, pay for it if you have to especially if you are over 50 it may save your life.

So after the PSA came back high, my GP ordered another and it was also high in fact it was higher than the first. Now we are worried. I was hooked up with an Urologist, Dr. Chin, who would be come my primary care doctor. After 3 months Biopsies were ordered, 12 samples taken and the results were that all 12 were cancerous. F.....k me! So then I needed a bone scan and a CT scan. You know if it weren't for the seriousness of this disease, the whole process is kind of interesting. Nuclear medicine, cameras rotating around your body, items inserted where nothing ever should be inserted, all to try and get a handle on what is growing inside of me.

It turns out, as mentioned before, that I have a fairly aggressive form of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is different from other cancers in how it is graded. Most cancers are reported in stages. The lower the stage the early or smaller the cancer is, the higher the number the worse it is. Prostate cancer differs in that it comes in 10 forms. It was explained like this Level one is a slow walk through the park, Level 10 is a rocket ship to Mars. I have a Level 9. Again things differ with  Prostate Cancer in that you never have a 1 that progresses through 10, if you have a 9 it will always be a 9 as long as it is in your body. So the doctors are trying to get things done quickly. We are now in July and it is official it is Level 9 Prostate Cancer! I am going nuts trying to figure out when tests are and what they are looking for and why does it take so long. I expressed my frustration at 2 months to see a Urologist 8 weeks for a bone scan and 3 months for a CT Scan. I was told that those were amazingly short times and short of dying or being critical these were reasonable waits. After the tests I was told to go on my holidays and they would schedule Oncologists appointments. We went away, camping in Eastern Ontario, had a good time with my sister and brother-in-law, away from daily cell phone coverage trying to keep an unworried even keel.

When we got back from holidays, we met with Oncologists, Chemo was thrown out, Radiation was put on hold, hormone therapy was the choice of treatments. Wahoo, breasts, mood swings and hot flashes just what I need after riding all my female friends over the years. ( He who lives by the sword dies by the sword).


This takes us to November, we meet with the Radiation Oncologist, PSA numbers are now below 1 ( at one point they were above 50) and the prostate appears to be shrinking. Time for a CT scan see what those cells are doing.  January 2015 CT scan comes back and the prostate is shrinking and so are the lymph nodes.. WAHOOOOOO! Big high! But, he says and it is a big BUT, we are a little worried about two angry spots on your pelvic bone, lets have another bone scan to make sure there is nothing going on, The bone scan comes back negative, however we suggest you consider taking Chemo as a preventative, we believe by doing this strategy you can continue on a KILL AND CURE course and not a Manage and Survive attitude. Let the next phase of the journey begin........



I titled this piece "The elephant in the room" but made no reference to this in the article. The expression "The elephant in the room" means An important and obvious topic, which everyone present is aware of, but which isn't discussed, as such discussion is considered to be uncomfortable. All of my family and most of my close friends and a few colleagues have known about this affliction, the rest of you are finding out now. One of the purposes of this article is to let you know that it is alright to ask how things are going, inquire about the whole process and be open about the whole deal, in short I'm releasing the elephant from the room.( chiefly because with my ego it is getting a little crowded in the room). Oh and by the way I'm open to gallows humour despite what Brian's wife might think of it's appropriateness


This will be an ongoing blog at least until there is nothing else to report.



BK