John Canfield
Site Team
We got a little off-topic in a thread in the Winnebago section talking about cancer and how it has impacted several of us, so it seemed a good idea to a few of us to have a special area to compare stories, offer tips, resources or just provide an outlet to talk about your situation or that of a friend/loved one.
About my story. For years I always had a few friends that were dealing with prostate cancer and my knowledge of the disease, or even detailed knowledge about the prostate was minimal. I figured I might be joining the club at some point but hopefully it would happen when I'm an old geezer and it really wouldn't matter that much. I'll cut to the chase, a little over a year ago I had a rising PSA, the digital exam was abnormal, a biopsy showed cancer in many of the samples. Shock. Lots of shock.
Then the news got worse. I had my slides sent to MD Anderson for another opinion and they upgraded the severity of the cancer. Shock again. Then I had robotic surgery at MD Anderson and another shock, the pathology report upgraded the cancer yet again. Shock. Then it was time to have a consult with a radiation oncologist and here comes a real zinger. Since they found cancer in one of 44 lymph nodes excised, they considered me stage 4. Wow and holy cow!
The radiation oncologist wanted me on six month's of Lupron (a hormone drug that suppresses testosterone which 'feeds' the carcinoma) followed up with salvage radiation. 33 sessions of it at MD Anderson which I just completed end of December. I hate being on Lupron, I get hot hot flashes all of the time, it messes with my head sometimes (mild depression, and a voracious appetite) and I've gained over ten pounds since last summer. The longer a guy is on hormone therapy, the worse the side effects become. My RO said only one round of Lupron for me at this point; I won't be free of its side effects until this summer :.
About my story. For years I always had a few friends that were dealing with prostate cancer and my knowledge of the disease, or even detailed knowledge about the prostate was minimal. I figured I might be joining the club at some point but hopefully it would happen when I'm an old geezer and it really wouldn't matter that much. I'll cut to the chase, a little over a year ago I had a rising PSA, the digital exam was abnormal, a biopsy showed cancer in many of the samples. Shock. Lots of shock.
Then the news got worse. I had my slides sent to MD Anderson for another opinion and they upgraded the severity of the cancer. Shock again. Then I had robotic surgery at MD Anderson and another shock, the pathology report upgraded the cancer yet again. Shock. Then it was time to have a consult with a radiation oncologist and here comes a real zinger. Since they found cancer in one of 44 lymph nodes excised, they considered me stage 4. Wow and holy cow!
The radiation oncologist wanted me on six month's of Lupron (a hormone drug that suppresses testosterone which 'feeds' the carcinoma) followed up with salvage radiation. 33 sessions of it at MD Anderson which I just completed end of December. I hate being on Lupron, I get hot hot flashes all of the time, it messes with my head sometimes (mild depression, and a voracious appetite) and I've gained over ten pounds since last summer. The longer a guy is on hormone therapy, the worse the side effects become. My RO said only one round of Lupron for me at this point; I won't be free of its side effects until this summer :.