When I’m NOT the Only Sick One

It’s easy to get hung up on your own problems, until …..

For several years now I’ve been writing little blurbs every few weeks about me. That’s what this blog was set up to do – focus on prostate cancer, what’s happening in the research field, but mostly how I cope (or don’t), what worries me, how my prostate cancer is progressing, what hurts, what doesn’t work any more, and on and on.

A couple of weeks ago my wife Carol started to cough a lot and feel weak. After a couple of days I convinced her to see a doctor in Arizona near where we were staying. Diagnosis - bronchitis and sinusitis; here’s a bunch of medicine. Should start to get better in a few of days. Five days later she felt worse. In addition to weakness and coughing she now had earaches and headaches. Back to the doctor. Ear infection, antibiotics, pain pills, and keep taking all the other meds, too. Then came the fever – higher at night, lower in the daytime. Finally when we got to Boise, now with an added fever, she ended up in Emergency for an IV of fluids to combat dehydration.

To complicate matters, we were in the process (slowly) of heading home from Arizona to Oregon by way of Las Vegas and Boise. We stopped often and Carol sleeps a lot on the way. Bertha (our big red truck) has reclining seats and a pretty smooth ride. I have come to realize just how much I depend on Carol to tell me where something is in the suitcase, where we turn off the freeway to get to the next Starbucks, or where the motel reservation printout is.

Friends have told us they had a similar set of symptoms and it took three or four weeks before they were back to normal. That’s a long time. She doesn’t complain except that she’s annoyed she can’t walk without feeling weak and dizzy and that she nods off in the middle of a conversation or watching a TV show.

Home in Oregon and its back to the doctor (three different locations – three doctors). I wish I could do more to help. Other than being there and doing what she needs at the moment, I feel pretty worthless. But we’ll both feel better in a week or two – for sure!

axman

The Cold, Cold Facts

What’s new in Prostate Cancer Treatment?

Every year or so I take another look at what’s happening (or not happening) in the prostate cancer wars. The answer (from my standpoint) in a nutshell is: not too much.

For eight years now I’ve been waiting for the next big breakthrough in prostate cancer treatment. All the ‘miracle’ cures I’ve been able to track down have proved to be less than advertised, anecdotal, unsupported, or downright fraudulent. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been improvements, new approaches, and new and better drugs (for example, keeping me alive 2.5 months longer is a step in the right direction but NOT a miracle cure in my estimation).

Genetics

Advances in the study of genetic inheritance may help in future prevention – I’m sure it will help my grandkids and their grandkids. This is a long, long term project.

Diagnosis

The PSA test is imperfect, new urine tests are being tested, biopsies in color are being developed to find cancers that don’t show up in black and white - and the controversy over testing or not testing rages on. It still seems that being diagnosed early is a good idea but there can also be a misdiagnosis and needless treatment. I am glad I was diagnosed when I was.

Vitamins

There IS such a thing as too much of a good thing. Vitamins that can help can also harm if taken in very large quantities. Diet and exercise and vitamins are good. But they aren’t a silver bullet.

Treatments

As time goes by, surgery, radiation, and other procedures become refined and more precise and do less damage to other organs and functions. This is a slow process but a good one for the men who will have these treatments in the future.

As I grow older and older I am still glad that I am getting older rather than the other dubious alternative. Maybe the big breakthrough will happen next month

axman