On Becoming 75!

I try to post a new entry every few weeks. There has been no formal schedule. Some posts share important and breakthrough information about prostate cancer treatment. Some posts lament the rising costs of medications, strange and nasty side effects, and the slow progression of clinical trials. Others are more tongue and cheek and personal (as you probably know).

This entry is mostly silliness and celebration. When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 12 years ago and then found that it was incurable about 10 years ago, I was not at all sure I would reach 75. But, for the most part, I am healthy, active, moderately alert, and ornery. Carol, my wife and best friend, and I travel, laugh, garden, play with chain saws to cut firewood and clear land, and frequently visit friends and family. Life is good (as it should be).

 Although I am not Shakespeare, Longfellow, or even Dr. Seuss, I am waxing poetic on this occasion. Forgive me if I take extreme poetic license with the facts and just about everything else.

           Being Alive at 75!

 I’m pleased I've survived to be 75.

Albeit I'm old and decrepit and barely alive.

So stand up now and give me a cheer,

Please make it loud ‘cause I can’t hear.

I could tell you wild stories about my life,

But I can’t remember, so go ask my wife.

You look happy and cheerful there sipping your drink.

I can’t really see you, but that’s what I think.

Now, dear friends, won’t you give me a hand…

I mean, of course, to help me stand!

But after all is done and all is said,

I’d rather be 75 than flat out dead!

axman

Five Types of Prostate Cancer—British Study Finds

In a recently published article in the Journal EBioMedicine, researchers reported they were able to identify five distinct types of prostate cancer. The team took both healthy and cancerous prostate tissue from 259 men and looked for abnormal chromosomes and measured the activity of 100 genes known to be linked to prostate cancer. 

This prostate cancer study is a preliminary step in being able to identify which newly diagnosed cancers need immediate treatment and which are slow growing and can be safely observed instead of starting radical treatments immediately. This would help avoid too much treatment and make sure treatment was immediately available for the most aggressive cancers. Early stage have shown that doctors were better able to identify rapid growing, aggressive tumors than when using the PSA and Gleason Grading system. 

The study authors did not actually list the five types of prostate cancer. When this information becomes available I will publish it here.

A similar study several years ago identified ten unique types of breast cancer and those results have been helpful in the early treatment of aggressive breast cancers. 

Is this likely to help those of us who already have prostate cancer? Probably not. But hopefully future diagnoses will be more accurate, treatment more targeted, and results better.

Disclaimer

Many studies claim to be game changers, breakthroughs, and cutting edge. This is true sometimes and other times results are less than hoped for. We’ll wait and see what happens with further study.

axman

A Funny Thing Happened…

Or could have happened, should have happened, or didn’t happen

 

About half of all of us with incurable cancer (incurable means that it likely will kill us someday) also have to deal with depression and anxiety. Actually, it’s not so surprising.

In many cases there is a predictable progression of events and often it doesn’t end well:

·        Doctor: You have cancer.

·        You: OMG, I’m going to die!

·        Doctor: Maybe not, there are treatments and possibly a cure!

·        You: Oh boy, I’m going to be cured!

·        Doctor: Whoops, the treatment didn’t work completely and the cancer came back. This time it’s not curable.

·        You: OMG, I’m going to die!

·        Doctor: Maybe, but there are treatments to slow cancer growth and give you a better quality of life.

·        You: What’s the use? I’ll just wait for the inevitable…, or

·        You: Then it’s time to finish off my bucket list, visit friends, and write that memoir…

When it seems hopeless there is professional help, medications, counseling, and support groups—but you have to make the choice whether or not to get assistance.

How we react to a bad situation varies a lot. Nobody knows how they will do it until it happens to them. We all have good days and bad days—I definitely hope I have more good days. My approach for the past dozen years with incurable prostate cancer has been to spend time with family and friends, laugh a lot, stay very, very busy, write blogs and books (often humorous—hopefully), and draw and publish hundreds of cancer-related cartoons. I have tried not to offend anyone with cancer—but, I maybe take a shot or two at doctors and drug companies—and bring a smile or little laughter into some lives.

Some have thanked me and even asked to borrow the articles and cartoons for use in other publications. A few others have become angry with me and told me how inappropriate humor is when dealing with cancer. One person, with late stage cancer, told me, “Cancer is not funny!” And suggested I not use humor in communicating with others who have cancer, ever. Of course I know cancer is not funny but I believe a sense of humor can help—it has helped me. Being able to laugh at the ironies of growing old, the strange side effects from medications, those body parts that don’t work very well anymore, and becoming more and more dependent on doctors, pills, injections, and even Depends, makes me smile—at least a little! I know that won’t be the case for everybody. 

Nobody knows if the meds will stop working or we’ll get hit by a bus or the big 9.5 earthquake will hit or…. So I’m trying to enjoy every day and maybe help some others enjoy their days a little bit more. What works best is probably different for each person‑‑find what works best for you. There are many sources of information out there. There are numerous cancer organizations, blogs, support groups, and publications. Find those that fit your needs, beliefs, and comfort levels.

axman

Cancer Patients are Living Longer!

Longer that what you ask?

 

A recent article, published in JAMA Oncology, reported an analysis of more than 1,000,000 cancer patients diagnosed between 1990 and 2009. The study started with people diagnosed between 1990 and 1994 and then compared their survival with those diagnosed between 1995 and 1999, 2000 and 2004, and 2005 and 2009. Each five year segment showed a better five-year survival rate than the previous five year segment. 

All cancers are not equal, however, and survival rates vary greatly. Prostate and breast cancer survival rates increased significantly. Liver, pancreatic, and lung cancer survival rates were lower, but there was still an improvement. Any overall improvement is a bit of good news in a disease that has been and continues to be extremely hard to manage and cure.

Age is a factor

Younger patients—50 to 64 for this study‑‑had better survival rates than older patients—75 to 85, but the older group also showed a significant survival increase.

What should I do?

Is there a magic bullet that we should all know about to improve our survival? Probably not. Nobody has identified any one thing that will work for everybody. Preventive measures can impact some cancers such as skin and lung, but in other cases it is likely a combination of early diagnosis, new medications, and overall improved treatments.

Bottom Line

The best option is to NEVER GET CANCER. Most of us with cancer didn’t imagine that we’d ever be diagnosed. The longer we survive (12 years for me) the better the likelihood that there will be new drugs and other treatments that can help us manage our disease. The drugs I am now taking did not exist five years ago. The drugs I will take five years from now are probably still experiments in a petri dish in some basement lab. So, hang in there.

A cure would be nice, too.

axman

A Stern Lecture to My Geriatric Self

Dear Body,

Shame on you! We’ve been together for nearly 75 years. 75 years! And now you’ve become unfaithful—betraying me. At first there were the endless good times running, climbing, dancing, and lifting. My wish was your command: jump, sprint, swim, or backflip (well, maybe not that one). Now if I so much as wish to walk briskly you quietly limp away, very slowly. You have created pain in my knees, hips, shoulders, fingers, and most of the rest of my body for no apparent reason. Did I hurt your feelings? Are you punishing me?

I’m sorry if you think I’ve abused you—but it wasn’t too much or too often, was it? You used to recover quickly, even from those more serious and sometimes questionable-choice injuries. Now you just sit there and groan. You’ve quit trying. You’re not playing by the rules (my rules). Can we talk about it? Let’s go for a walk! No? A glass of wine? Are you listening to me? 

Dear Mind (such as it is),

Remember all those great times as a kid, going to college, raising a family, travel, jobs? Well I don’t. You served me well, so I’m told, for many years. So what happened? I still treat you well and feed you every day—reading books (at least Facebook entries), listening to Public Radio, and then there are those daily sessions with Jeopardy! But you don’t pay much attention any more.

Every day you taunt me by hiding my keys, my phone, and even my half-empty  coffee cup! Not funny! You erase the names of my friends from my memory bank—and probably laugh about it. You won’t even discuss phone numbers and addresses with me. Where the heck have you gone? It feels like I’m losing you. What have you got to say for yourself? Where did I go wrong? How can I win you back?

Love,

Me

 

Bottom Line

If you can’t count on your own body and mind to support you in your old age then there’s no justice in this world. All you can do is keep on keeping on—I actually can’t remember what that means but it sounds good. Does all this sound familiar to you?

axman

,