Living with cancer
I was hoping to really get involved in volunteering after I retired. One of the things that attracted me was Literacy Volunteers. I was supposed to start training last week, but I decided to notify them that I wasn't quite ready for that. It's a big commitment that requires a lot of work, and I think I need a better feel for how I'm going to feel and when I'm going to have the energy to do this.
I did sign up for an intro class in Polish - that's an hour and a half a week for 8 weeks. I also signed up for a geneology class that is two hours for 4 weeks that starts after Polish ends.
We love to travel, but I think we need to not plan too far out. This is a change for the both us. We're looking at an Alaskan cruise for 2018.
Right now, I think I need to think about short term interests. Maybe future meetings with my oncologist and cancer psychologist will change my outlook for the better. I hope so.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Some good news, some not so good.
My radiation treatments were completed in September, and I really didn't have much in the way of side effects except some minor fatigue. A few naps hear and there took pretty much took care of that.
My new hormone - Xtandi - does not appear to be causing me any new problems. It's supposed to lower my PSA - it has - my PSA was cut in half after a month's worth of treatment. I naively thought it would reduce my PSA to 0 in a month, but after reading about the experiences of other men with advanced prostate cancer, I realize that it may take 2 or 3 months. I have an appointment with my oncologist next week and I have resolved not to freak out (or not) until I see him.
I had an appointment with a psychiatrist who specializes in cancer patients, but he called me the night before and moved my appointment up. I was stuck in the middle of Hartford traffic but made it on time, but then he didn't show up on time so I left. After I cooled off, I realized that my behavior didn't help me. His office called and apologized, and we set up another appointment. I think that I will need help dealing with my cancer.
My back continues to heal from the spine surgery. I am up to 1 3/4 miles walking. But my back is really tight. I asked my surgeon to recommend a physical therapist to help me regain strength, flexibility and balance. He is sending me a script to begin that process.
As I write this, it's 10 weeks since my spine surgery, and 6 weeks since they removed my catheter and I still am experiencing incontinence. This is normal, based on earlier experiences, but the impatient part of me is not happy. I continue to do my Kegel exercises regularly, and have started to (once a week at home) capture my pee (I have a couple of collection bottles), as well as weighing the urine pads. I am hoping that by comparing the totals, I should see the weight of the pads go down and the volume of pee go up. This hopefully will help keep on working on this really bothersome problem. You may have to be anal to do this, but I need some measure of success to keep me going!
My radiation treatments were completed in September, and I really didn't have much in the way of side effects except some minor fatigue. A few naps hear and there took pretty much took care of that.
My new hormone - Xtandi - does not appear to be causing me any new problems. It's supposed to lower my PSA - it has - my PSA was cut in half after a month's worth of treatment. I naively thought it would reduce my PSA to 0 in a month, but after reading about the experiences of other men with advanced prostate cancer, I realize that it may take 2 or 3 months. I have an appointment with my oncologist next week and I have resolved not to freak out (or not) until I see him.
I had an appointment with a psychiatrist who specializes in cancer patients, but he called me the night before and moved my appointment up. I was stuck in the middle of Hartford traffic but made it on time, but then he didn't show up on time so I left. After I cooled off, I realized that my behavior didn't help me. His office called and apologized, and we set up another appointment. I think that I will need help dealing with my cancer.
My back continues to heal from the spine surgery. I am up to 1 3/4 miles walking. But my back is really tight. I asked my surgeon to recommend a physical therapist to help me regain strength, flexibility and balance. He is sending me a script to begin that process.
As I write this, it's 10 weeks since my spine surgery, and 6 weeks since they removed my catheter and I still am experiencing incontinence. This is normal, based on earlier experiences, but the impatient part of me is not happy. I continue to do my Kegel exercises regularly, and have started to (once a week at home) capture my pee (I have a couple of collection bottles), as well as weighing the urine pads. I am hoping that by comparing the totals, I should see the weight of the pads go down and the volume of pee go up. This hopefully will help keep on working on this really bothersome problem. You may have to be anal to do this, but I need some measure of success to keep me going!
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