Life in a round house by a salt marsh.

I am past the first two weeks of chemotherapy treatment #8.  I am learning that a lot of the “little” problems are due to the chemo. It kills the bad cells and some of the good cells. After this many treatments it causes bumps on my arms and face, digestion problems, swelling in my legs, various aches and pains. The PSA is still coming down and my doctor wants me to continue the treatments as long as that is happening and I can hold out. I can do that but it is starting to push my limit. He things one or two more treatments and he will give me a break. The length of the break depends on when and how fast the PSA starts to rise again. He said it could be as much as a year.

I have a “weakness” in my right hip that causes me to walk with a cane. I think this is probably due to the cancer and the chemo but my doctor is not sure. We have a lot of steps to climb at our house and they give me a lot of trouble. We are getting an elevator installed and that will be wonderful especially when we bring home the groceries.

I spend a lot of my time working on websites. I am glad God has given me a job where I can help churches and can still do it while I am having these chemo treatments. During the past few months I spent a lot of time on this one for Shell Point Baptist Church and another one for my neighbor, Gordon.

Thank you for your prayers, thinking of me and the many beautiful cards with your sincere well wishes and thoughts.

I am about half way through treatment #6 and I am over the bad part. I took a sleeping pill last night so I had a good rest. April’s phone call woke me up around 11AM and said McKayla does not like baby food anymore. She said they went out for a pancake breakfast. That sounded good so Peggy went with me to IHOP. I had pancakes, 2 eggs, sausage, and hash-browns. I am so stuffed we came home to go back to bed. I think you can tell I am doing better. I want to pass on the following Christmas story from Ron Miller (the brother of Sherry Drygs), a friend who has cancer and treatments almost exactly like mine.

[Read more →]

On Tuesday this week I started Chemo treatment #5. The last treatment (#4) was the worst yet but it was due to a kidney infection that came on top of the chemo side effects. My primary care doctor let me come to her office on a Friday afternoon and found the infection. She even called us at home to see how I was doing. I have not had such a doctor since I was a kid. Two weeks of antibiotic pills cleared up the infection..

My PSA came down to about 17 but my oncologist wants it lower (around 5) so he is keeping me on chemo for another 3 weeks and also on the Zometa to help my bones. I don’t really know when it will end. I was given two injections to bring up the white blood count and will be getting on this week to help the red blood count. I was good enough to have permission to go back out in public again so we went to church last Sunday. That was great, I enjoyed seeing so many friends. Please continue to pray for me, prayers are lifting me over really the hard spots.

I have completed chemotherapy treatment #3 and am about to begin #4 which will hopefully be the last one for a while. I will continue to go to the Cancer Center on a regular basis for blood tests and the Zometa treatments for my bones. The good news is that my PSA has come down from a high of 45 to 17 and it is still droping. My doctor says he may give me a break from the chemo after treatment #4 which starts in a few days. I went throught some very hard days during this treatment and just as I am feeling a little better it’s time to start another one. I think this one may be the most difficult but knowing it may be the last will give me a lot of encouragement.

Your prayers have strengthened me and lifted me up during all of this and I thank you and ask you to please continue. There is a lot of flu here in Beaufort so while I am completing the chemo treatments and my blood count is low, I plan to stay at home as much as possible. That means I will not be at church on Sunday which is very hard for me to do.

We don’t have cable out here in the woods and get our TV from a dish so I can’t get sermons from our church (CBC). Instead I am recording Dr. Stanley and Dr. Jeremiah so Peggy and I can have our own devotion and worship on Sunday mornings.

May God bless and watch over you.      John

Tuesday I started my 3rd chemotherapy treatment. The doctor gave me some good news. My PSA score has gone down from 45 to 23. I think this is an answer to all the prayers that have gone up for me. Dr. Chahin hopes it will be below 5 after 4 treatments because if it is, he will give me a rest from chemo for a while. He will still continue the Zometa treatements to strengthen my bones.

The second month of chemo was not as easy as the first and the third may be worse. I have had little energy to do any work and the surface of my tongue feels funny and nothing has much taste. These are all ”normal” side effects. I am losing weight (30 lbs) and slimming down but I don’t recommend this weight loss plan to anyone.  I want to finish mowing the grass but I just don’t feel like it. We hired Carlos and he did a great job on cutting the lawn. I want to help Peggy with house cleaning but I don’t feel like doing much of that either. I copied the list of side effects from the Texotare (my chemo drug) website. At the end of this post you can read more about the side effects of Taxotere if you wish. The main problem to watch out for is infection. I check my temp regularly and I have noticed a low grade feaver a few times but it went away within a day. I want to get a flu shot but the hospital does not have them yet. It seems strange that the hospital would not have them when they are available at the grocery store.

Click this link to read about Taxotere side effects if you wish. [Read more →]

Peggy and I did not feel well enough to make it to church today. When I skip church it is a little like not brushing my teeth. All week something seems wrong. I enjoy hearing the word preached by Pastor Carl and talking to my Christian friends. Thank you for your prayers. The chemo is getting a little worse. God bless you and thanks for your prayers, they are sincerely appreciated.

John

Even our language (English) seems to be fading away as more an more we are asked to select English as if that were not a given.  Personally, I like the Spanish speakers that have come to our country. They are hard workers and as long as they come legally and learn OUR language I support them.  This video says it all.

I want to thank those who have reached out to me in so many ways. I know God hears your prayers because II feel Him lifting me up and guiding the doctors and nurses giving me such excellent care. Thanks for the beautiful cards that cheer me up and bring a smile. The e-mails and phone calls are much appreciated. I think I have avoided talking to friends with cancer because “I just don’t know what to say”, well just say the same things we always talk about I just enjoy contant. As the flu season comes on I will probably be staying home more. The chemo reduces white blood cells and makes me an easy target for infections. A special thanks to those who posted comments on my first post.

I am blessed to be near the new Keyserling Cancer Center in Port Royal. It was built as a joint effort by Beaufort Memorial Hospital and Duke University Medical Center. It is fully equipped with the latest equipment to fight cancer and staffed with some excellent doctors and nurses.

This week I started my second treatment. My chemo port was installed the week before and that makes it easy to hook up to me for the drugs to go in and take blood samples out. It takes a couple of hours for the treatments that take place in a big sunny room with easy chairs with a drip control on a pole by each chair. I bring the bible and another book to read. Sometimes I talk to the person in the next chair and Peggy also keeps me company.

We have sunshine today so I hope to get outsite and do a little work. The rain has caused the grass to go very fast so maybe I can mow some of it. Don’t worry, I wear a mask and try not to overdo the exercise.

Thanks for being my friends and may God watch over each of you.   …John

I am looking for a way to update family and friends about my prostate cancer. I decided to use our family blog. If you decide you don’t want to get these messages, just enter your email address in the “Subscribe Here” box in the right sidebar and click “Unsubscribe”. I am placing a subscribe box at the end of this message so you can use that one if you wish.

First a little background on my prostate cancer. It has been about 10 years since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I had retired from GM but we were still living in Indiana. We did some searching for a retirement location and picked Beaufort, SC. We were in the process of building our home in Beaufort and moving when the cancer was found. I did not want to be disabled by surgery while all that was going on so I picked external beam radiation. After 42 trips to the linear accelerator at Hilton Head Hospital my PSA went down to 0.2, a very low reading. That was in 2001 and it stayed low until last year when it started rising at an ever increasing rate. The latest reading is 20.

I was being treated by a urologist but I decided to add a oncologist to the team. Dr. Chahin at the Keyserling Cancer Center has been agressive in his approach. First I had a bone scan which came back negative and he thought I might not need chemotherapy but he also ordered MRIs which show cancer in my back and hip. I had surgery to install a “power port” under the skin on my chest. This makes it easier to give the chemo and draw blood samples. I will not need the usual IV in my wrist.

This week I had my first Zometa treatment for the bones and my first chemo treatment. So far I am doing fine.

On Friday afternoon I met Dr. McNab the radiation oncologist at the cancer center. After learning that my pain had almost disappeared completely he said I was not yet a candidate for radiation. When and if the pain get so severe that drugs don’t help, that’s the time for radiation. He seems to be a very skilled doctor with 30 years of radiation experience. I am very impressed with the cancer center we have in Beaufort.

Mckayla with Mom and Dad

You can see we are just a little proud of our new grand daughter and April and Joe so here is yet another picture. This is the official picture from the hospital.

Baby girl McKayla Elizabeth was born at
10:36:00 AM
on
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
to
April and Joseph
at
Borgess Medical Center

McKayla Elizabeth

Weight: 6 lbs 14 oz.
Length: 19.50 in.
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McKayla
One who is like God, the very promise of God, a bringer of light
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