Prayer…With Thanksgiving
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6–7)
Introduction
I thought I should give an update on my health situation. I’m completely healed from prostate cancer. Hooray!
Not really.
The Good News
A few weeks ago, I visited a surgical urologist, in Spokane, who specializes in prostate cancer. He told me that he’s had several men who were in similar situations like mine who have lived for well over five years after their diagnosis. Some of these men had PSA numbers over 1,000. Mine was 222. That was encouraging.
New Information About How Prostate Cancer Treatments Work
I learned new things about what the doctors are doing in me. The first medication, Firmagon, which I’m still taking (injections each month in my stomach), stopped the testosterone from going to my prostate and feeding the cancer there. The doctor in Spokane put me on a new one, called Erleada, meant to stop the cancer cells themselves from producing their own testosterone. Apparently, the little buggers, when they don’t get the hormone from the usual place, learn to produce their own. The Erleada shuts them down…temporarily. I guess after a year or two they learn how to get around the restrictions and begin to create testosterone again all by themselves, despite the Erleada. But, hey, while they are not getting testosterone, they aren’t growing, spreading, and doing whatever else they do.
Together, these meds are causing my PSA numbers to go down. The first reading, back in February was 222. Then each month they have gone down until last Friday when the number was 3.08. That’s pretty cool. The goal is for the number to be zero. When that happens, the cancer will no longer be active in my body. And, if that situation stays that way forever, they call that cured. But, as I said, it doesn’t usually stay that way for very long.
Side Effects
I just started my fourth week of the Erleada. I don’t know if I have any new side effects. The old ones are still there and growing. The pain is a bit more intense, but still only bothering me when I move. I’m still having trouble sleeping, have hot flashes (some days worse than others). But I’m still working and having a really good time talking about Jesus all day long with folks.
Questions
I have a few questions about this whole thing. Maybe someone reading this knows the answers. I’m 66 years old, so some of my pains are undoubtedly related to age. I have advanced cancer that is in my hips, shoulders, skull, spine, and liver. I have side effects from the medications I’m taking. There’s also the possibility that the pain is psychosomatic. That I’m feeling the pains because the bottle said these are possible side-effects of the medication. I have no way of knowing which is which. Also, normally pain is an indication that something is wrong somewhere. But sometimes, like muscle pain after a good workout, you stretch out and go at it again. Other times, the pain means, you’re really hurt and shouldn’t continue doing whatever caused the pain. Sometimes, the pain means go to the doctor and check things out before you do anything at all.
One time, I was swimming in a pool at night, in the dark. I was doing the butterfly stroke with fins on (which really increased the speed) and misjudged where the wall was and jammed all my fingers into the side at the same time. I thought I had broken them and so I put them into splints. I went to the doctor a few days later and he told me to “get those splints off!” They weren’t broken. They were jammed. Splinting them immobilized them, which was good for broken fingers, but bad for jammed fingers. This is because the cartilage in jammed fingers needs to keep moving or they would freeze, and soon I wouldn’t be able to move them at all.
With this in mind, the questions are, if I have pain should I just muscle through it and act like it isn’t there? Should I stop whatever I’m doing and wait until the pain stops? Should I figure out what doesn’t hurt and only do those things? Also, if the pain I’m feeling is because of cancer does that mean that my bones are near breaking and that things could go south really quickly? Can anything serious happen if the pain is coming from a side-effect? Are side-effects false pain? It hurts but isn’t indicative of anything serious going on in my body?
Jesus?
One of the questions I like to ask my counselees is, “Where is Jesus in all this?” So, I ask myself that question all the time. I think he has given me this event in my life to draw me to himself and to inspire me to trust him more and more. I believe that all things work together for good for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28) and so, I trust that whatever happens will be just what he wants for me and all my buddies who are helping, watching, and praying.
The way it works out practically is I wince (from the pain in my hips and back) when I get up to go anywhere and it reminds me to thank God that I can get up and walk. And then, in a few steps when the pain goes away, I thank him again that the pain went away. And when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (several times a night) I thank him that he woke me up before I went, thank him for the pain of the first few steps of walking, thank him that I can go, and thank him that I have a really nice house to do all this living in. It’s all good and God is good.
Glory
I’m tempted to wonder what life will be like when the hormone medications stop working, the radiation doesn’t do its thing, the surgery makes things worse in a different way, and if I do chemo, what that will be like. But then I remember that God knows, and it is good. It will all be part of the adventure he has for me. The adventure has been a blast so far and I don’t know why that should change.
God is good.
Image by RÜŞTÜ BOZKUŞ from Pixabay
5 Comments
Comments are closed.
Hi Friend
It’s good to hear from you about the journey you are on and for me it is an encouragement to see how you continue to look to Jesus with joy in your life.
Hot Flashes are not fun – ask any woman over 45ish. Some women have them for a shorter time and strength than others, and some of us who have had our reproductive organs removed have them for a ridiculous longer time and the doctor can’t really tell us why. You learn to find ways to cope. For me my body gives me a tiny warning that one is coming (thank you Jesus) and I can prepare accordingly. My best advice is wear light weight clothing in layers that you can easily and quickly remove. Keep a refreshing beverage handy at all times (non alcoholic- which seems to increase the strength of the HF) And there is no shame in having a fan nearby in the winter either.
Chronic pain is EXHAUSTING! I’ve had my share of physical traumas in my body as a child and adult so I understand the pain aspect you speak of. You rejoice when you realize that for a moment you feeling no pain and when you are deep breathing through the pain you rejoice that God loves you and someday you will have not pain. Never apologize when your in pain because it can tilt your mind to think you are a victim – you may very well be a victim but you don’t really want to go down that road. All the trauma I have had has been at the hands of someone’s foolishness or sin. But in God’s sovereign love He has blessed we with that and I need to learn to live rejoicing in it and through it. One of my favorite sayings that helps me is “for His glory and my good”
I hope this helps or encourages you. You are loved by so many and prayed for regularly.
In Christ,
Teresa Unger
Thanks for the update, Mike. I pray for you regularly. This will help me pray with more knowledge. We still need to connect. I will contact you and we can work it out. Would love to talk.
Good stuff Mike. As to your question about pain and age. I’m fifty eight and I’m about as good a shape as I’ve ever been. Still, I have pain in my hips especially when I get up from any length of inactivity (like sitting or lying down). It could be arthritis or a tear in my labrum or something else — don’t know. But like you I try and practice a connection between my pain and thankfulness — and then try to stay active.
Mike, I will pray more specifically for you. Thank you for sharing this with me.
Mike- I don’t know whether you will remember me or not, I was one of the Pastors at Grace Reformed Church in Camarillo, California for several years, and used to regularly go up to Moscow for Ministers Conferences. You and I spoke many times. I was a guest in your house for lunch once, and I think you preached in our little church down here too. Giancarlo Mondragon told me about your situation earlier this year, and we have been praying for you. I too have been dealing with Prostate Cancer (diagnosed in 2017), but went down a slightly different course of treatment. My initial PSA was 79, the cancer was never diagnosed as metastatic, and I elected not to have surgery, and only went through radiation (brachytherapy and IMRT), as well as hormone deprivation therapy (although with different meds as you). I was one of those blessed to see my PSA go down to non-detectable levels (there’s really no such thing as ‘zero’), and have been off of androgen deprivation therapies for about a year and a half.
Dear Brother….. I was touched by your homily here, and inspired to redouble my prayers for you and others who suffer with this type cancer. I don’t know what it is about the pride of men that we don’t readily see God shining through such manhood-robbing, modesty-challenging, embarrassing maladies. It really helps nobody around us to be anything other than completely candid…. and to encourage all of our fellows to have their PSA checked regularly!)
Your reflections are very prescient and extremely helpful.
Cancer is a “club” that nobody asks to join. Thank you for helping others to see God through the difficult Providences.