Hang In There: Cancer Update

“And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lordhas taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”” (Job 1:21) 

“Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it. Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord, For He is coming to judge the earth. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” (1 Chron 16:31–34) 

I haven’t posted about my cancer situation for couple of months and here’s why. Back in October my blood test revealed that my testosterone levels and my PSA numbers had gone up a skosh. The doctors were a little bit concerned but said let’s wait a month and see if this is just a small blip on the drastic drop that was previously happening. So, we waited another month. Then a week or so ago, I had another blood draw that revealed the numbers had gone up again.

PSA – 1.19 in September, 2.58 in October, 2.71 in November

Testosterone – 26 in September, 26 in October, 33 in November

Here’s the note I sent to my daughter and nephew this morning,

Just got off the phone with the doctor in Spokane. He said the fact that my PSA # went up again is “troubling.” The new drug I’m on isn’t the next thing to go to, it is the thing you go to when things have stabilized and things look good. He doesn’t know why the local doctor moved me to it. Also, it will make my PSA # go up for the next blood draw in December, maybe as high as 4. He said that as long as my numbers are going up, checking out radiation is off the table. Also, there is a new research study, that has all the doctors thinking happy thoughts, that I might be good for if things keep heading the way they are. It also sounded like this is my last resort (humanly speaking). It seems to be a good thing that I still don’t have any real symptoms or bad side effects. In fact, I think the side effects have diminished some.

So now you all know what I know. Essentially, we’re in a wait and see kind of thing. My next blood draw is December 13. We’ll know more then. Or maybe not. Medicine is a funny thing.

Speaking of side effects, my hot flashes seem to be lessening. They seem to happen less and less each day and they last for shorter amounts of time and they aren’t as severe. Or I could just be getting used to them.

I still have trouble going to sleep at night and then wake up several times to use the restroom and then can’t go back to sleep (is that sharing too much?). Consequently, I find that I’m exhausted during the day, have trouble focusing, and don’t feel very motivated to do anything. I’m really glad I can go to work and talk to folks about Jesus all day. That doesn’t seem to tire me out and it keeps me in the Word and worshipping.

I have very little pain and what pain there is is very brief and hardly noticeable.

Anyway, all this gives me the opportunity to live with God in a new and different way. Knowing you have a terminal disease really changes the way you think about things. The strangest and maybe hardest thing about it is that I have no idea how long terminal is. Without being hit by a truck, I could live with cancer for many years or just a few months. But then, I could get hit by a truck. God is always calling all of us to live like we could die any minute; to worship him, to serve him, to love one another, to not take things so seriously (except sin of course).

Thank you for your prayers. God is doing something, I’m pretty sure. Sometimes he’s sneaky. I’ve used this illustration before, life is like a quilt. We live on the underside and what we see has very little to do with what the other side is turning out to look like. Of course, when a good quilter makes a quilt, you often can’t tell which side you’re looking at. So, don’t take the illustration too literally. Work with me, I have cancer.

Oh, and live like God might take you before you finish reading this blog post. And when he does take you, he’s going to ask you some very serious questions. And then, there’s going to be a party.

Thanks again.

Photo by Michelle Raponi on Pixabay