The Big C

Options

The dreaded phone call came in the afternoon.

“Honey, your doctors on the phone!”

I was expecting the worst and I got it. “I got the lab report back from your biopsy and they found cancer on both sides of your prostate. We need to make an appointment so I can talk to you about your options.”

We agreed on a date and time, and after hanging up I told Carol that my biopsy was positive for cancer. I think we both were in a daze as we sat on the patio staring at our glasses of wine. “At least we caught it early!”Carol said.

“Yeah, I hope so.” I said, thinking of my brother JC and the devastation prostate cancer wreaked on him.

Carol accompanied me into the doctor's office and after a short wait he came in. Very explicitly he explained my options starting with the most drastic being surgery, a radical prostatectomy. He explained the nasty side effects of several types of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and to my relief, and my favorite, “active surveillance.”

He explained that in my case we could wait until my next checkup in 6 months and see how my PSA level is. Evidently prostate cancer grows slowly and in a lot of cases in older patients like me,watchful waiting is recommended.

My PSA level last year was a little over 3, it had raised to 8 at my latest checkup causing my primary care doctor to recommend the biopsy.

Since this was the same doctor who treated my brother I asked him what JC's PSA was when he finally got checked. He looked up the records on his computer and shook his head, “Your brother's PSA level when I first saw him was 700!”

So, anyway I'll be walking around for 6 months with a big “C” for cancer, hanging over my head, (actually it's hovering around my crotch.) or maybe a big “P” for Parkinsons stamped on my brain, or maybe the “P” stands for proststate.

All I know for sure is that I'm not going down without a fight. (I know, everyone says that.)