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Advice from Don Greggs:
IT'S NOT A DEATH SENTENCE
(In response to my post of 1/28/00.)
Robert,
Get a grip! It's not a death sentence and
it's better to know.
Lots of guys don't want to know (like some friends of
mine). To know is to
acknowledge that it's true, not an easy thing to do,
I guess.
I was diagnosed (Dx) in 1991, PCa, Bone cancer, docs
wanted Orchiectomy (lose
the clangers!), and have 2 1/2-3 years to
contemplate your demise. One doc
re-did tests and said maybe no bone cancer. Well
then it was okay, we can
operate. I jumped at it with no real thought or
knowledge, not that the docs
helped (turns out I should never have been operated
on).
Okay, RP, 10 days
hospitalized, lots of pain/discomfort, but got through okay,
impotent since, but
continent (thanks for that). The doc never told me
the surgery was failed.
He left me happy in my ignorance, and 6 1/2 years
later wanted radiation.
Why now, I asked, when my PSA was much higher
shortly after surgery. No
response but bullshit so, time to find out
what I should have learned
before I jumped at surgery. I did, I am, and want
to say that you need to do
what I didn't, and I and others will help as much as
we can. (I was 57 when
dx'd and I know exactly where you're coming from.)
I am not saying surgery
is wrong for you. You don't know that. Neither
would I without more info,
but it will still be your decision in the end.
You are doing yourself so much good trying to find
out the things you need to
know. Try again with this uro and if he doesn't have
time to discuss your
concerns, give him the finger and move on. I'm on
my 3rd uro, and am not
sure this one is the ticket for me at this point.
And yes, spend more time
with your dog and any other thing to space/pace
yourself in this effort.
Information overload is still a factor for me and
will continue to be, but it's not
a reason to quit.
All the
best guy,
Don Greggs
[A few hours later, Don wrote again.]
Robert,
I got to thinking that I may have been a bit tight in the
following:
"It's not a death sentence and it's better to know." I think that we
are
all going to die. It's just a question when and how. I want to get
knocked off
by a beer truck before the PCa gets me :>), a poetic, if violent end.
Hopefully from the rear and unwary, :>)
As you listen (read) others'
experiences, especially if they are older like myself, you will realize
not
only that the science of PCa treatment, modality, etc. have changed in
the
last 10 years rather dramatically. It wasn't to long ago that guys were
first
diagnosed because of bone pain, no DRE, no PSA, etc. Situations like
mine
happen even today (to some of my friends) because they "don't want to
know"
and because some docs are practicing "in the past." It's the more
immediately comfortable thing to do as neither the doc nor the patient
has to
look at any of the developments in the Dx and treatment of the PCa.
Ignorance is bliss.
When I told my first uro that I was declining
radiation
that he suggested 6 years late and that I was reading up on PCa he said
"Yeah,
and the more you read, the more confused you get." At that very point
he was
history. What am I chopped liver? Remember 50% of docs graduated
in
the bottom half of their class! (I know it's a joke, but true.)
All I was trying to say is Yogi Berra's line, "It's not over 'til it's
over" and therefore there's things that can be done in the meantime.
If you
watch this [list] and other sites, there's things happening out there, all
promising, maybe one or two will turn out to be the "magic bullet"
everybody
wants, if not for you and I, for your kids, or whatever.
So, my friend, take the strain. Find the things that make you feel good,
do
your homework a little or as much as you can at a time, and move on.
Pretty
soon you'll do like everyone else and try your best to help the next
guy
who's shaking in his boots.
Later,
Don Greggs
[name used with permission]
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| This information is provided for educational purposes only and does not replace or amend professional medical advice. Unless otherwise stated and credited, the content of Phoenix5 (P5) is by and the opinion of and copyright © 2000 Robert Vaughn Young. All Rights Reserved. P5 is at <http://www.phoenix5.org>. P5's policy regarding privacy and right to reprint are at <www.phoenix5.org/infopolicy>.
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