Celebrating tonight - 1st anniversary of the end of hormone therapy!

Today marks one year since the end of my three year hormone therapy sentence, the end of my whole primary treatment process. I like to observe various milestones; on these events hang many memories.

I feel great. The last few days have been quite a festival of running numbers and reading studies, but it feels like I've run out that string.

From the first consideration of treatment, and embarking on hormone therapy, I always looked forward to the end of it. So often I'd say, "I can't wait to get my testosterone back!". And so it has. Other than some lingering hot flashes I still don't understand, and some level of residual fatigue, I've largely regained my identity, my "self". The vision was always for a recovered testosterone, and stable low PSA.

The testosterone we've got. The PSA, well, we'll see. Either way, it's ok.

I feel fortunate to have met so many great, supportive, smart, and yes even challenging people here on this forum. I never would have dreamed we would actually vacation with people met on an online forum! To have made actual friends here is amazing. I'm so looking forward to seeing many of you at the spring GFMPH at Cajun Jeff's!

It's coming up on four years here now, with nearly 2000 posts. I'm more open here than just about anywhere else, and thanks to all who put up with my ups and downs, math minutia, study questions, unwanted advice, too long posts, and on, and on.

Thanks, everyone. Peace, blessings, joy, live, love, laugh.

Great news, glad to hear you can move on from HT!

Andrew

Congratulations Redwing, that is a really significant milestone and I speak from experience. No doubt you are feeling better and better the further out from your last HT you get.

Enjoy and celebrate - we will for you.

Simon

Redwing - Where's the cake? It didn't happen unless there's cake!

I will happily join in your celebration and wish you many, many more happy anniversaries of the date.

I spend a lot of time on a similar board focused on another serious medical issue, and we always advise folks to celebrate all of their milestones. That is, to me, the best way to feel that you are really making progress on your journey.

Be well, brother.

That sounds like a great milestone to celebrate. Glad you're feeling back to normal. Congratulations and enjoy your good health.

Redwing,
Congratulations. 3 years was/is a very long time. Enjoy your life!

Congrats on the milestone. Sherry and I look forward to seeing you guys in Baton Rouge, I am buying the first round.

I don't have your 1 year milestone to celebrate, but my Onco just gave me 6 months off of HT, chemo and PSA tests. Now my current numbers are scary high to a lot of folks, but I am walking my own path with this crud and the break is certainly looked forward too. Besides Sherry and I have only been married 3.5 years and I spent 2 of them on HT, so we are looking forward to a rapid return of libido. Well we hope so anyway.

Sonny

Redwing,
Congratulations. I'm always looking forward to the time I can say I'm at the end of initial treatment. You have helped me a great deal as I have followed mostly the same path up until I did chemo as you.

Great milestone...
Mark

Congratulations! I so long for this same anniversary! darn.. three years. A sentence is right.

Since you and Connie are celebrating Lee and I will as well. I hope you have a wonderful celebration and a very long HT vacation.

See you in about 30 days and we can tip another one

Jack

Happy anniversary to you!
I'll be honest with you. I'm a little worried about meeting with you at GFMPH in Baton Rouge in a few weeks.
Why?
Because for the past couple of years I've really enjoyed talking and playing numbers with you. And that is when you were on HT and supposedly fatigued and not yourself. I can't imagine what it will be like when you're firing on all cylinders!
By the way, your dPSA/dt analysis is exactly what I was talking about when I made my simulation an offset and a function of e. a + b*e^c. So, did you back calculate to figure out the date your PCa began? Which meal did it? I predict is was that slightly overcooked side of brussels sprouts you ate back in November 2010. ;-)

Yep. For sure, Cajun Jeff will have to spray the hose on us!

Jeff

Worried Guy said...
Happy anniversary to you!
I'll be honest with you. I'm a little worried about meeting with you at GFMPH in Baton Rouge in a few weeks.
Why?
Because for the past couple of years I've really enjoyed talking and playing numbers with you. And that is when you were on HT and supposedly fatigued and not yourself. I can't imagine what it will be like when you're firing on all cylinders!
By the way, your dPSA/dt analysis is exactly what I was talking about when I made my simulation an offset and a function of e. a + b*e^c. So, did you back calculate to figure out the date your PCa began? Which meal did it? I predict is was that slightly overcooked side of brussels sprouts you ate back in November 2010. ;-)

Yep. For sure, Cajun Jeff will have to spray the hose on us!

Jeff

You crack me up! I did track the PSA back through the 3 years I didn't have it checked, just to see what the trend might have looked like. Was I asleep at the switch? Or, would it have sprung on me anyway. For better or worse, it seems to be the latter. It would have slowly risen from about 1.85 to as high as about 2.6 before the next jump to 4.1. But, I wouldn't have waited the next 6 months to confirm it, which did happen at 5.2. Oh well.

So yeah, I did ponder it a little bit, what happened after we moved to Tennessee that could have lit the fuse? The trend initiates perfectly with that move. Standard logic fault: "Post hoc ergo propter hoc". After this, therefore because of this. We moved there, then I got prostate cancer. Therefore Tennessee causes prostate cancer. Ummm... no. I did find myself in a terribly stressful work situation (worked for a bully), though the link between stress and cancer seems tenuous at best. Who knows? Maybe it was brussels sprouts! I knew I didn't like them for some reason. (actually not true, they're yummy!).

I warned the guys in my lab about my testosterone recovery. Oddly, only one of them even knew me before I went on HT! Told them to look out, they've never seen me with normal testosterone. So far so good....

Have you ever read sci fi author Poul Anderson's "Brain Wave"? It's kind of analogous to our time on HT. The earth and its inhabitants developed in a region of space that suppressed intelligence. Suddenly, it emerges from that region and everyone and everything on Earth suddenly doubles or more in intelligence. A little bit the way HT affects some people on it; not everyone, apparently. I felt it slowed me down noticeably.

Congrats Redwing. I'm very happy for you. I echo Jack/Diane's comments about your tremendous contribution to this site. Thank you. Wishing you all the best and continued celebrations in the future.