Me, My Dad and Prostate Cancer

 

I glanced over at my Dad yesterday seated at the head of the table on Thanksgiving Day. He looked so happy surrounded by his family.He and my mother have been married for 57 years now. My family has so much to be grateful for. Love, happiness, togethernes and so many other intangibles that make up the American Dream.

My Dad and I have always been close. He showed me how to pitch and catch a baseball; how to solve those mysterious math problems; to love and appreciate my country and, like him, to serve when duty called. Most importantly, by example, he demonstrated what it takes to be a good and decent man.

My Dad and I also share a very special bond...prostate cancer. I was diagnoised first in 2005, his was a late diagnosis a year later. This was a terrible blow to my family. First me then my dad with an "long undetected" PSA of over 70. I could speak about Dr. error or what might have been with early detection.

Rather, I would like to remind you of what most already know...this disease can be passed from generation to generation. Heridity plays such an important role in developing the disease. According to Dr. Peter Scardino's Prostate Book, " If a first-degree relative (your father or brother) has had the disease, you are two and a half times as likely to be diagnosed. With two first-degree relatives, your risk soars to five to ten times higher than that of a man with no family history." And it can also be inherited from your mother's side of the family.

Now I have a younger brother (51) who does not have prostate cancer. Should he live his life waiting for the "bomb" to drop. No. He has discussed his family history with his physician and has his PSA tested more often than most men. And, and so far so good.

And my Dad and me? Well we played a little golf last summer and he is doing fine. He is on hormone therapy, a regimn of Casodex and Lupron shots. His PSA has dropped to an amazing 1. Me? Well I have a high-risk prostate cancer (what cancer isn't high risk?), but am very optimistic. And my brother has a 21 year old son. Hopefully, a cure will be found for this awful disease before it becomes a factor in his life.

My family, like yours, plays a very important role in both of our recoveries. We all look forward to being together for many holidays to come. 

God Bless You and Your Family,

Vet

Diagnosed: 12/03/05; Biopsy: Gleason 10; HT: 12/15/05; RRP 02/14/06: EBRT: May thru July '06; Current PSA .03(09/21/07) Diagnosis: T3b Seminal Vesicle Involvement, Gleason 9, Age 55 

 

Post Edited (veteran1) : 11/23/2007 10:32:35 AM (GMT-7)

Thank you Susan for your kind remarks. They meant a great deal to me and my family. You deal with with this disease with strength and such a positive attitute it is inspiring.

I would also like to hear from those who have had more than one member of their family stricken with this terrible disease. Yes we all know heridity is a strong contributing factor. It is hurting my family a great deal. How do you deal with it? How do you tell kids that not only does a grandfather or uncle have PCa but so do you. How do mothers and wives cope with this double tradgedy? At what age should do you think men with a family history should be tested? Is counseling a good idea?

What is happening to my family is that prostate cancer is tearing us apart. I should have put this in my post. My mother blames my father for not paying attention to his testing. She feels this may have contributed to the late diagnoses I recieved. I disagree. We all have very tough times in families. But I would very much welcome any advice from you or families who have lost a loved one from prostate  cancer or who have a family history.

I need your advice and it would mean a great deal to me.

Vet 

Post Edited (veteran1) : 11/25/2007 10:28:42 AM (GMT-7)

Just found out my dad's only brother has been diagnosed. He is 67. Going to do hormone therapy then seed implants. His PSA was only 2. something. He should do fine with it being caught so early.

Good luck with you and your family.

KW

Hi Vet,
I could not imagine that my, or my dad's inaction was a blame to anything. Fact is that PSA testing should be done at 40, not 50, and it should be standard protocol. The argument for it is a case like mine. There was NO family history whatsoever. None, Nada. The darn groups that speak against earlier testing say ludacrous things like "It would lead to people being treated for cancers that are not a present danger", or better yet, "It would be very costly to test every man at the age of 40". These things make me want to throw up. I was 44 when diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Now why would I not want to be proactive and just be tested at 40? And you now know why that this disease and the fight against it is just not getting the attention it needs. We are way too far behind in curing it to ever suggest that an ounce of prevention isn't worth that pound of cure. I know it for a fact that it is!! Shame on the agencies that do not feel it necessary to rethink that standard and reset it so that there are no more 40 year olds with terminal prostate cancer.

Tony

I am so thankful for the many positive posts on this thread, I think that the primary docs are unaware of the number of men in their 30's and 40's who are walking around with PC and are not aware they have it. We need to get the message out that testing needs to start at 30 not 50. Another thing, I had a bad misconception about the scores. I was thinking ( wrong ) that if you were 60 then 4.0 was not a bad score. I meet men almost daily ( I have breakfast with a group of men in their 60's and 70's ) that their doctors are telling them that 4.0 is an acceptable PSA score. I keep telling them to read DR. Patrick Walsh's book. What else can you do? So many are not wanting to learn the truth and are wanting to believe the Doctor about the PSA at 4.0 A lot of the men in this age group are not in to computers either so recommending they come to this site is not a good suggestion. Got any ideas. Keep the faith and a positive attitude, God Bless, Uncle Dan

Wow,
You go, Diana.
This is very important to Ricks son. GET TESTED!!!. Mending will soon follow.

Tony