Proton Radiation Therapy -- My Journey With Prostate Cancer -- Treatment Period 2/22/07-4/18/07

Hey Dave - thinking about you as you start your last week (this is your last week, right?).

Your positive attitude, the research you've done and your choice of treatment will give you the results your looking for, I just know it!

You've done a great thing by keeping us updated on your journey through proton. Others will hugely benefit from this.

I'm sure even though you've spent some quality time with your family, it will be good to get home to your own place and restart your life!

Wishing you all the best on your last sessions and will be keeping an eye out for your update.

Susan

Hey Dave,

Wow, almost done!!! I bet it feels great. You have done an amazing job with your research and your journal of your experience. Many people are going to be better informed and more comforted due to your efforts.

Congratulations my friend...

Jim

Hey Dave!
Guess you are down to your last treatment cuz I only have 3 more!! Hope you are doing well. I'm really tired at night after my treatment especially when I have to work. I saw my doctor today..He doesn't think I will have anymore problems with this..He will check my psa in 4 weeks. Hope things are going well!! Trey

Hey Dave,

Great job!!!!! You researched, you talked to us, you chose your treatment option and you followed through to the end. You did everything right, my friend. You deserve and I am sure will have the best possible outcome with minimal side effects.

Congratulations indeed....

Jim

Dave:

Boy, it feels good doesn't it?   Now to get on with the rest of your life.  You have done a great job on this thread and have gone a long way to educating others about proton.

TAke care,

Dutch

Dear Dave,   Typing out this latest update must have been very therapeutic…     You have had an opportunity to travel this path with family and new baby grandson!   And you’ve allowed us to become friends…   Thank you!!!!   You are a special “gentleman” as I’ve stated previously and it holds even truer today.   With you personally posting over 474 times sending knowledge and support to others and support…   and taking “Susan & her man” under your wing….   While fighting your own fight ~ this says so very much about the man you are!   We feel honored to call you friend!   Thank you ~ for you!!!! Please Continue to Take Care of Yourself and Remember You’re Kept in Warmest Thoughts Always .   In true friendship ~ Lee & Buddy

Dearest Bluebird & Susan

Many thanks for your support along the way and very thoughtful messages just posted.  Your kind words and thanks are deeply appreciated.  I only wish I could do more.  A vast amount of money is now being spent on prostate cancer research and we can only hope that new treatment miracles will appear soon, especially for those in the more advanced stages of cancer.  This forum is really a blessing--there is so much information posted here from the experiences of PC patients that you can't find any place else.  You both offer a lot of comfort and warm support to members who are in need.  Your efforts do not go unnoticed.  God Bless both of you!

Dave

 

Dave ~ We've all learned that speaking out is the best gift we can share.  Took my car in to get inspected today and got started on reaching out to others!!!  Speaking extra loud of course so the guys in the back would hear!!!!  Get tested!!!!  So as we all continue to move forward ....  Sharing shows we Care.  Of course it was nice that a lady I hadn't seen in years asked how we were doing!!!  Doors opened ~ so I stepped right through it... What do you have on your agenda now that your treatment is over? aaaahhhhhh Please share what's next in your path... Thinking of you with a very warm heart!!!  Thank you for feeling how much we care. In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy

Jonathan Epstein, a pathologist at John Hopkins, has done a study on positive margins. It's very hopeful. Here's an excerpt:

"And, even if the surgical margins are positive, this does not necessarily mean that the cancer is left behind. How can this be? "There are several different explanations why, when the margins are positive, the tumor may still be cured," says Epstein. "One is that literally you cut across the last few tumor cells" -- that what appears to be remaining cancer is actually a cross-section of the perimeter of the tumor. "And even though it looks like it's a positive margin, there's really nothing left in the patient."

Another explanation is that the act of surgery itself finishes the job, killing any remaining cells. No cut or injury to tissue happens in a vacuum; the area around the cut is affected, too. (Think of lightning striking a tree; the tree dies, but so does a ring of grass around it). "When the surgeon cuts across tissue the blood supply is cut off, there's dead tissue, and that can kill off the last few tumor cells that might have been left behind," Epstein says.

Thanks Kitt! I started two other threads not too long ago entitled "Recent Prostate Cancer Research & Studies Relating to Treatment Options" and
"Recurring Prostate Cancer After Failed Surgery and Radiation Treatment". I am especially interested in these areas of prostate cancer and want other members to share vital information like elpaso posted above. It had been my intention to cross reference his posting to my two threads mentioned above. I would like to refer to the exact study before doing so and perhaps expand on what he said. This is the kind of synergy that we need in this forum. This is significant information for members, many of whom have reported positive margins which is devastating to them. This information may well give them hope that their positive margins may not necessarily be a negative sign.

I am trying to develop and keep alive threads that will hopefully have long-lasting important information for both members and non members. One of the problems of this forum is that some vital information from members eventually goes by the wayside. Bluebird is one of our distinguished lady members who has been so helpful in keeping track of extremely useful information and cross referencing it for both new and old members where possible. She has also encouraged members to set up new threads and copy only the vital information from their old threads. Her devotion to and love for this forum is extraordinary. Her contributions have been invaluable to this growing forum.

Dave

Hi ~ Dave,

It’s really good to hear from you….  Wonderful update!!! 

Please go in and update your 1^st Posting too. 

That’s where we went to check on you!!  And there wasn’t anything…since 4-26.

 

Are you still with your family and grandson?

Take care and know we keep you close in our thoughts and prayers.

Hugs from Lee & Buddy

Dear Bluebird

Nice to hear from you and have you back after a well deserved vacation.  I am glad that Buddy is going to take you on another cruise in December--everyone who works hard (even volunteers) need to get away from time to time.

I have been back home for about a month now.  My daughter lives about 175 miles away.  It was a total joy bonding with my grandson during his 7th and 8th month while taking my proton treatments--these are moments that can only be lived once.  Kids grow up so fast--you have to savor the moments you have with them.  I have set up a web cam (video & audio), so that once a week or so we have a family reunion over the internet.  It works pretty well and I highly recommend it for grandparents who do not live that close to their grandchildren.

Looking forward to spending the summer close to the ocean.  My mom, who is 91 and still going strong, will spend the summer with us. My daughter & family will visit in July.  My son lives within commuting distance and will visit on weekends.  I want to chill out and relax over the summer.  When you get any kind of cancer it changes your perspective on life and makes you change your priorities--now more than ever is the time to "smell the roses" and savor life. 

I have slowed down a little in my postings here, but want to remain an active member.  I want to give back in any way I can to other PCa patients.  This forum is truly a blessing--you continue to make it so special for all of us.

Dave

P.S. I posted my 4-week update to my 1st thread.  I had intended to do it, but got a little lazy lately.  Thanks for giving me a push!

Dutch & Susan--Thanks for thinking about me and your recent good wishes.