Day #1: An introduction to chemo!

I will be documenting my experience with chemo, at the request of my Ad4! friends, for all to see. I’ll post a follow-up here from time to time.

I first knew I had cancer in the spring of 2011. I won’t bore you with the whole story today, but a few doctor visits, a biopsy, and a bone scan, hormones shots, five months and a failed MRI later, and I was lying on the operating table awaiting a radical prostatectomy. That’s a procedure where they remove your prostate gland and some of the surrounding tissue. This is what you do when you have Stage 4 Prostate Cancer.

Dr. James Flatt, [Urology Specialists of Huntsville] my urologist, the man who touched me in that special place and said, “Hmm, this doesn’t feel right.”, removed my prostate, by hand, on October 11, 2011. He did a fabulous job and was my original cancer doctor. That relationship lasted until 2014 when he couldn’t keep my PSA levels in check, a theme that will be repeated.

Dr. Tres Childs, [Center for Cancer Care], my oncologist, was the first handoff. We would try several different combinations of hormone therapy to reduce the testosterone my system produced and reduce the cancer’s ability to absorb what was produced. This worked for a brief time until it didn’t. The result was my PSA levels continued to increase.

PSA is protein produced by the prostate gland in men. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in a man’s blood. It’s a good indication of prostate cancer. And according to the National Institute of Health, the results are usually reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood. A normal PSA level is 4.0 or less.

Dr. Mahn Dang, [Clearview Cancer Institute], is a radiation oncologist, and the second handoff.  He would try several different androgen receptor inhibitors to reduce the growth of the prostate cancer spreading through my body. We were taking two approaches at once. The original hormone therapy to reduce the production of testosterone in the body, and the new and much more toxic androgen receptor inhibitors working together to, in layman’s terms, reduce the food available to the cancer and reducing the cancer’s ability to absorb the food that was produced. The result was my PSA levels continued to increase.

Like most other forms of cancer, prostate cancer can be a insidious bastard. Not only does is feed off of your manliness, it also produces its own testosterone to replace what you’re suppressing. My blood test on September 29th would reveal a PSA of 397. That’s not too good.

“Unfortunately, the cancer has mutated and is no longer responding to the hormone therapy.” Dr. Dang’s words for the first time in this journey were frightening. “It’s time for chemo.”

The Bad news Good news.

The word chemo is frightening. We know the horror stories. People going through chemo lose their hair, their lunch, and eventually their will to live. It’s ugly. You can recognize chemo patients by the colorful bandanas they wear on their heads and the lifeless look in their eyes. For many cancers, it’s a tough treatment to endure.

Okay, the good news. Chemo is approximately 80% effective for prostate cancer. And, the more aggressive the cancer, the higher the effectiveness. Why? I don’t really understand that part. You’ll just have to trust me. Also good news is the newest forms of chemo drugs are very specific. That means that they do what they’re supposed to do and not as much of what they’re not. They still kill a bunch of the good cells, but it’s not quite as bad as it used to be. I’ll probably still lose my hair, but I don’t have that much in the first place. If that’s the worst I have to look forward to, I’m in pretty good shape.

And, since I have a super aggressive form of cancer, the doctor expects the chemo to be effective. So far, so good.

I’m celebrating 4 years of being a cancer survivor this month. As always, my faith will get me through this trial. I believe that God has big plans for me, and I’m going to do my part.

I hear you asking, “Chris, what can we do?”

I’m glad you asked.

As I am participating in the American Cancer Society’s Real Men Wear Pink campaign, I’d appreciate a donation to fight breast cancer in my name. Just follow this link: Real Men Wear Pink, click on my name and make a donation. I would really appreciate your generosity. And to those facing the effects of cancer, you’re awesome.

If you’re a cancer survivor or a caregiver, I’d love to hear your story. Drop me a line at [email protected].

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