Swimming Between Two Medical Issues

I'm currently swimming between two different health issues that will probably be under medical scrutiny for the remainder of my (hopefully long-term) existence on this Earth.  The first one to crop up was a congenital defective heart valve and accompanying aortic artery aneurysm that was diagnosed in late 2011/early 2012 and surgically corrected through open heart surgery in July 2021.  For this, post-op, I take regular medications and undergo periodic testing and specialist consultations...I just finished one with my excellent thoracic surgeon yesterday, to meet again in two years. The second medical issue is cancer, more specifically that of the prostate, which for me was diagnosed through biopsy in mid-December 2024.  I underwent a robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy in March and seem (so far) to be doing quite well without that malignant prostate.  But this issue also involves periodic blood tests for PSA (protein-specific antigen) levels that might indicate a return or resurgence (or not) of the cancer.  On my second post-surgery PSA test, the level was at .1, which may or may not be significant. The urology department at UF Health has me scheduled for a PSMA PET scan later this month, and thereafter yet another PSA test to be taken at the start of September. Then I'll meet with my specialist physician to determine a constructive course of action with all of this...or in the best-case scenario, inaction. It's during times like these that I can sit back and feel gratitude for the wonderful state of medicine, and my access to it.  I'm looking forward to staying active and positive, taking each day one at a time and appreciating the great people and circumstances around me...

Time Takes on Urgency During Aging

As I age, now into retirement for seven-plus months, my changing perception of the passage of time is causing me to reevaluate how best to spend it.  For one, with me it no longer seems that the future is as vast and wide open as it was during my youth...that's being pretty realistic, I think.  You can be pretty healthy...even athletic in your "golden" years, as Paul, an acquaintance in his 80's, demonstrated, and then quickly succumb to an aggressive cancer, organ failure or other ailment.  After my open-heart surgery four years ago, I recovered to the level of being once again able to do Parkrun 5Ks.  On one such run the following year, Paul and I found ourselves running side-by-side, and he revealed he had run many marathons in his past. He seemed very fit and at the close of our little talk, he then sped off and finished the 5K well ahead of me.  I hadn't seen Paul in a long time and just recently discovered that he had died this past February from pancreatic cancer.  Very sad, but that's a common part of being a senior: you're going along just fine, with what seems like an open future stretching out before you...and then, poof!, just like that, you're gone.  Well, that's one rapidly shifting perception of time that's recently affected me.  The other is my increased sensitivity to how, with each new day, I have things I want to do and how so-called "urgencies" that crop up tend to crowd them out, making me feel selfish and guilty should I assert myself and carve out my own time for them.  This also has to do with my sense that I don't have forever in this world to pursue my own interests and goals in spite of how well I physically feel or what encouraging words my doctors say...I'm developing my own personal sense of urgency regarding these things...

Sense of Community Important in Old Age

When my sister moved with her family to Texas in 1984, while I was living here in northern Florida, it left my parents by themselves back in my childhood home in Hollywood (near Miami).  My mother passed away in 2002, and that left my father living alone in the old house, albeit with a lot of stray neighborhood cats he took in and cared for.  But Daddy did not take to forming supportive relationships with others outside the immediate family, and as his vision and coordination gradually deteriorated with age, he found himself increasingly more in isolation, with my visits or those of Anita being special times when we could help him out with things. As Melissa and I are now the oldest surviving generation in our families, it gives me a sense of gratitude that she has some very good and deep connections with others.  For myself, though, on the other hand, it isn't quite so simple as I have almost instinctively been reclusive instead of pursuing a probably healthier level of social interaction. So although I'd rather spend time alone or with Melissa, I think that...at least while we're both still "up and about"...it just might behoove me to proactively engage in a more sociable context even if I start out feeling a bit critical and negative.  I think that's one reason I do the weekly Parkruns, but there are all kinds of groups like that get together, in real time and space, to unite around their shared interests.  Time for me to get down to figuring just how I'm going to step out of my isolationist comfort zone... 

Recovery from Prostate Surgery Continues to Be Encouraging

The specter of cancer descended upon my family last year when Melissa and I were diagnosed, respectively, with breast cancer in May and prostate in December.  We both had the malignancies surgically removed, mine involving a robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy, or removal of my prostate.  Although the verdict so far on both of our accounts as been that the cancers were successfully removed from our bodies, we still have to undergo periodic tests to make sure that there hasn't been any resurgence.  Melissa's follow-up is next month while I just underwent my PSA blood test a couple of weeks ago.  The result, as I had mentioned in an earlier article, was excellent, and my physician concurred with that take earlier today during our consultation.  Next test is in August, and either it will be "a-okay" or I'll get some radiation treatment...either way I'm good with it.  As for my recovery from surgery and my adjustment to being without one of my organs, that's been going well, too...full-speed ahead with life!  

Medical Test Result Encouraging

 Yesterday I drove down to one of my healthcare provider's offices to get blood drawn to ascertain my PSA (protein-specific antigen) level some two months following my prostatectomy. It's set up this way in order to give the body the chance to eliminate any substantial remaining PSA-producing cells from the operation, the score used as an indicator of whether the surgery effectively removed the cancer from my body or whether it still remains in some form.  I don't actually consult with my specialist for two more weeks, but the PSA score was very encouraging, below the stated threshold for concern.  Still, I think that at least for the short term, they will be repeating PSA testing every three months or so.  Regardless of what those future tests reveal, I'm confident in any potential treatment plans should they be deemed medically necessary.  But for now, so far so good... 

Update on Pathology Report After Surgery

The pathology report on my surgically removed prostate and lymph nodes was posted on my medical portal online Friday evening...supposedly, the urologist who performed the surgery on March 6 is going to call me on the phone tomorrow to discuss it and my path forward.  Melissa, who is a registered nurse and understands the often arcane jargon presented in laboratory reports and summaries, concurred with me that this pathology report had some very good news.  The prostate was substantially compromised with an aggressive form of cancer: this was expected...and obviously, not the good news.  The good news is that it is now out of my body and the lymph nodes...the first destination of such a malignancy on its way to metastasis...have been analyzed and determined to be clear.  Now I'm a cautious person in many respects, and I would rather hear this all straight from the doctor's mouth.  So that's where I'm at right now, waiting for that call.  In any event, I will be having a blood test to determine my PSA (protein-specific antigen) level before my follow-up visit to this urologist in late May.  The PSA level has with it a relatively high correlation with the probability of cancer, so that test will be pretty important with all of us hoping and praying that it will be very low... 

A Week After My Prostate Removal Surgery

It's now been eight days since I underwent anesthesia and surgery to remove my malignant prostate at UF Health here in Gainesville.  Since then, my recovery has been a bear, but I'm making good progress so far in spite of the pain, discomfort and limitations on my bodily functions and mobility.  After discharge the day after the six-hour operation, which employed laparoscopic robotic surgery to remove the prostate and some surrounding lymph nodes, I've been at home with an established recovery routine...and my dear Melissa to care for me.  We're also grateful for the well-wishes and food train donations from some of our cherished friends.  This procedure requires the temporary insertion of a Foley catheter into the bladder afterwards...very annoying but so far I'm withstanding it well.  It's scheduled to be removed this coming Monday, and afterwards it will be another fork in the recovery road as I use Kegel exercises...and time...to eventually regain my ability to control my own bladder.  The prostate and those removed lymph nodes are in pathology now, with the latter being tested to confirm that, indeed, the cancer had not spread to them.  If it has, though, they have a treatment program with that, too.  I guess my two main concerns during this phase of recovery have been the restoration of digestion and excretion, shut down during surgery due to anesthesia and inserted CO2 gas, and dealing with pain and the agents used to alleviate it.  I feel I'm now finally at the stage where I can rely on over-the-counter pain relief like Tylenol and Aleve without needing to ingest the prescribed drugs that can have their own side effects.  So far, so good with all that, but of course I have to take things from one day to the next.  Ever since the morning after surgery I have been ambulatory, with no difficulty in walking.  Of course, anything like running or resistance training is a matter to be delayed for a few weeks.  I thank everyone for your concerns and prayers, and I am indeed grateful to live in such a time, place, and circumstances that would enable me to enjoy such high-level medical treatment...

Significant Medical Procedure Coming in Two Weeks

This morning I went to receive my presurgical consultation at the hospital.  Oh, that's right, I never got into specifics about my ongoing health/medical issue, but now seems to be as good a time to start as any.  Being a male in my late sixties, as often happens to some of us, I experienced (from routine blood testing) an elevated PSA score, which is used as a possible indicator of prostate issues, including cancer in that organ.  I recently underwent an MRI to better picture the situation and am scheduled two weeks from now to have a prostate MRI-targeted biopsy to analyze whether it is cancerous or benign...and if the former, how so specifically and to what extent.  I'm personally at peace with the entire process, except that the different procedures and consults seem to be so spaced apart in time.  Melissa has been my steadfast advocate the whole way.  I'm looking forward to a continuing healthy and active life for many years to come and this situation hasn't changed anything in that regard.  Sure, I don't want to hear bad news but I'm a big boy...