Ticking away ... Day 1007 ~ what happens next ...

A week after finishing radiotherapy I'm still feeling its effects and it may be another week before improvements are felt.

 

Today though I was back for my four weekly appointment. I've been taken off the Abiraterone which has served me well during the last seven months and I'm being weaned off the steroids. Abiraterone doesn't work for everyone. Someone we met today for the first time in over a year only had two courses [I had eight] and he is now probably worse off than me.

I have a number of options open to me :~

[1] Enter a clinical trial with new medication that is showing encouraging results. I have to meet certain criteria ... and even if I'm accepted I may get the placebo ! The clinical trial is finishing soon so I need to get in quickly if I'm going to get in at all. Paperwork explaining the trial will be sent to me in the next few days.

[2] Another course of chemotherapy. This won't be as effective as the previous course but could keep me going for longer than not having it at all ! It wasn't available ten years ago.

[3] Bone strengthening drugs. These may well be needed as the cancer appears to be attacking my bones. One drawback is that I need my teeth to be in good order and they aren't. A visit to the dentist may be needed. [I think the doctor has seen my smile.]

All these three courses of treatment have to be provided in the city hospital an hour away rather than the town hospital twenty minutes away.

The doctor mentioned in passing that the limp that I have may be caused by one of the bones in my pelvic area that is as good as broken. This is due to it being bone/cancer/bone. The radiotherapy may resolve this ~ the next week may tell me more. There's no wonder it hurt a few months ago when I missed the step on that stile ... and when I roll over in bed every night.

Here I am after the visit ...

 

On a positive note the bacon baps were as good as ever and the social side of visiting hospital continued when I met someone I'd been talking to just yesterday. I hadn't seen her for months before that ...

One negative note ... I'm not sure they do bacon baps in the big city hospital.

This photograph has already appeared on Facebook and someone has said that judging by my smile the news must have been good. I wouldn't go quite that far but again it's been a case of me getting what I expected.

Ticking away ... Day 979 ~ me and my three legged dog ...

Since I came out of hospital four weeks ago I haven't really made up lost ground ~ over the past four weeks my 'groin strain' has become more and more uncomfortable. It got to the stage where, even with two walking poles, I was only able to walk a couple of miles on a flat trail on Monday evening and it took me two hours. We were taking photos as we went but even so ...

So, after my CT scan a week ago today I was prepared for nearly anything when I went for my four weekly follow-up appointment with my oncologist.

We got there for the 9.30 appointment and after the usual weigh-in and blood pressure check Jamie and I were talking to the doctor who seemed very relaxed ... and then she said "when is your CT scan ? " ... that's right, the results hadn't filtered through to her yet.

The doctor felt that, in view of the discomfort I was experiencing in my groin, it might be worth me having an x-ray. This obviously wasn’t going to be one of those hospital visits where we were sitting down to a bacon bap within an hour of my appointment.

[I will now try and edit out some of the details you don’t need to know … I'm trying to save you time ...].

We walked through the hospital to the x-ray department. Who should walk in whilst we were sitting there but one of my former work colleagues … “What are you doing here” ... 
 

My name was called and I went into the x-ray room after putting on one of those gowns. I lay there while six or seven x-rays were taken of my pelvis and left hip. This involved some discomfort on my part as the radiologist had to x-ray my left hip by lining up the machine whilst my right leg was supported on a metal frame. She was shooting under my right leg.

 I was given a pink slip of paper with a bar code to walk back to my doctor so that she could see the x-rays immediately.

Initially though we saw the pharmacist to talk about my medication. After she’d gone we [Jamie and I] realised that we were sitting in a side room with comfortable chairs. You know what that can mean. As I sat there, across the corridor, I caught a glimpse of a couple of friends I knew from my days with the ramblers …

After twenty five minutes the doctor came in and she was able to say that whilst they were looking at the x-rays they were also able to see the results of the CT scan. This showed up that in addition to a swollen lymph gland on the left side of my groin [that’s a lump I have there at present] I also have a ‘met’ in my left hip socket and a smaller one in my right hip.

By ‘met’ I assumed she meant metastasis and she did indeed confirm that that is what she meant. 'Met' sounds much less threatening though doesn't it.

The good news [yes, there is some good news] is that radiotherapy should soon knock the swollen lymph gland and both metastases into touch ! Hurrah ! I just need one session and they would tell me within the next 7 to 10 days when that will be.

On that note Jamie and I headed off for our bacon bap. We were now attending to the serious business ~ the bap !

However, who should we bump into in the Café@theRoyal but those two walkers … one of them having the same complaint as me. I said hello … they didn’t recognise me [it happens a lot] ... but once I’d introduced myself we sat and had a chat and he picked my brain as he has only recently been diagnosed. I think he took comfort from the fact that I am still  around nearly three years after being diagnosed, particularly as I have Stage 4 prostate cancer and he has Stage 2 …

Jamie’s telephone rang. It was my doctor wanting to have a further word.

We headed back to her department. She was apologetic. I will need five ‘doses’ of radiotherapy not one … I wasn't angry. I wasn't upset. These things happen. Mistakes are made. Life is too short ...

Eventually we got away after all the toing and froing and I spent the afternoon feeling tired [mentally as much as physically I think].

Yesterday my enthusiasm seemed to evaporate fairly early in the day too.

Today though I feel enthused enough to post this even though my groin is feeling decidedly uncomfortable. I might even resort to some painkillers … at some stage.

So, I’ve had a setback but I expected it … possibly worse … now I aim to get the radiotherapy behind me and hopefully get out for some walks …

In the meantime here’s a photograph taken once we’d got back to the car park …

I don't shave as often as I used to do.

Ticking away ... Day 892 ~ Send for three and fourpence !

Another month has gone by so today I was due for another follow-up appointment at hospital at 9.30. I was without my right hand man and lucky charmer ... Jamie. He was needed elsewhere. What would I do ? I felt like a football manager without his lucky suit before a crunch game against his biggest rivals.

There was nothing for it ~ I would have to seek reinforcements

So along came a couple of the ladies who are nearest and dearest to me for their first visit to the Cancer Treatment Suite ... I know how to show a woman a good time.

We got there early and I was seen within five or ten minutes. 

I got off to a bad start ~ my blood pressure was 200 over ... something or another ... that was the only bad news actually. My PSA reading had gone down from 22 or 23 to 19 and everything else seemed ok.

Another appointment was arranged for four weeks hence but I have to start taking a beta blocker [Atenolol] as well as having my blood pressure monitored weekly.

As you can imagine the relief I felt was fairly great. I never know what to expect. I hope for the best but fear the worst. There's no wonder my blood pressure is high. Still, let's not dwell on the negative.

We adjourned to the coffee shop, me and the two ladies, and I had my obligatory bacon bap.

Outside a photographic image was captured ...

I look well for a man with Stage IV prostate cancer don't I. It's amazing what our doctors can do ... and it's all on the NHS. It's worth remembering that since its launch in 1948, the NHS has grown to become the world’s largest publicly funded health service.

In other news, Spring is in the air.

Jamie will be back with me in four weeks.

Ticking away ... Day 836 ~ plugging that damn wall ...

Earlier today I had my first check-up after being put on Abiraterone. Everything seems to be going well except my blood pressure is up and my potassium level is down. This means I'm being given 10mg of Amlodipine as from tomorrow rather than 5mg ... together with all the other tablets of course.

There's not a lot to add really except the doctor and the pharmacist wanted to know how the Abiraterone was affecting me. I said the worse side effect is having to take them at 6.30 whilst half asleep. If I don't drop the top of the Buxton Water bottle because I'm fumbling about I have been known to drop one of the tablets [which I pick up hastily and swallow without thinking too much]. I don't have to take the tablets at 6.30am but I'm supposed to take them an hour before food and I don't fancy sitting around for an hour doing nothing before I have my breakfast. 

After talking to the pharmacist about my medication we had to go to the pharmacy to get the extra Amlodipine and then as part of my self-medication involves a hot bacon cob we adjourned to the Cafe @ the Royal ...

It had started to snow as we sat drinking our coffees and eating our cobs but there was still time for the usual photograph to show you how this 62 year old is looking nowadays ... 

 

Thanks to Jamie, of course, for taking me there and having to put up with his old Dad ... it is much appreciated Jamie.

Finally, I'd like to say 'hello' to Hayley's Grandma ... I sometimes wonder whether I'm going on a bit too much about the state of my health but when I learn that Hayley reads these blogs to her Grandma because she likes to know what someone else is going through too ... well, it makes it all worthwhile. 

Give your Grandma a hug and a kiss from me Hayley.

Feet together/poles apart ...

Having taken Abiraterone for two weeks now I can report that I feel better generally but I still have some discomfort in my groin ... so I bought myself some walking poles to make walking easier.

They were just £15, hardly top of the range, but they should take some pressure off my hips and pelvis etc.

In the event, just this afternoon, I walked for just 45 minutes, quite slowly from Alport up to the packhorse bridge near Youlgreave ...


 

I'm not a big fan of walking poles but at least they enabled me to get out into the countryside. This may be as good as it gets unless my pelvis improves ... somehow.

We'll see.

The other news is that the Abiraterone hasn't affected my kidneys or potassium levels etc. The pharmacist declared yesterday that the results of Tuesday's bloodtest were "absolutely fine".

Finally my compact digital camera has gone kaput so I'm going to have to replace it or stick with my SLR which is bigger and more cumbersome. The two photos above were taken with my phone !

It will be interesting to see how my groin/pelvis feels during the night and in the morning. It is surprising how you don't realise as you turn over in bed how your body 'corkscrews' on your pelvis  ... until you have a problem with your pelvis. Ouch.

Ticking away ... Day 809 ~ A is for Abiraterone ...

You may have already seen my comment elsewhere as regards yesterday's trip to the hospital with Jamie.

We got there early because sometimes you can get in early to see the doctor. This was not one of those occasions and we were still in the waiting room an hour later.  Then we were called into a side room where we met a new doctor, the fourth so far in this adventure of mine. And she was very nice, asking me how I was doing ... so I told her about my discomfort in the left side of my groin and that also in the last couple of days I was feeling discomfort in my left armpit.

Then she told me the results of my CT Scan by and large confirmed what my discomfort was all about ... but she said there was no sign of cancer cells in the pelvic bone. She had also mentioned that my PSA reading was up to 55 !

So good on one point not so good on two. Still I expected bad on all three fronts.

The doctor suggested that I start taking Abiraterone, a newer type of hormone therapy. Before I can start this though I had to have my blood pressure taken and undergo a bloodtest. Once these had been undertaken I was told the Abiraterone would be delivered direct to me at home. I then have to have a bloodtest in a fortnight so the hospital can see it's all going well and then go back in a month for another checkup.

On average Abiraterone prolongs a man's life by four months more than a man who isn't on Abiraterone.

Whilst I was there three or four of the nurses who looked after me [and Jamie] when I was having chemotherapy came and had a chat with us to see how we were doing. That was good of them.

At 9am this morning my Abiraterone arrived and I will start taking it early tomorrow morning. Four tablets have to be taken at least an hour before eating [or two hours after eating].

There's a warning with the tablets that Abiraterone should not be handled by pregnant women or women who could become pregnant. They should use gloves. 

It will be interesting to see what it does to me.

Incidentally there is no photograph of me because although we took five or six, they have all been swallowed up in my camera ... somehow.