Tuesday, May 30
It has been a long and tiring day for Laurie and I – up at 5:15 am, 6 hours at the healing center and 6 hours of driving. I had the standard blood draw, a check-up and consult with Dr Beer’s PA, Allean, a consult with the pharmacist and then the double infusion.
The hard data reveals another disappointing rise in PSA – a new record high of 217. However, this represents only a 13% increase over the last 3 weeks, compared to an average of 103% increase over the last 4 months (see graph). The second piece of hard data indicated that 2 of the 4 liver enzymes continue to increase to the point where I needed special permission today to even receive the infusions. No scans were taken, so no new data on tumor size is available.
Even before the PSA data was in, we had a frank discussion with Allean who assured us that a small increase or decrease in PSA data would not be telling. After only one treatment, it would not be prudent to draw any conclusions. This is consistent with Dr. Small’s (UCSF) adage of never, ever, ever, ever rely on one piece of PSA to determine a change in treatment. Also, Allean fully assured us that I seemed in very good physical condition and we seem to be doing everything in our power to respond to this disease. The burden of cure is in their hands.
This makes me think of the serenity prayer:
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.”
We continue to live by the maxim, one day at a time or in climber’s terms: bolt to bolt and hope for a better day tomorrow!
Climb on, Mikie….climb on. You’re on solid belay!
You are, and continue to be MY HERO and inspiration
Sending you all the love, encouragement, strength and support from up here in Bellingham, Mike! I keep reminding myself if you can wrangle middle schoolers into sitting still and talking about numbers day after day… you can do this!
Thank YOU very kindly Katie……..Great to hear from you and welcome to my incredibly compassionate and earnest support team. I love how you liken the challenge of wrangling with a classroom of jumbled adolescents and dealing with the insane confusion of multiplying tumor cells. I’ll remember this as the challenge becomes greater. Best wishes to you in Bellingham!