This time it’s real!

Back last December I believed I had metastatic bone cancer and began confronting the potential of leaving my life sooner than I had assumed I would. But that was a false alarm. There was no cancer in my bones then; the breaks in my pelvic bones that oncologists thought were caused by metastatic cancer were caused by the intense radiation treatments I received back in 2012 to treat the prostate cancer.

But a new scan last month, prompted by rapidly rising PSA, showed that the cancer has subsequently metastasized to a bone in my pelvis and to a lymph node. While there is no cure, I will start hormone therapy this week in an attempt to buy time.

The posts from December express well how I think and feel about being in the final stages of my life. The overriding question to me now is how my body will react to the hormone treatment. I’ll start tonight a drug called Xtandi and will receive a shot of the hormone drug on Wed. that will last three months. Both drugs can cause miserable side-effects. I’m trying hard to keep my mind in the moment and not conjure up what effects I might get. I’ll wait and see what actual effects I get and deal with them when I have them.

I will periodically post how I am feeling, what I am thinking, and any significant changes.