I had my usual three monthly entire body bone scan and CT thorax/abdomen/pelvis scan on Monday. Following this, we saw Dr P yesterday. He led with the scan results, so I will follow suit with some highlights (so to speak):
- The conclusion for the former scan was “findings in keeping with moderately indolent disease”. When I asked for a translation of this, Dr P said “stable”.
- For the latter: “No features to indicate underlying soft tissue metastatic disease at any level”. The fact that there is no visceral metastatic disease (i.e. no lymph nodes or organs are affected) was further good news.
The PSA was a rather dizzying 63. However, Dr P said he thought this had probably increased to this extent because of the radiation treatment I had just had at Peter Mac. He said also he could see I was a bit sub-par, and that I would start feeling better about 6-8 weeks after the last treatment. (He relies much less on the PSA metric than on his assessment of how I am looking and feeling overall. )
The news was a mixture of encouraging and daunting. Looking at the positives, however, Dr P didn’t order me onto another round of chemo. Prior to the appointment, we both expected this. That he kept that up his sleeve this time was a relief. I am already feeling less tired from the radiation treatment (i.e. not sleeping half the day), so maybe the recovery is starting a bit earlier than forecast. My left eye (the one which was treated) is looking better, with less bloody and scummy stuff weeping out. The area underneath the eye in particular is much less red.
I am going into Peter Mac tomorrow morning to touch base with my radiation oncologist, Dr M. My plan is to continue seeing her each week, as she has requested, until the left eye has settled down. At that point I will transfer the oversight of the Merkel carcinoma to Dr P (being something with which he is familiar.) Not having to trek out to Parkville will be a relief.
The sciatica has been quite troublesome. I have had to supplement Lyrica (the medication prescribed for it by my GP, Dr T) with anti-inflammatories. We went to Camberwell earlier this afternoon to see her about this and a few other things. She authorised a double dose of Lyrica (150 mg twice a day), and gave me a prescription for this, and others for a few more meds that have been running a bit low.
Guy's prostate blog 
Guy; Sorry not to have been in touch for a while. Never too sure how to react to your prostate blog reports, but it appears things are as good as they could be, no? I’m due for another visit to PeterMac soonish. I am still not having treatment for whatever the hell it is I’ve got (Lymphocite Leukemia or something like that) I have had enough separate health issues to keep me distracted from all that anyhow. We have a new dog that requires two lengthy walks a day. Son no.3 does the arvo and I in the morning. Whether it’s to do with that or not I don’t know, but my knees have really gone bad on me and I’ve been seeing a physiologist twice a week for the last couple of months and doing some very specific exercises three times a day. I’ve also had a bunch of sundry gut pains which nobody seems to have an answer for; all part of getting old I suppose. No. 1 son (Jordan) and his partner Kitty are expecting a baby mid-December, so things promise to get pretty interesting in the new year! No.2 son (Rory) is at present motorcycling somewhere in Japan, where he has been for the last couple of weeks, and will be for a couple more. No.3 son (Liam) remains at home with us, still trying to find a job and battling irritable bowel syndrome, which is making life hard for him. Still doing my Thursday gig, gone ten years now, and we have survived a change in licensees, which is nothing short of amazing. On a sourer note, longtime member Greg O’Leary, fiddler, mandolinist and gorgeous singer, had a fall and broke two vertebrae in his neck. It seems he will now be paraplegic, and as well as that, use of his arms is very limited too, so he may not be able to play at all. Very depressing! Do you ever hear from anyone from our library days? I ran into Tanya Bramley, Anthony Hudson and Greg Shute a few months back, down at the railway Hotel where I play. I happened to drop in on a Tuesday night, and it appears they go there regularly for the ‘trivia night’ (but they don’t come to see me!) Anyhow, we should meet up again sometime. I can easily call by your place, and you and Jill are always welcome here. Attached is a picture of our new dog (“Binka”) in her pyjamas (actually a toddler’s dressing gown) which Annie got her during the winter months. All the best to both of you, RD
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