The Saga Continues

It felt good to finally have found someone who cared in the medical field and at the VA to boot. Now to find out what was causing this terrible pain. All the CT scans and lab work at the Air Force base showed nothing because they were concentrating on my abdominal area.
The blood work from the VA came back and the reading was high at 28.5 to say the least! Previously I told you that a normal PSA reading was 4.0 or lower. 28.5 raises a few flags one of which is the old biopsy routine. I was scheduled for a biopsy of my prostate in 2 weeks. Sometimes a high PSA can mean a man has Prostatitis which is an infection of the prostate. In case that is all I had I was put on a high dose of antibiotics for two weeks. The day before I was to go in for my biopsy the VA called and said both of their biopsy machines were down for repairs. Imagine that. Since we were still in with the Air Force hospital I managed to get my biopsy done several days later. On May 23rd I was told over the phone by the base Urologist that I had Prostate Cancer. He ordered a bone scan to see if the cancer had spread to my bones. Prostate Cancer likes to spread to the bones.We picked up the bone scan results up before my appointment with the Urologist. the report indicated that the cancer had spread to my bones. The term used for this is called metastasizing. So I had Prostate Cancer with bone mets. Oh boy. I reported to my Urologist to hear what he had to say. Since my wife and I had already got the results we knew what he was going to say. Unfortunately once the cancer leaves the prostate and get into the bones there aren't many treatment options available. He suggested that I have an Orchiectomy. I would suggest if you are a layman, with emphasis on MAN, that you sit down before I tell you what that procedure is. Every man sitting down? An Orchiectomy involves two deft and precise cuts in your scrotum whereby your two little friends are removed and disposed off. No you can't bring your testicles home in a jar. I know because I asked. Before I agreed to that procedure my wife spoke up and asked if a chemical Orchiectomy would be better to do. Now let me clarify a couple of things about my wife. She is a nurse and an avid reader. We also used the internet to find out a lot of interesting information on prostate Cancer. Google is our friend. When she found out that a high PSA score could be indicative of Prostate Cancer she immediately got as many books on Prostate Cancer that she could take out of the library. My wife and I consider ourselves to be proactive when it comes to our health. Apparently this particular doctor was not used to someone questioning him about medical procedures. He said the Orchiectomy was better. My wife tried to ask him a few more questions, chasing him out of the room, but he didn't have the time. Here I am just being told I have Prostate Cancer and he didn't have time to answer a few questions! Thank God we still had the VA. We thanked the doctor (I don't know why) and left. We would call the VA and make an appointment with a doctor there and see what they suggested we do. Thanks to my wife I now can suggest the best book to read if you have Prostate Cancer or are just curious about it. It is a book from the American Cancer Society called "QuickFacts Prostate Cancer." The book gets right down to business in a simple and understandable way. This saga to be continued. Thanks every one for taking the time to read about my adventures.

Peace and Love to All