The Four Stages of Cancer

JOY SCALE: 10/10

Hello Everyone, I hope you all are enjoying the Summer and telling your loved ones that you love them. I thought that today I would briefly go over the four stages of Prostate Cancer. There are four categories for describing the prostate's tumor's (T) stage. They range from T1 to T4. Most of these have subcategories, but i will not cover those today.

T1: Your doctor can't feel the tumor or see it with imaging such as transrectal ultrasound.

T2: Your doctor can feel the cancer when a digital rectal exam (DRE) is done, but it still appears to be confined to the prostate gland.

T3: The cancer has begun to spread outside your prostate and may involve the seminal vesicles.

T4: The cancer has spread to tissue next to your prostate (other than the seminal vesicles), such as the bladder sphincter (muscle that helps control urination), the rectum, and/or the wall of the pelvis. The subcategories of T4 include spreading of tumors to the lymph nodes and bones.

I am diagnosed with T4 prostate cancer with bone tumors.

As I said at the beginning of this post there are many subcategories to the T stages; however the descriptions are numerous and lengthy. My favorite reference book for cancer information is, QuickFacts Prostate Cancer, What You Need To Know by the American Cancer Society. I mentioned this book before and I will probably mention it again because it is such a great reference book. Please remember the T stages as there will be a 3 page written essay and exam on them next Tuesday. Just fooling.

That is it for today. Remember to treat yourself kindly, laugh out loud, eat good food (not the cheap stuff as the cat pictures says) , and breath deep.

Peace and Love to All

Love Like There is No Tomorrow

JOY SCALE: 11/10

Hello Everyone, Yesterday was my in-laws fifty first wedding anniversary. Imagine that, being with the same person for that many years. Due to my age I won't make it that long with my lovely wife, but I am going to try for the max years I can squeeze out of this relationship if she doesn't kill me first. LOL. The old saying, "It takes two...." applies. Whenever we visit Mom and Dad-my parents have long since passed so these two are my new parents-I watch them in action. I watch how they give and take. I watch how they pick their battles. My personal favorite is to watch them is when one of them thinks they are in charge when in fact the other one is the boss. Can you guess which one? I suspect our relationship share many of same characteristics that Mom and Dad share. I hope that my lovely wife and I manage to learn how to survive as gracefully as Mom and Dad. We will if we keep an open mind. Thanks Mom and Dad for giving us the opportunity to see true love in action.The lesson today is love like there is no tomorrow and don't forget to laugh loudly while deep breathing. Ha ha. Ha ha ha.

Peace and Love to All

Short and Sweet

JOY SCALE:11/10

Hello Everyone, Yes you read my Joy Scale right. It is possible to be happier than some arbitrary scale.Stopping to taste the roses is a great way to step out of this hectic life pace and slow down. Pausing to reflect why you paused is a good start to slowing down. It's a really simple concept. The hard part is doing it. So go and taste the roses, or daisies, or dandelions...........

Peace and Love to All

Still Flying High

JOY SCALE: 10/10

Hi Everyone, I'm still flying high from my camping trip. I am sure the residual energy from spending all that time outdoors with Mother Nature and my Grandkids will stay with me for quite a while.

I put this cat picture up because I am OCD and I share the kitty's frustration with crooked pictures. When I was a young lad OCD wasn't recognized at all. There were many of us OCD adults and children populating the world adapting to life without the use of drugs. Today drugs are the main treatment for Disorders. I am thankful that I wasn't plied with drugs to treat my OCD. Why? No drugs for my OCD helped me adjust to life's problems in a natural way. i followed my OCD heart. If a picture was crooked I straightened it. If the clothes in my closet were a mess I lined them up with various schemes such as by color or by type of clothing. If my room was messy I organized it until I was satisfied it was right. What I am trying to say is that growing up with OCD and naturally adjusting to it has helped me to be resourceful and adaptive in my life. I am sure that it is the same for all the other OCD people out there from my time and beyond. If you look hard enough you will see that there is always good from bad. That's how I look at my Prostate Cancer. There are many good things that have come out of this cancer. One being my appreciation of moments instead of saying that next week I will have fun doing..... Another is my adaptation skills have improved many fold because of all the changes that I am going through and have gone through. There are a few more good things, but I have already made this post longer than I wanted.

That is it for this post. Don't forget to laugh hard and look for the good.

Peace and Love to All

I'm Back!!!

JOY SCALE: 10/10

Hi Everyone,

Well I made it back safe and sound. Spending eight days with my Son, Daughter-in-Law, and Grandkids camping in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The camping was in tents in a camp ground right on the Pemigewasset River. We did a river run with kayaks, climbed the Flume, took a tram up Canon Mountain, and went to Six Gun City and Fort Splash, fishing, swimming, and just plain relaxed. I caught up on my sleep by going to bed around nine or ten and getting up by nine in the morning. I thoroughly enjoyed all the activities with my Grandkids. Most of the time my inner child is at the forefront getting me into trouble. It was easy to relate to the Grandkids on their level. I arrived home thoroughly relaxed mentally and spiritually. Physically I was worn out, but in a pleasant way. My lungs got a good workout during the climb through the Flume. Next time I will remember to bring my inhaler camping. Al in all my camping trip was a resounding success. Between my Daughter-in-Law and myself I believe we took over 6700 pictures and several videos.

The picture in this blog reminded me that most of the time my attempts at disguise are like the cat blatantly hanging out of the lamp. Like the cat I hide almost nothing of myself. I am not shy about talking about the past and my present. My wife is the exact opposite. Maybe that explains the age old law that opposites attract. My put it all out there ways have got me into trouble a time or two, but that is the way I roll. One benefit of letting it all hang out is that you don't have to keep things inside and let them fester in some cases. I think it is healthy to purge and not keep it all in.

Well enough for tonight. It is good to be back. Don't forget to breath, laugh, and treat yourself right.

Peace and Love to All

Heading Out of Town

JOY SCALE: 8:10Hi Everyone, Tomorrow I head off to the jungles of northern NH. Well actually I am staying overnight at my Son's place before we all head north. I am really looking forward to getting back to Mother Nature-I hope she still likes me. My wife is slowly on the mend. She might heal faster if I wasn't around getting in the way. I hope everyone is having a great Summer. I will be back posting either the 25th or the 26th. There will be plenty of adventures with youwith four grandkids to help me have fun camping. Perhaps I will share some of them with you. For now everyone take a deep breath and let it out slowly through your mouth. Do that five times and then have a good belly laugh.

Peace and Love to All

Camping

JOY SCALE: 8/10

Hi Everyone, I don't have much to post. My mind is elsewhere planning for a camping trip with my Son, his wife. and their four kids, AKA my Grandkids. I am going with them to northern New Hampshire for a week of camping fun right on the river Pemigewasset River. Say that fast three times. LOL. The camping dates are from the 18th to the 24th. Of course I will fly there on the 17th. I will try to post before I leave, but no promises. One thing is certain that after a week in the wilderness I will have some funny, and maybe even scary stories to tell. I will post something before I leave, but for now enjoy life and laugh a lot.

Peace and Love to All

Sleepy Time

JOY SCALE: 8/10

Hi Everybody, It is 3AM Monday morning and most of you are in dreamland. This is the time i usually head for the bed. I am not sure if I am a night owl or an insomniac. Maybe a little of each. I have given this late night/ early morning bed a lot of thought since it is a bone of contention between my lovely wife and me. She believes that a good night's sleep help my body fight the cancer. That makes good sense. I, on the other hand, feel that it doesn't make a difference what time I go to bed as long as I get adequate sleep. Keep in mind that every person doesn't always need eight hours of sleep. Some need ten or more while others, like me only need three to five hours of sleep. There is another factor in my late nights and early mornings. I don't want to miss anything. I don't know when my time is up so I want to live life as much as possible. If I could I would stay up 24/7. I will admit that time flies when I am at the computer and before I know it it is 3AM. Well a couple more things to do and off to bed. Sleep well for soon it will be time to get up and get ready for work. LOL. Enjoy the cat picture as it reflects a little bit of what we covered in this post except She/He has covered both sides of tonight's discussion. She/He is in bed and She/He is also having fun (not sleeping)! Ha-ha.

Peace and Love to All

The Hurt Game

JOY SCALE: 8/10

Hi Everyone, My joy scale is down today because my lovely wife has a fever and doesn't feel well. I call it sympathy pains. I have heard the term, "Happy Wife Happy Life." From my experience I believe that is true. Sometimes those of us that have cancer forget that our loved ones suffer just as much, if not more, than we do. You might wonder why would they hurt more than us? They live with us day after day sharing our pain and feeling our frustration. Also you must remember that when we go to the other side our loved ones are still here living, coping, and picking up the pieces. I am not suggesting that you constantly worry about this. I just don't want you to lose sight of what is really going on and that there is more to living with cancer than yourself. I have said enough for tonight. How about a big old belly laugh.

Peace and Love to All.

Distraction

JOY SCALE: 10/10

Hi Everyone, The weekend is here and it is summer. The little kitties are having summer fun why don't you. A quick explanation of how I deal with the massive pain I go through 24/7. There is always the Morphine from my implanted pump and Morphine tablets for break through pain, but the next best thing to Morphine is coping with pain by Distraction. An example of Distraction would be when I play my computer games, or Xbox 360 Live, I get so involved and immersed in them that I forget about everything except the game. This technique involves living in the moment. I am sure you all have had moments like this other than playing computer games. For example gardening, fishing, and other hobbies.. It works well except that you can't do whatever it is you do all the time. Nevertheless the Distraction method is a handy technique to know.

For now I think you all need to enjoy the summer. Now go get a squirt gun and get your neighbor all wet.

Peace and Love to All

JOY SCALE: 10/10

Hello Everyone, I want you all to stop what you are doing-unless you are in surgery- and take a deep breath through your nose, hold it for a few seconds, and slowly exhale through your mouth. Do this several times and each time try to hold your breath a little bit longer. You should feel relaxed after this breathing exercise. Now go find something to laugh about and look for my post tomorrow.

Peace and Love to All

Watchful Waiting

JOY SCALE: 9/10

Hi Everyone, I would like to talk about a method called "Watchful Waiting." This information was taken from a book called QuickFacts Prostate Cancer When You Need to Know-Now by the American Cancer Society. It is an excellent reference book and one i used almost exclusively. Now "Watchful Waiting" occurs when prostate cancer grows very slowly. Some men-especially those who are older or have other serious health problems-may never need treatment for their prostate cancer. This is when the doctors call this expectant management, or "Watchful Waiting."In Watchful Waiting PSA testing is used without any active treatment such as surgery or radiation therapy. One reason that PSA testing might raise a red flag would be when the PSA level doubles in less than three years.If you are younger, then Watchful Waiting is generally not an option especially if the cancer is aggressive. I will talk about that scenario in another post.I hope everyone is taking the time to laugh and enjoy their time on this earthly plane.

Peace and Love to All

Laugh

JOY SCALE: 9/10
Hi Everyone, Did you hear about the two cannibals eating a clown? One cannibal said to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?" Badabing Badaboom. Sorry about that I am in a fun mood. Maybe the posted picture brought it out in me. Laughing has great healing powers as I have mentioned before. That's it for now. Go out and laugh.
Peace and Love to All

Fun and Relaxation

JOY SCALE: 9/10

Hi Everyone, I proclaim this day a day of fun and relaxation. Now go out and have some fun will you.

Peace and Love to All

Emotions

JOY SCALE: 10/10

Hi Everyone, I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. My Sister and her husband left for Vermont this morning and I miss them already. Now you are probably wondering why is my joy scale maxed out if my Sister just left and I miss her. I am learning that when an emotion comes up in my life you can do one of two things. One, you can deny the emotion and hope it goes away or two, you can acknowledge the emotion and accept it as it is, just an emotion that is neither good nor bad. When you completely accept the emotion you experience it fully without judgement. That is precisely what I did, experience the emotion fully. Doing that allows me to continue to enjoy all that life is and not get hung up with denying emotions. On a daily basis I have many wonderful things to be thankful for and when I acknowledge them sometimes my joy scale gets maxed out. Let me repeat that I am just learning to deal with emotions and I still have bad days because of the way I handle my emotions. So everyone I have shared a chapter in my lilfe and I hope you might get something out of it. Enjoy life for what it is.

Peace and Love to All

Life is a River

JOY SCALE: 10/10

Hi Everyone, I trust you all had a happy Fourth of July. I spent all day with my beautiful wife, my Sister, and her husband. Tomorrow my Sister heads back to Vermont. It will be a sad time. I hate goodbyes, but I try to remember that I will certainly see them again. Hellos and goodbyes are a part of the fluid life we live. We can go with the flow or go in the opposite direction. One way is the easy and best way and the other the harder way. Which direction are you going?

Peace and Love to All

Fourth of July

JOY SCALE: 9/10

Hi Everyone, I want to wish you all a happy Fourth of July. Please take the time to remember how we got here. Without our Independence we would be nothing more than slaves.

Now a quick take on the posted picture. I have said this before, but we all need the proper amount of sleep and especially so if you have cancer. There is tons of information out there about sleep and how to obtain it. We all are different and it follows that we all need different amounts of sleep. Don't forget about rest as well. If you can't get the sleep you need at least try for the rest. Naps are a good way to get rest. Now do a big, hearty belly laugh and then take a nap. That's what i am going to do.

Peace and Love to All

Enjoy the Picture

JOY SCALE: 8/10

Hi Everyone, There isn't anything I need to say tonight except to enjoy the picture.

Peace and Love to All

JOY SCALE: 9/10

Hi Everyone, I am back from vacation and ready to go. Go back on vacation that is. LOL. Vacations are always too short. Oh well that's life. This will be a short post. See that funny cat picture? Exercise is good. A good brisk walk two or three times a week is suffcient to get things moving inside your body and brain. Now laugh at the picture and then go out for a walk.

Peace and Love to All