You will always keep them in your heart. Stay strong.
I'm so sorry for your devastating loss. I'm so glad to know that there was and is so much love and joy surrounding your family, and that love shines brightest in the darkest of times. I'm so glad you shared that love with us. My heart breaks for you and your family.
As others have said, if there's anything we can do, we will.
Much love and peace to you and your family.
You tried a lot to keep him comfortable and loved, and I believe you succeeded. Godspeed.
I wish I had more to say than my thoughts are with you in this moment. Thank you for sharing so many of the moments of joy too. Ever one of them showed the love you had for each other.
Well, my dad saw his surgeon last week, and was told "there is nothing more we can do, surgery-wise". Before christmas, he was told the chemo and radiation therapy have also been exhausted.
Ever since he told me all of that, all I hear is a ticking sound in the back of my brain.
That's life (semi-delicious). We are all staring down the barrel, but cancer really brings it to mind. My approach is to take every day as it comes and enjoy life on the way. I'm hoping your dad has that attitude too. The knowledge that life is winding down is an almost ecstatic understanding, a radical change in priorities and a focus on the here and now that is incredibly vivid. Now is the time to think about what you have with him, what you and he can do together, the time you can spend together. Don't mourn him before he's gone, rather, celebrate him in all the ways you can.
I wish him, and you, all the best, and an easy passing when the time does come.
Thank you for the reminder, Robear. All the love to you and yours, M.
Yup. My dad has said, back when the cancer came back in the fall, that he was not going to stop doing what he enjoyed. And, to be honest, being forced to do what he likes would probably kill my dad faster than the cancer.
I am spending good times with him.
Of course, cancer being the bastard that it is, his tumor could just, well, not grow for the next several years.
I am mourning what is to come, but I am working hard on not letting it control what I feel.
Folks, I have good news to report on my 9 month checkup. I am now on a 3 month checkup schedule, which shifted over from every month back at the end of January.
First, remember, I started with a PSA of 62.3 in June, 57.1 at the beginning of August after about four days of ADT treatment, as I recall. I had bone mets in about 13 places, some bigger than others. Diagnosis of "bulky disease", which is not good. I don't have the text of that report, my urology team did not upload it. Gleason 10. I elected to skip Docetaxel on the advice of my oncologist.
Then, at six months after start of ADT treatment, PSA had dropped to 0.13. Undetectable is considered to be <0.1. I also had my second bone scan, the findings of which are presented below for your delectation. This is celebratory language in the cancer world. 
Bolding is mine.
FINDINGS:
Three hour delayed skeletal phase whole body anterior and posterior planar imaging along with additional
planar imaging of oblique views of thorax and pelvis is acquired. Moderate size area with mild uptake in the
right proximal femoral shaft and left proximal humeral shaft. Small focus with faint uptake in the left mid
femoral shaft and costovertebral aspect T7. Uptake in rest of the skeleton is unremarkable. Bilateral
physiological renal excretion is noted.Compared to prior bone scan from July 2021, there has been significant improvement. Majority of the
metastases in the spine and ribs, right inferior sacroiliac region, left acetabulum, right proximal humeral shaft have resolved. The residual sites of mild bone metastases as described above have improved in size and intensity. There are no new sites of bone metastases.IMPRESSION:
1. Improvement compared to prior scan.
2. Few residual bone metastases in bilateral femoral shaft, left humeral shaft, costovertebral junction T7 as
described above.
And now, 3 months after that, I have my latest PSA result.
<0.1
Effectively undetectable.
Doc believes that I have "years... and years" to go on this treatment before my cancer becomes "castrate resistant" and we have to add chemo and immunological treatments. He told me about a new standard of care that is emerging that we will likely use unless something else comes up, but again, years down the line.
So with an initial prognosis of maybe 3-5 years, it now looks like I'm in the top percentage range of response to treatment, so there's every hope I can beat that and perhaps, as some do, go indefinitely until something else knocks me off.
Of course, my wife goes in Saturday for a newly diagnosed cancer to be removed, but we are highly optimistic about that. I smell a celebration next week as she recovers from surgery.
Just thought I'd share. You all have been so supportive, I can't say how much it means to me. Thanks to everyone, this is your victory as much as mine.
Well that is nice to read. Good for you.
NICE!!!
f*ck yeah! Great news, Robear!
AWESOME!!!
KICK CANCER'S ASS ROBEAR!*
*which for you would be to politely have it sit in a chair while you calmly explain your perspective and both the benefits and downsides of what is going on. By the end cancer has a lot to think about.
Amazing news, Robear <3 best of luck for you and Kiri!
lol Good one Vector!
So happy to see this wonderful news for you Robear!
mudbunny, I hope you and your dad have so much happy time together and can make many more good memories.
Top percentile baby! Great news, Ro!
Hello everyone! I have been a bit quiet about what happened to me. Surgery went well and I am home resting with Robear And Doc keeping me on the straight and narrow. Wont find out for another few weeks if I need to have chemo or radiation. I chose to post now because I'm going thru something that as a society we don't speak much about. Everyone is aware of breast cancer and what to look for. How many of us and those who have the female reproductive organs know what to look for with respect to uterine(endometrial) and ovarian cancers? My friends and family have been asking me and I thought I'd lay down some knowledge. If it isn't appropriate, I will edit this post The best way to maintain health is to keep your annual appointment. Stay well friends!
Early warning signs of endometrial cancer
The big one is abnormal bleeding. Especially if you have been thru menopause. Not normal to bleed for any reason.
Unusual vaginal discharge without signs of blood.
Difficult or painful urination.
Pain during intercourse.
Pain and/or a mass in the pelvic area.
Unintentional weight loss.
Ovarian cancer
Bloating
Fatigue (extreme tiredness)
Upset stomach.
Back pain.
Pain during sex.
Constipation.
Changes in a woman's period, such as heavier bleeding than normal or irregular bleeding.
Abdominal (belly) swelling with weight loss.
Looks like my dad's cancer is back, or at least the enzymes that they use to track the cancer. Normal is around 2.5 ng/ml. My dad's is hovering around the 80 ng/ml mark.
Going in for a scan at the end of the month.
F*CK!
Oof I'm so sorry 
Hoping he can catch a break soon <3
Good luck with the scan. Even with a bad scan, though, there's usually still lots of runway.
Saw my dad today, as he needed help to take out the garbage.
His scan was yesterday, and his original appointment with his cancer doc was the 18th, but his colostomy specialist is trying to get the cancer doc to look at it ASAP as it looks like something in his intestine is blocked, as only liquid is coming out of his colostomy port, so he is on a liquid-only diet. His back is in constant pain, and he is exhausted all the time. Not tired, exhausted. We spoke for about 30 minutes, and then he needed to go to sleep.
F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK
Sorry to hear that mudbunny. I just want you to know that someone is listening.
Are they going to be able to move up the appointment? Is there anyone else you can reach out to so that happens?
Sorry to hear that mudbunny. I just want you to know that someone is listening.
Are they going to be able to move up the appointment? Is there anyone else you can reach out to so that happens?
The cancer center up here is amazing. They all work together and the care/treatment is all integrated. So his colostomy specialist (I thin it is a Dr, but am not sure) is also kept up to speed on my dad's enzyme levels, MRI scans, etc. If it was just my dad asking it to be moved up, maybe. But that the call is coming from inside the house, so to speak, it sounds like they will be taking it more seriously. While it may not be an in-person appointment, it sounds like the colostomy specialist will at least get the cancer doc and/or surgeon to look at the MRI scans today or tomorrow.
So sorry, mudbunny
We’re all here for you right now.
Thanks for the good thoughts fang, Anti. It is truly appreciated.
Remission.
Remission. My new favorite word.
There isn't a cure for multiple myeloma. The best you can hope for is remission, followed by an undetermined length of time before the cancer relapses. Could be as little as a few months, could be years, a decade. Just a matter of waiting.
Well, I'll take that (not that I have a choice, really). The bone marrow biopsy came back clean, after 5, almost 6 years, the cancer is in remission. Now its a matter of day by day, waiting. Which isn't new, I've been doing that for the last few years, but at least its living day by day, not dying day by day.
That's amazingly good news.
LtWarhound, that's amazing! I'm so glad to hear you get good news!
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