Back to Seidman Cancer Center

Seidman Cancer Center
University Hospitals
Beachwood, Ohio

9 a.m.

In a couple of hours, Joyce and I will (once again) head north, navigate the endless constructive wonders of I-271, and pull into the parking lot at Seidman. It's time for my bi-monthly visit with my oncologist.

Since I saw him last, I've undergone quite a bit: 10 sessions of radiation, zapping three Evil Vertebrae (T-8, T-9 (the most evil), and T-10), where some clusters of cancer cells had gone to hide--and multiply. Those sessions knocked the hell out of me. All I could do was sleep and feel sorry for myself. Even worse: the radiation passed through my chest and esophagus; the latter has spent the last two weeks (when the sessions ended) recovering. For most of the time, my old Food Tube burned so much so that it was "unpleasant" even to swallow saliva. My appetite, understandably, ceased, and I had to force myself to eat a little something. One day I managed only about a half-cup of yogurt--the entire day.

It's better now. Though my appetite has not completely returned, the thought of food no longer makes me gag.

So ... all of that was fun ...

I also had some CT scans + a full bone scan. They appear (to my untrained eye--and the radiologist's report) to indicate no evident spread of the cancer. But I'll wait to hear what my oncologist says before I get too excited about that.

I also had my monthly blood test--to measure my PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen). As I've written here before, I should really have NO measurable PSA (a Cleveland Clinic surgeon removed my cancerous prostate gland in June 2005).

But ... prostate cancer cells also produce PSA, and my score has been rising. Last month it was about 20; this time ... only about 12. So the radiation appears to be working ... for the nonce. It is temporary, you see ... a delay, not a cure.

Meanwhile, I'm whupped. In the past month or so I've had radiation treatments, bone and CT scans, cataract surgery, periodontal surgery (an implant is in process), some dermatological treatments (the doctor froze a grim site ... on my nose--got to be highly visible, you know?), and some sessions with my cardiologist, who's trying to find a blood-pressure med that (a) works and (b) doesn't make me sick. (We're on Drug #3 right now.)

So ... I'm hoping that my oncologist will be able to give me a bit of a break for the next few months. ("Hope is the thing with feathers," wrote a poet whom I love.) Joyce and I want to drive down to Staunton, VA, to the American Shakespeare Center to see a couple of plays ...

When we get back from Seidman later this afternoon, I'll do an update here ... unless I disappear immediately into a NAP ...

To be continued ...

1:20 p.m.

We'll, we're back, have ingested a light lunch, and there's really not a lot of news to share. My oncologist was pleased with my PSA, pleased with the scan results. I will have subsequent PSA tests, one per month, and will see him again in mid-November.

So ... we're grateful for a little relief from what had seemed to be endless rounds of testing and treatment. And we will enjoy this lovely fall weather and try not to think about the winter that roars right behind it.