May 2, 2025 – Chemo

It is really hard to tell how this whole thing is going to go so early in the game.  So far, the effects are (1) increased neuropathy, which are like needle pricks literally anywhere on my body.  They come and go quickly but I definitely feel them.  The rate is about one every 5 minutes.  (2) I was walking through the Aldi supermarket and I wasn’t feeling well.  Then it dawned on me—nausea.  I didn’t have my nausea pills with me, but *duh* I had the same pills I had for my first chemo in the trunk of my care, expecting to take them for disposal.  I took a pill and felt better within 15 minutes.  (3) Random aches and pains, like a stich in my side or bone pain in my neck.  These come and go within minutes, but they are a little scary—especially when they are near my kidneys or liver.

I don’t have any other symptoms yet and even for some of these I wonder if they are a figment of my imagination.  The nurse told me that sometimes taking Claritin reduces the neuropathy.  I took a Claritin earlier.  We’ll see.

Continuing Plumbing Problems

The chemo is nothing compared to the pain in my groin area, thanks to inflammation as I mentioned earlier.  At one point I couldn’t take a step without experiencing excruciating pain.  That is when the engineer took over and I went searching for something that would protect “the equipment” from chafing.  I was looking for a catcher’s cup with little success.  Even Dick’s sporting Goods had none.  Amazingly I found the right thing at Target.  Using my cup protective gear allows me to walk again and to promote healing of the area.

The really good news is that I am starting to gain some control over my urinary system.  It has meant that I get up every hour at night, which HAS to get better!  I took some Flomax tonight to see if it extends the getting up to every 90 – 120 minutes.  It is great to know as long as I can keep my bladder, the system will work.  Note that I mentioned in the past two years I have had to self-catheter to overcome a locked sphincter muscle.  Apparently no more!  All I can say is that God is good.

One More Thing

I just got a call from my oncologist.  I had requested a urine sample and unfortunately I have e.Coli.  So it is another round of antibiotics.  I hope I tolerate whatever he prescribed.  I pick it up tomorrow.  I don’t know what effect (if any) this will have on Monday’s chemo infusion.

Until next time…

Les

 

April 29, 2025 – Chemo Start

 So the first round of chemo started on April 28, 2025.  It is a long time coming due to the time it took for the pathology report and the time to get Medicare approval for the treatment.  Before starting the treatment, the local St. Joseph’s infusion center has an education session to prepare the patient.  Kathe and I listened to the nurse as she started on the list of possible side effects.  Within a few minutes my brain couldn’t handle the huge number of potential side effects so I started to feel faint.  I laid down on the floor, much to the surprise of the nurse and Kathe.  For the rest of the one hour session I was on my back, listening to a how this could cause every side effect known to man and a preparation list that rivaled one to climb Mt. Everest.  I admit that all of this has scared me rather than making me comfortable with the whole process.  I’m sure I will settle down as soon as the infusions start.  That said, this is going to be a real ordeal for the next year or two.

What about the prostate cancer?

There is a risk that both bladder cancer and prostate cancer are active.  If we knew this for sure, the therapy might be the same chemo I had before, but it would be less effective in treating the bladder cancer.  The strategy is to go for the one that is known to be aggressive and monitor everything with frequent CT scans and blood analysis.  The good news is that the PSA is still less and 0.1 so hopefully it is still asleep.

The Infusion

It wasn’t so bad.  All the staff was friendly and competent.  It took a total of 4 hours, not including the doctor visit.  First I got a shot of anti-nausea meds, then Keytruda.  The nurses said it doesn’t cause a reaction.  This was true.  Then a 30 minute wait time and then the PADCEV, which has had reactions.  In my case I didn’t have any reaction except for a stomach ache, which could have been the Rita’s frozen custard Kathe got me.  I should explain that the hospital room has a view of Rita’s below.  We waited 30 minutes and I was released.  Kathe stayed with me the whole time, doing work on her computer.

So far the next day I have not had any reactions except for being a little tired.  I also have small aches and pains which are probably in my head.

I just feel good that we are finally attacking this cancer.  My next appointment is next Monday.  I think it is going to be two weeks on, then one week off, then repeat for 1-2 years.  I will have scans and blood work to monitor progress.

Plumbing Problems

I mentioned being left incontinent, thanks to the surgery.  Well, a related problem is irritation in the groin area.  This is really painful and because it is wet there almost all the time, treating it is very difficult.  This has slowed me down considerably because just walking is painful.  Hopefully the gooey ointment I am using will do the trick.  Sometimes it is the small things in life that can have the most impact.

Until next time…

Les

 

April 20, 2025 – Another Attack on My Body

I mentioned that in August, 2024 my new oncologist ordered a CT scan for March 10^th.  I must admit that I was nervous for the next six months for what they might find.  At my insistence, I had both a full body CT scan and full body bone scan.  This was because I remember that in 2016 when they discovered the Stage IV prostate cancer there was some activity in the skull.

Unfortunately they found several things.  There was a tumor surrounding one of my kidney ureters and some activity in some lymph nodes.  The oncologist asked my urologist remove the tumor and install a stent to protect the flow through the ureter.  The next week I had the surgery.  On the day of the surgery I received a call telling me that my urologist was admitted to the hospital and another urologist would perform the surgery.  This urologist has a good reputation, much like my urologist, but he know only a limited amount of my history.  The important part is my problems with that sphincter muscle.  I begged him to be careful with it, but I think my urologist would have taken this more to heart.

Post Surgery

The surgery was laparoscopic, so it had to go through that sphincter muscle.  When I was recovering was when I first heard that the urologist had removed a tumor and had dilated my urethra.  Of course I wanted to know more about the tumor, but I haven’t seen the urologist since the operation.  I really miss my regular urologist.  He is out of commission for the next few months.

Unfortunately, that precious sphincter muscle didn’t make it unscathed.  As a result, the spigot is now always open, leaving me incontinent.  To anyone who has found themselves in this condition, I now agree that it is worse than all of the above that has happened to me because it has changed my lifestyle.  The urologist said there is a chance I will regain control.  I certainly hope so because this truly sucks.  I’m becoming an expert on all that is available for this condition.

Back to the tumor… 

My oncologist ordered chemo to start a week after the diagnosis, with the assumption that the tumor was prostate cancer (reasonable assumption).  My oncologist was going to treat it with Docetaxel, the same chemo I had before.  The infusion would be every six weeks in Charleston.  I balked and said I needed a week or two to get my ducks in a row.  I wanted a second opinion and I wanted to know more about the tumor.  He agreed with the delay.

Then I had to chase the pathologist who worked for the urologist in a different hospital system.  After two weeks I was impatient, so I just showed up at the urologist’s office to light a fire to get the report. 

By that time, with the help of my MUSC oncologist, I was referred to a local oncologist, Dr. Bakos, who is a member South Carolina Cancer Specialists, a group under St. Joseph’s Candler Hospitals.  The main SJC hospital is in Savannah.  I am very familiar with St. Joseph’s, having had one of their doctors as my primary care doctor.  I had tried to get into their oncology group when I moved to South Carolina but was turned down.  I will now have the best of both worlds.  Dr. Ho at MUSC and Dr. Bakos at St. Joseph’s (10 minutes away) will work together on my case.

The pathology report was a surprise to all of us.  The tumor is bladder cancer, not prostate cancer.  It is a good thing that I delayed the chemo because the treatment for bladder cancer is very different from prostate cancer!

Bladder Cancer is no picnic.  It tends to grow fast and it directly affects quality-of-life.  What is also bad about it is that it frequently goes undetected for a long time. The ultimate treatment is to remove the bladder, which I am trying to avoid by having chemo treatments. Bladder Cancer has stages just like all cancers.  Mine is PT2, which I believe means that it has invaded the bladder muscular wall.  There is also some evidence of activity in local lymph glands and the lungs, so it is likely metastatic (spreading through the blood).  This dictates the therapy to be chemotherapy.  The good news is that there is a chemo treatment that is quite new but has had excellent results.  This is the Enfortumab Vedotin and Pembrolizumab combination, which was only recently been approved by the FDA.  This is also known as the PADCEV/Keytruda combination.  This is what my doctors are prescribing and they got Medicare approval for it.  The approval took a couple of weeks.  The PADCEV portion specifically targets an element in bladder cancer.  Keytruda is an immunotherapy drug.  This combination has a survival rate of around 79% compared to 52% for other chemotherapy.  I do like those odds. 

Les

 

 

March 28, 2023 – Diagnosed with Parkinson’s

I may have mentioned that I have had a tremor in my left arm since before my discovery of metastatic prostate cancer.  Back then I had gone to a neurologist who wanted to perform some tests for Parkinson’s.  Instead I prioritized dealing with the cancer.

Well, with my prostate cancer seemingly under control 6 years later, I decided to seek a movement specialist to deal with my tremor.  Here in this part of South Carolina there is one movement specialist in Savannah.  There are neurologists, but not those who specialize in movement disorders.  As a result, it took me 6 months to get an appointment with Dr.Trumble.  We drove to Savannah and saw her.

She did what I now know that all movement specialists do—put me through a bunch of movement tests.  One of the key tests is my walking gait.  Others like moving my limbs in opposite directions, toughing my finger to my nose, etc.  The bottom line:  She said it is very highly likely that I have early stage Parkinson’s.  The tremor on my left side is part of it and is not simply an essential tremor.  She explained that the most popular treatment for the past 40+ years is Carbidopa/Levodopa, Sinemet, Duopa, or Rytary (extended release form).  It tends to counteract some of the Parkinson’s symptoms such as the tremors and brain fog.  She did not feel I should start taking this drug yet (ascribing to the “limited period of effectiveness” theory).

New Doctor

I then started my research.  I wanted a second opinion and someone who was associated with MUSC, where my oncologist resides in Charleston.  MUSC has more than one movement specialists, but I was told that one of the best was Dr. Lillia Lovera.  I called with a referral from my oncologist to get an appointment.  The earliest was almost a year into the future!  I took it and asked to be called if there was a cancellation.  Within a few hours I received a call from Dr. Lovera’s office to tell me there was an opening the next day!  Needless to say, I drove the 100 miles to MUSC the next day.

Dr. Lovera’s examination was more thorough and she ordered a bunch of cognition tests.  The bottom line was the same:  I definitely have Parkinson’s with some symptoms such as gait and slightly lower mental acuity.  She recommended that I start on Carbidopa/Levodopa right away because there is no evidence that early starting has anything to do with later effectiveness.  She said it should help with both the tremor and the mental acuity.  She also suggested that I get into an LSVT Big exercise and training program.

The LSVT program was every day for a month and it taught me how to better deal with balance issues and to improve my gait.  One thing that Parkinson’s does is make movement smaller, even to go so far as to making the voice smaller.  I did a lot of yelling, stretching, and getting up off the floor various ways. The real challenge was when the therapist had me stand on one of those hemisphere exercise balance device and close my eyes while she shoved me from different angles.  What a balance challenge!   It was a great program.

I am taking three Carbidopa/Levodopa pills per day.  It took a couple of weeks to not feel a little nauseous but I do think they help with the tremor and brain fog.  I am also taking Vitamin B-1 once sublingually per day.  I read a book on this and other Parkinson’s patients have said that it has helped a lot with symptoms.  I think it has a positive effect on me.  Last, I am taking two capsules of Rivastigmine per day to hopefully slow down the brain drain.  This is at the suggestion of the neurologist.

Plumbing Problems

Not long after the first diagnosis of Parkinson’s I encountered a new problem.  I couldn’t pee because the sphincter muscle locked tight.  The solution was for me to self-catheter to push through the muscle. My urologist and neurologist had no direct explanation for this because it could be caused by injury from the kidney stone removal or by Parkinson’s.  For several months I carried catheter tubes around with me to use every two or three hours.  I was okay with this because there is nothing like the pain of not being able to pee.

PSA

While all of this was happening, my PSA stayed “unmeasurable”.  My oncologist had retired and I was being treated by a wonderful student doctor while MUSC was trying to get a replacement.  This went for almost a year until they hired Dr. Thai Ho from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.  I finally had an appointment with Dr. Ho in July, 2024.  He told me I should have been having CT scans every year at minimum and set me up for a scan in March, 2025.  My last scan was three years before, which I had insisted back then.  My thinking back then was the same as his:  We were relying too much on PSA as a measure of my health.

Les