2013 January 28

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted here. We have pretty well recovered from our adventures with the flu and back spasms.  Leland is feeling well, and seems to have good energy. He has lost a few pounds again, and PSA was up last time, which worries me, so I am looking forward to some answers this week.

Last weekend, we went to Portland for Cherilyn and Todd's baby shower.  It was a great deal of fun, they received many very nice gifts, and it was lovely to see friends, both old and new as well as family.

I have continued my search for information regarding prostate cancer and have learned that there are Oncologists Specializing in Prostate Cancer.   Not many, but there are a few scattered around the nation.  We will be consulting with one of them this week on our regular monthly trip to Seattle.

 We have been  disatisfied with the lack of information given us regarding the side effects of the latest therapies, and I have gone searching to fill that lack. Leland will be seen at the new clinic for an expert second opinion on Wednesday this week, then will go to the regular clinic to have his blood work drawn.  When we consult with Dr. Chen on Thursday we will have the blood work in hand as we talk with him, rather than  getting the results several days after the appointment and having to wait a month to ask the inevitable questions.

I have learned much from joining a forum for Pca wives.  About 70 percent of the information seekers for this disease are wives or partners of the patient, forming a very understanding  sister-hood.  There are many aproaches to treatment, with each Pca Oncologist having a slightly different slant on the best protocol.  There is also much contradiction with each having studies which support that particular treatment philosphy. Each patient is different and may react differently to the same medication.  For advanced patients such as Leland the choices are narrower, but there are more than we were told at time of diagnosis. I wish we had found Naturopathic Oncologists in the first place, and had known of Medical Oncolgists Specializing in Prostate Cancer in the beginning. The treatment from these specialists seems to be much more refined and targeted than from more general Oncologists, and most importantly, they seem to be more focused on Quality of Life issues and more willing to discuss the side effects and ways to deal with them. 

We will go from Seattle to Portland Thursday afternoon, as Cherilyn has asked me to accompany her to her child birth class while  Todd is out of town.  I am looking forward to that!  We will stay on until Friday afternoon, and do some packing for her, as they are moving next week into a larger house, then come home.  I will plan to post again over the weekend, and share what we learn this week from both appointments.