My Ongoing Battle With Prostate Cancer (September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month)

My doctor moved my knee around and then sent me for an x-ray. He said my knee looked fine, and there was no need to panic or even think about surgery. He told me to do the RICE thing (rest, ice, compression, and elevation), and that I should be okay in a couple of weeks.

Two weeks later, when there was no improvement, I went to see an Orthopedic Doctor. I was examined by the Physician's Assistant, who suggested a cortisone shot. I agreed to it.

Two weeks later, my knee was feeling great, and my wife and I started walking again. After our third walk, I felt fine, but I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to bend my right knee...

I decided that my knee problems had more to do with my spine and hips, so I went to see a Chiropractor. The spine x-rays he took showed tight spacing and an extreme curvature from multiple vertebrae fractures that occurred when I was 29. Also, that my hips and shoulders were tilted, as I suspected. The Chiropractor didn't blink, saying only that he could help me. I immediately signed on.

After he played with my right knee a few times in an attempt to realign it, it got much worse, and I couldn't walk; in fact, I needed crutches to get around. Fearing the worst, I scheduled an appointment with the Orthopedic Doctor.

He put me through a series of movements and said he could give me a cortisone shot to jump-start the healing. When I asked about an MRI, he said it could take two weeks or more to get approved. I asked if he could give me the cortisone shot now and still request the MRI, and he said he could.

My insurance company approved the MRI, and I had it the following week. After the MRI, I met with the Orthopedic, and he said I had a torn meniscus cartilage. I had a meniscus repair in my left knee back in 1995, when I was 39. The Orthopedic doing the surgery said he could get me back to 85%, and he did. I spent the next 27 years plumbing, cycling competitively, landscaping, and doing DIY projects, and the knee was never an issue.

My new Orthopedic said the medical community no longer considers meniscus repair necessary. He cited studies where those having surgery versus those who were told they had surgery but didn't have it, had similar results. 

I told him about my past experience with arthroscopy, and he said, "Why don't we schedule it. You'll have close to three weeks to make a decision. If you opt-out, even the day before, I won't be upset. But let's secure the operating room..." We scheduled the surgery for May 11th.

A friend of mine said my knee issues could be because of bad sneakers. I was power walking in Sketchers memory foam sneakers, and the memory foam portion of the non-removeable insole didn't fill the entire sneaker, causing some noticeable rocking side to side. I did some research, and there were websites dedicated to complaints of knee, ankle, hip, and back injuries by those wearing Sketchers memory foam sneakers like the ones I had. I immediately threw mine in the trash.

A few days later, I was taking care of my son's Golden Retriever, wearing two knee braces and hopping around on crutches. She was well-behaved initially, but then she started digging in the backyard. In my condition I had no chance of catching her, and she knew it. I ended up luring her over with a stick, and then when she was close, I straddled her and tried to lift her up and carry her back to the house. Trying to do this with damaged knees put a lot of pressure on my groin, and I suffered a nasty groin pull. (ouch!)

That's when I decided to have the arthroscopy. Because I was diagnosed with A-Fib in 2007 and have been on blood thinners ever since, I had to call my primary care physician to see how to handle getting off the blood thinners prior to surgery. He reminded me of my age and then suggested I postpone the surgery and have a full physical first. Made perfect sense to me.

On May 10th, I had the physical, which included a full blood workup and a "digital prostate exam". My doctor commended me, "For a 65-year-old man, you have a perfect prostate. Smooth and the right size". That afternoon I tweeted about my experience...

Then, the next day, while sitting at my computer tapping out a blog, my phone rang, and it was my doctor. I immediately knew that wasn't a good thing... He said he wanted to get right to the point, "Your PSA number is high." I asked him what the PSA number measured, and he said it was the amount of prostate-specific antigen in my blood and because mine was high I needed to schedule an appointment with a Urologist right away. I asked him if I had prostate cancer and if I was gonna die, and he said he wasn't a Urologist but that some guys have high PSA numbers their entire life and don't have prostate cancer. At least there was that, but I was deeply shaken...

My wife wanted me to go to Dana-Farber, so we scheduled an appointment with a doctor from Dana who worked two days a week at a facility located at Patriot Place in Foxboro. It was strange going there to talk with a Urologist about my prostate and not for a Pats game or a concert.

After talking with the Urologist, he ordered another blood workup, and although the PSA dropped two points, it was still very high... Next up was a Prostate MRI. It's only in the last five years that prostate MRIs have been around, and it makes identifying cancer much easier.

The report came back, "Most likely Cancer," but that it was "Contained in the prostate and hadn't spread". That was the good news.

Next up, Prostate Fusion Biopsy. This was not fun, and I knew how necessary it was, but that didn't make it any easier. After sitting in the waiting room for over an hour, my name was called and then I spent 25 minutes in the procedure room alone with the equipment. If I was anxious when I arrived, then I was shitting bricks looking around that room. There was one instrument that looked like a foot-long turkey baster and others that were made of stainless steel and just as long. I knew where all that stuff was headed, and it was not a comforting thought...

I got through it okay; my doctor was great. The following day my son Dylan came over, and we goofed around. Of course, there was a video of it...

When the results of the biopsy were posted, my cancer diagnosis was confirmed. There was no keeping an eye on this one, they said I needed treatment... 

Over the next month, I met with a surgical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, and a medical oncologist, and they all told me my cancer was 100% curable. I had to decide between surgery and radiation, and all the doctors agreed that either would effectively treat my cancer...

Both types of treatment are not without side effects and potential complications, but I decided on radiation therapy, which I think is a better route for me. I still have to decide between a 28-day treatment plan and a 44-day treatment plan. It's the same amount of radiation in the end, but it's either spread over 28 or 44 days. It's believed that by spreading it out over 44 days, there's a better chance of not experiencing urinary problems and so I'm leaning towards 44.

I recently started hormone therapy, and there are still a couple of procedures I need to undergo before starting radiation at the end of October/early November. I've watched my favorite QB, Doug Flutie, who, along with Frank Thomas (Big Hurt), push a testosterone supplement on TV, and at one time, I almost tried it. I mean, what older guy doesn't want more energy, muscle tone, and sex drive? But, the doctors at Dana-Farber told me that prostate cancer thrives on testosterone and the new radiation treatments include hormone therapy (testosterone blockers) that starves cancer/tumors of testosterone, shrinking them and making them easier to eliminate with radiation. Of course, there's a downside, loss of muscle tone, increased belly fat, and no sex drive, but it's all temporary, and if it works, it's gonna save my life. I have to keep reminding myself of that...

I told my wife that because of the hormone therapy, I probably wouldn't be putting up much resistance to watching Hallmark movies with her in the coming months. You know the ones where the couple in love waits a full hour before their first kiss when in real life, they'd be fucking after chugging three cocktails. I digress...

Finding out you have cancer is never easy. I felt like the curtain came down on me mid-performance. "Situational anxiety and depression" is what my doctor called it. It hasn't been an easy four months, but blogging jokes on Lighten the Fuck Up! has definitely helped. It's so important to keep laughing even in the most difficult times. 

Thanks for this one, Rone...

I've had to learn to trust the doctors, nurses, and staff at Dana-Farber with my life. It's one of the best cancer hospitals in the country, and I realize how fortunate I am to live close by. My wife is a five-time cancer survivor, and her experience at Dana-Farber was life-saving. They've taken great care of her.

In the end, bad memory foam sneakers led to bad knees, an MRI, a full physical, and a prostate cancer diagnosis that, if undetected, could've become a much bigger problem...

THE PITCH...

Cancer treatment has come a long way, and that's because of research. The staff at Dana-Farber provides its patients with the best available care and treatment, but through continued research, it'll get even better. Hopefully, research will continue to help with early detection, in creating less invasive treatments, and just maybe, one day we'll be able to wipe out cancer altogether. That would be nice!

Since my diagnosis, Dave and Erika have been great, and when I emailed them that September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and that I wanted to create merch and donate a percent to Dana-Farber, they were both all in. In fact, they're willing to donate 100% of the net proceeds from the Prostate Cancer Awareness Merch to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

I had an idea to create a logo that combined Barstool and Prostate Cancer, and Barstool's design team did an incredible job with the logo. It's perfect! (thanks Pilar!)

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and whether you buy a tee, cap, or sticker, you'll be showing your support for Prostate Cancer Research and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. One in six men will be affected by it... 

Thanks in advance for your support!