My Ever-Evolving Prostate Cancer

It started 15 years ago between the ages of 65 and 66. I noticed the need to get up 2 or 3 times a night to pee. I also lingered a bit longer, waiting for the stream to start and finish. Things improved somewhat after I stopped consuming any liquids after 7 PM. But over time, multiple evening pee runs once again became routine.

Told nothing was wrong, but suspicious

Never being one to avoid annual physicals, my overactive bladder became a topic of conversation with my GP. After experiencing the dreaded rubber glove test, I was advised that my prostate was normal but slightly enlarged. I was told my youth had passed, things change below the belt with age, and I needed to adjust.

Avodart, a drug used to treat an enlarged prostate, was not needed yet, as I had not experienced any “real” issues. It was suggested that some over-the-counter support was most likely a reasonable solution for my overactive bladder. My annual physicals continued for the next 3 years, evening pee runs continued, and my once trustworthy and reliable sprinkler on occasion turned into drip irrigation.

Avodart was then prescribed, and all the while, I was assured that no irregularities had been found on my prostate. Feeling stressed, I pressed on the need for a referral to a urologist.

Finding out I had prostate cancer

My new specialist found a lump despite my low PSA of 2.1. A biopsy weeks later revealed a Gleason 9. Suddenly, I am having discussions about surgery and/or radiation choices.

After a second opinion, a few weeks later, I decided on surgery and underwent it. Three months later, I was pronounced cured.

A rising PSA after treatment

That sounded great, but 5 years later, a rising post-op PSA test indicated something was up. I was totally devastated. I then signed up for radiation and hormone therapy.

Eight weeks later, I was in remission as my post-op PSA dropped to 0.02. Once again, all was good, and I could return to normal living. I thought all thoughts of a returning prostate cancer were behind me.

The cancer returns, again

Four years later, my world was turned upside down with a case of blood cancer. Was it related to my radiation treatments (apparently, it can happen), or was it something else? No one knows. Six months later, I was in remission.

In 2023, my post-op PSA began to rise again, and before long, I found myself undergoing stereotactic radiation for a prostate cancer node on my hip bone. The hope was to kill it. As of my writing this near the end of 2024, the post-treatment PSA reading was 0.04. My new cancer specialist tells me I most likely will not die from my metastatic prostate cancer and that my PSA reading is undetectable, with a reading of 0.04. Hearing the term metastatic caused an unexpected lump in my throat as I was sitting in his office with my new fiancé.

Trying to play Whack-a-Mole

So now, a new phase begins to see when and where prostate cancer may pop up again. Questions remain as the future unfolds and my oncologist tries to figure out ways to play Whack-a-Mole with my returning prostate cancer. All I can say is thank goodness for the many advances in treating advanced cancer in the last few years and for the development of the PSMA PET scan, which can help try to target the location of returning cancer early on.

Stay tuned; apparently, the story will have new chapters.