“Excellent, very good, great response, very happy”!
These are quotes from the oncologist, during Dan’s physical examination this morning and when he reviewed the PSA results from mid-August and a week ago. The PSA has gone down in the past six weeks from an already good level post-treatment.
(I was in our car in the parking lot, but also on FaceTime with Dan, so I could take notes and ask questions....the world is so topsy turvy right now and I couldn’t be physically with him, which was hard for both of us).
The oncologist wants to follow Dan, and this was something that Dan requested. We trust him. The next PSA and doctor’s appointment is scheduled for early April. He will also be followed by his urologist, so we will have two independent opinions. Dan has the urology appointment next week.
The doctor told us that the PSAs may bounce around a bit and we should not be too worried if they do (but we will, I’m sure). He said that we aren’t actually looking for a specific number. What is important is the “overall trend and right now the PSA is at a GOOD LEVEL.” (his quote)
Dan’s oncologist let us know that it is important to continue to closely monitor Dan during these first two (and maybe three) years. That PSA monitoring will indicate the long term prognosis. He has an aggressive form of cancer, but for right now everything looks positive. And we get to have six months where we can all put it (sort of) “away” and keep living life and enjoying each other and our family. We had decided we weren’t going to let the cancer be our life, and we have done a terrific job of that.
We are very happy and will celebrate today with my homemade super duper nachos and a VERY good bottle of wine! (and maybe even ice cream)
Thanks to all of you and all our grandchildren for being with us through this very difficult time. Your presence and love has meant everything to us.
Love to you all from both of us,
Vicky (Dan was too emotional to write this, so he asked me to) & Dan/d/grandpa
(end of the email to our family)
The cancer (tests, diagnosis, and treatment) has been hanging over us for over eight months. It has been hard, but thank goodness we have each other.
And we can honestly say that we have not missed a day of living during that time. We have camped, hiked, cycled, walked, and danced our way through it. In fact, during this time period we have walked/hiked over 1000 miles, have cycled 2600+ miles, danced together every Sunday, and have spent 46 nights sleeping in our camper in the most remote parts of the Arizona deserts.
We are far from being out of the woods. But as the old saying goes “well begun is half done,” and it appears that Dan’s 45 radiation treatments have been successful in making it “well begun” in treating this unpredictable disease.
Here are pictures of our well deserved and very happy celebration. It turned out that I opened two bottles of wine so Dan could take turns celebrating with a merlot or a chianti.....husband’s choice!
I made lots of nacho mix, so we’ll have enough leftovers in the freezer for four more super duper nacho meals.
We ate the WHOLE carton of ice cream and it was delicious!
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