The Way Out

I was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. I am seventy years old, so this really came as no surprise. Unwelcome news, to be certain, but all of us who have reached this stage in life should be prepared for such things. I knew probably what most men know when they get the news: not much. This is not a satisfactory state to be in, so I've set about learning as much as I can, and am setting the chronicle of my journey down here.

One of my favorite stories came from the TV show, The West Wing, in which Josh is dealing with PSTD and wants to know why Leo is standing by him. Leo tells the story of a man who fell into a hole and could not climb out. He asked passersby to help, but is ignored until a friend comes by and jumps in the hole with him.

"What did you do that for?" the man said, "Now we're both stuck down here."

"It's OK," the friend says, "I've been down here before. I know the way out."

There are many other people out there who know the way out and I will be forever grateful for the guides I have found, and will encounter, on the way out. I hope to become a guide as well through the pages of this blog.


Monday, June 24, 2013

Beginning the search for a good oncologist

It's been a month. I've had conversations with my primary care doc and his assistant. I've looked at the lab results. I've been doing some reading. Now, I'm getting back on the trail of a good oncologist who is not committed to any one treatment and can act as my medical reality checker in this journey.

My basic policy now is to avoid treatment as long as possible for these reasons:


  1. Most of the current treatments have a high probability of leaving one with unacceptable and irreversible consequences - at least for me.
  2. Medical science progresses and new treatments and medicines are being developed as I write this. Not hoping for miracles, but putting some trust on the advance of medicine in this field.
  3. I'm seventy years old. Being subject to serious surgery or radiation treatments has their own inherent dangers. I recall the urologist in New York who said the only way he would operate on a man over seventy was if both that man's parents were also in the OR.
  4. A recent study published in the AMA Journal showed that of men with high risk cases, there was only a 5% difference in mortality between the ones who underwent treatment and those who did not.
  5. Something else is probably going to get me first.
  6. I value the quality of my life over the quantity of it.

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