Cancer Update – 2021-02-02

I had a good oncology appointment yesterday. All my lab results were very good, other than ALP (Alkaline Phosphatase), which was only slightly elevated and nowhere near what it was when I was first diagnosed. In my case it meant there was likely metastasis in my bones. And that there was. See image of bone scan I’ve provided. (Black is cancer. There is a LOT of black)

My PSA is 83.70, which is technically very elevated, but my current treatment is not systemic, so no big surprise there. The velocity has slowed down, which is a good thing, as for a while my PSA was doubling every month.

After I’m done with radium-223 (current treatment) in April I’m going to be in a new phase of this whole thing. I will not have any other new treatments available to me. I can redo one of the chemos I’ve done before. I can also take a clinical trial. So we’re going to look at all open clinical trials I qualify for, anywhere in the country, and we’ll see if any of the trials is a better choice than the chemo or not.

So at the moment I don’t know what treatment I’ll be doing, but at the very least I can repeat a chemo that worked for me in a previous trial. I’ll do that chemo until it quits working or my body can no longer handle it.

So really what it’s coming down to is clinical trials and prayers. It’s so very strange because I feel pretty well now, but I could be out of treatments/trials as soon as next year. No more treatments means what you think it does. Treatments keep me alive. And all we have ever been able to do is prolong my life as long as possible, but unfortunately not as long as we’d like. Welcome to stage 4.

Fingers crossed people, and all the prayers you can muster. Good juju and vibes also acceptable.

I really, really appreciate the support. So many people have helped me in so many ways and it just blows my mind. I can’t thank you all enough.