Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Jim’s Prostate Saga II or Ever seen anyone walk on water?

Two things came out of our visit to Dr. Bui in Medford yesterday. One, easy choices are not always easy. Two, I feel I have an obligation to my family to be apprised of my health so they can make good health choices and be aware of what they may be facing in their future.

The doctor encouraged my male family members to begin being checked for prostate cancer when they turn 40. This coincides with what Randy found out with the https://www.23andme.com test results. Again, I encourage everyone to visit this site and consider having this test. It is a good first step to finding out what to ask the doctor if I go in for a checkup.

I have had a health exam for the last 4 years but the blood test for the prostate cancer detection was not part of the blood tests. If I had known that prostate cancer was a possibility I could have asked to be tested for it when the blood chemistry was done. Granted, not everything can be caught, but I feel it is my responsibility to aware of my health issues for my children and grandchildren. My dad died when I was the same age as Randy is now. Gonzo is the same age now as Randy was then. I miss Dad every day. My absence is not something I want to pass on.

The doctor went over benefits and risks with radiation treatment vrs. prostate surgery. I’ll be doing some internet searches to hopefully make the best decision. He also said that the cancer is localized in one quadrant of the prostate, which is a good thing. It is a slow moving type of cancer so there is time to make an informed decision. At this point I’ll probably be scheduling some type of treatment around the 1st part of December.

The best news is that we found a great swimming/sunning/rope-swinging hole on the Smith that I hadn’t been to before. It was 104* in Medford so it was a nice way to end the day.

Jim

11 comments:

Illa said...

My suggestion is to eat !/2 cup of pureed asparagus a day. My co-worker and i came across this as a treatment too late to try and help Ben. For some reason this veggie helps to kill off cancer cells. It can be canned or fresh cooked. She is having good luck with this on her husband as they discovered in January that Gene's cancer has comeback in the lungs. She started him on this treatment in March. When he saw the Dr. again in June the doctor said that the tumors had shrunk and he wanted to know what she was doing. He told her to keep it up as it seems to be working and he is not getting any radiation or chemo either as they can't afford it and medi-cal won't pay for it. They go back again in August for another check up and MRI.

So I hope you like it. It can't hurt to try it and see what happens by the time you are supposed to get treatment in Dec. We don't know if it will help anything other than lung cancer but who knows?? It would be a good long time trial. I suppose the worst that could happen is you turn green.

I think that I will start it just because and I do like asparagus. As I have a positive pap smear and have to have them every six months now, it would be a good test for me also.

I hope that all things work out for everyone. I love you all.

Illa

lueria said...

wow, Im shocked. Thanks for telling us. Glad you caught it. I just told rich. keep us in the loop. we love you.

Peter said...

Thanks Jim for the update. Sounds like everything is under control. If you come up with any good sites that puts the info in a digestible way, pass it on.

Lili said...

Jim, Jess's dad, took a pill and it worked the only problem is it made him so that he could not have sex, with his wife, and that he did like at the age of 90, it stopped it, but while he was in at CA at his summer home, he stopped the pill and it came back, when he returned to Oregon, he started it again when he went in to see his Dr., haven't heard what has happened from the last talk with Jess, you may write Jess about this, and find out..... Love Lili

Chuck has read this as I look my laptop into the front room for him to read, it may help to talk to him in person. We have been working on getting him hooked into his health needs and he is in the union, for this, slowly working his insurance,you might talk to him, as h did not add the coverage of office visit's. A call and talk would be good, on this matter as he has you and Mitch to help deal with these issue and needs.

Lili, will keep you in my prayer's, God is wonderful healer......

lueria said...

oh by the way i want to swing off that.........can we go there at the family reuion? it that by your place. ;)

Glenda said...

Jim, I appreciate your sharing with us. Today it is so much easier to research with the internet. Keep us up on what you find out and thank you for that link to the website. I agree with Lueria, I want to try that swing too!!!

aunt Joan, and Carlene Davis said...

Uncle Joe, used unsweeted pie cherries,to treat, his gout and cancer, He ate one cup of fresh or canned, once a day in the evening, and avoided sugar, as it makes your body acidic, so you need to cut out the sugar,laugh, no more refined food, there are books on acid free diet, or neutal free ph diets.

Anonymous said...

Who is uncle joe. And who is Joan and Carlene?

Jim said...

Uncle Joe was mom's (Helen) oldest brother. Aunt Joan is the youngest of mom's siblings. She lives in Salem. Carlene is Susan's oldest daughter. She is living at Chuck's house too. She does nanny care in the Sacramento area.

Yes, the swing is not far from CC. It's about 40 minutes. I'll try not to wear it out before everyone gets here.

Jim

ILLA said...

Is there camping in that area? As we will have an extra night, that might be a good stopping place for the 2nd.

Jim said...

Yes, a lot nearby.
Jim