Still here.

[jholmq]

m.facebook.com/story.php?st...

Again, just because we have PCa and are on treatment doesn't mean life goes on hold. This is a link to a Face Book post which followed a post thanking everyone who participated in a retrospective concert for me on 1/4 this year. Keep living with this illness. - John. Warning, photo included.

[Litlerny]

John,

We seem to be traveling a parallel course. I read your interesting FB post. Great pic, and well stated. A good explanation to others of what many of us are going through, and an education for those who don’t know just how horrible PCa can be. I don’t know how many people have said to me, “but it can be cured, right?” Wrong!!

Like you, I was totally blindsided by the Stage 4 PCa Dx I got in May, 2015. I was going through life with blissful complacency when PCa bitch slapped me upside the head and irreversibly changed my life. Also like you, I didn’t have any symptoms other than (like a lot of older men) getting up to pee several times at night. My family doc found mine doing a DRE as part of my annual physical exam. My PSA was only 4.65...up from 4.0 the year before. He referred me to a urologist where I went quickly from “you’ve got prostate cancer” to “it’s in all 12 biopsy cores” to “you’ve got a tumor on your right inferior pubic ramus.” After that, I found myself getting a medical oncologist and making multiple 280 mile round trips to the Mayo Clinic in Jax, FL.

Since then I’ve been on 6 month Lupron shots and bicalutamide, and when first available for oligometastatic patients, a 6 cycle course of chemo with docetaxel. On my 12/31/18 Mayo visit my PSA went up above “undetectable” for the first time...only to 0.12, but a sign that the cancer is becoming resistant to the ADT. And, like you, I still have no symptoms other than the side effects from the drugs. No (with thanks to God) bone pain, and improved urinary symptoms with Flomax (Tamsulosin). I go back in early Feb. for a PSA f/u, Guardant genomic testing, and another PET scan to see if I have any new tumor activity.

Meanwhile, I still maintain a fairly “normal” lifestyle. For example, we recently drove down to a Key West for some R & R, and I’ll be playing 3-18 hole rounds of golf this week. My wife has been my angel, and my cheerleader on the few occasions when I start feeling sorry for myself. She went through a year of hell (2 tongue surgeries, lymph node removal, concurrent chemo and radiation) with tongue cancer (and she does public speaking for a living)! She’s now in full remission for nearly 2 years.

All in all, life is good! Keep up the good fight. You’ve got a lot of years left in you.

[jholmq in reply to Litlerny]

Yes, our roads do seem to be very similar. My PSA has never been undetectable, my last 2 were .32 and .37. I'm hoping that it stays in that area or goes down at the end of this month. I'm on Lupron and Zytiga at the moment. I hope your tests show no evidence of progression. Kudos to you and your wife for keeping the embers burning and taking care of each other. There's nothing as important as that. Thanks for the encouragement.

[Litlerny in reply to jholmq]

Thanks! Right back atchya!! Have a great day 😎

[j-o-h-n]

Wait a minute.... you can't be here.... I'm here..... you're there..... (LIVING AND LAUGHING that's the way)...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 01/14/2019 9:47 AM EST

[jholmq in reply to j-o-h-n]

Who's on first... Gotta laugh, helps the world make sense.

[j-o-h-n in reply to jholmq]

youtube.com/watch?v=2ZksQd2...(Not working as expected?)

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 01/14/2019 1:35 PM EST

[jholmq in reply to j-o-h-n]

One of my favorites.

[j-o-h-n in reply to jholmq]

Mine too. GMTA.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 01/14/2019 4:27 PM EST

[monte1111 in reply to j-o-h-n]

LMG. Little Minds Google what the hell does GMTA mean.

[j-o-h-n in reply to monte1111]

You should know this by heart...You state it in your resume.... Great Minds Think Alike....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 01/14/2019 7:20 PM EST

[dentaltwin]

Are you the guitarist John Holmquist? I'm sure I have a couple of your recordings--Sor and I believe Regondi. Sorry to see you here, but hope you continue your good fight and feeling good for many years to come.

[jholmq in reply to dentaltwin]

Yes, that's me. I posted my last concert in this forum some time last summer. I think you can get it from my profile page. The steroid I take had begun to degrade my hands but I could still get the music across so I decided that was the concert to go out on. If you can't find it let me know and I will repost it.

[dentaltwin in reply to jholmq]

Found it--thanks. Lovely playing.

[j-o-h-n]

You know every man has a woman but the guitarist has his pick... (so does the iceman)...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 01/14/2019 7:22 PM EST