It has been four months since my last chemo infusion on October 1 and three months since we've checked any of my bloodwork. This update comes courtesy of a busy week, though, with labs and physical therapy on Tuesday, meeting with my oncologist on Wednesday, then an appointment with my GP as well as PT on Thursday.
Anxiety ruled the days leading up to this. It would be the first time since starting chemo that my PSA (prostate specific antigen, the cancer "gauge" for me) wasn't monitored monthly. All sorts of thoughts of this aggressive cancer rearing its ugly head in the last three months was starting to weight heavily on my mind. If that PSA was back up, it would probably mean a 2025 that mirrored my 2024, which was the worst year of my 62 years on this planet.
I tried to console myself by reminding myself that I was still on the hormone drugs designed to keep my testosterone down, and that Ground Zero for the cancer (my prostate gland) had been nullified through the cryotherapy that happened at the start of all this. Still, especially in the days leading up to my oncologist appointment, I was pretty nervous and couldn't stop thinking about the worst case scenario. My wife admits to feeling similarly.
I am very pleased to report that my PSA is now down to 0.20, which is 0.06 lower than it was at the end of October! I'm under no illusion that my cancer is now somehow "cured", especially since they reminded me all last year that my cancer is incurable. However, if what we're doing is working so well that my PSA continues to go down, meaning that the cancer is mostly dormant, I'll take it!
One of my big concerns was that, in the past month, I not only started physical therapy but also supplemented that with some low-level upper body exercises at home. My understanding is that exercise increases testosterone, which was adding to the anxiety before my check-up. I need the exercise, but will it trigger cancer growth and spread? Apparently and very thankfully, the answer to that question is "no".
Speaking of PT, it really wears me out sometimes but I can tell that it's working. My balance (which had fallen into the "absolutely sucks" range) has improved. Likewise my lower body strength. I've still got a long way to go, but anything that makes me healthier than I was last year is welcomed with open arms.
My wife and I found ourselves out at a frozen lake in a local state park on Wednesday, after the oncology appointment. The outside temps had warmed up that day, but there was still at least 6" of ice on the surface of the lake. After spotting a couple ice fisherman out much farther than I would choose to go, I decided to venture out on the ice for the fun of it... and ice photos! I didn't realize it when I stepped out, but this turned out to be a pretty intense test of both balance and leg strength. I had no ice cleats with me, so I was literally walking around on the ice with street shoes. I'm still surprised that I never ended up with my butt on the ice!
The next day, between trying to keep myself upright on the ice and a new and strenuous PT exercise, my legs we're just killing me. As I write this three days later, my legs are still sore. As much as that might sound like a complaint, it's also so nice to know that I'm building strength, gaining more balance, and I'm able to do stuff like walk around on a frozen lake. I don't think I would have been able to do that through most of 2024.
Bottom line? This recovery is remarkably slow but it's nice to feel sooo much better than I did most of last year, and it's just a nice to know that my PSA is staying down for now.
