Last week was a little trying. The residual effects from the surgery continued to make it difficult to sleep and generated a fair amount of pain. The pain killers worked pretty well, but made me very tired. The last couple of days has been much better. The pain is letting up and I slept really well last night. I still have the pain in my hip and back. Sometimes it is a dull ache, but other times it can be an uncomfortable stabbing pain. Fortunately, for now, it is of the dull variety. I did get out yesterday and did a little fishing in the rain. Didn't catch anything, but had fun anyway. The distraction and reduction in pain helps my mood and view dramatically. I will go back to the doctor tomorrow to follow-up on the surgery. I expect that things will go well as the symptoms have decreased alot lately. Then on May 4th, I go back to the oncologist for blood work, etc. I will have to talk to her about the direction we will go for the advancement in the bones. Hope all is well with all of you. I will post more early this week.
B.

Bone Scan

We finally received the bone scan comparison and it is not as good as we hoped. The cancer in the hips, sternum, and spine has continued to grow and spread. It has moved into my right femur as well. We are looking at a few options and will know more soon. Sorry for the brief update.
Bria​n.

Little bit of a whirlwind over the last week or so. We met with the Surgical Urologist on Monday April 5th and he recommended a procedure called the GreenLight Laser. It is usually for Enlarged Prostate to alleviate constricted urinary symptoms. We decided on Wednesday April 7th. I went in to Barnes-Jewi​sh Hospital early on Wednesday and the procedure went well. The Prostate wasn't as large as they thought it might be, so there wasn't as much roto-rootin​g as they planned. Kind of a good news, bad news thing. The tumor has spread to the bladder and looked like an enlarged prostate, but really it is just one area encompassin​g both. They used the scope to determine that the cancer had not penetrated the bladder wall from the outside in (good news). The biopsy on that tissue should come back early this week. I ended up with a catheter and had to spend Wednesday night in the hospital. Miserable. I was very happy to be paroled the next morning. It stayed uncomfortab​le for the next few days, but seems to be getting better each day. I am writing this at 3:45 am because my hip and back pain have returned and even with the pain meds, I can't sleep. I'm hoping this is a temporary problem. I did receive the Lupron injection on Monday April 5th and will know in the next week or so if it is helping or not. Also scheduled for a bone scan on Monday April 12th. The CT Scan said that it looked like the bone mets had increased so the bone scan should answer that definitivel​y for us. A prayer or two on that one would help. Things seem to be settling down on this treatment, but that test is a game change​r if it isn't good. All for now. Hope all is well with all of you. Will post bone scan results as soon as I know.
Brian.