MRI + PSA = : (

I had an MRI on Tuesday of this week and it shows that although they have been addressing the tumors in my abdomen as 2 individual tumors, it is very likely that it is one tumor. They described it as about the shape and size of a hand. It has invaded the bladder on one end and now covers about a third of the bladder. The other end is the end that is pressing against the rectal wall. They can't rule out that the tumor has started to invade the rectal wall, as well. That could be trouble because it potentially could perforate the bowel causing me to become septic. That is a long hospital stay with lots of antibiotics, and could be fatal. They compared it to an appendix bursting. The pain has become an issue. I can still hold it off with meds, but it is controlled relief morphine around the clock and hydrocodone or oxycodone when it flares up. We thought we were addressing only pain relief, but now it seems that it would not be prudent to wait and see what this tumor does. We are fortunate in that my pain is pretty much localized to that tumor and I don't have extreme pain in multiple areas. This means they can radiate the tumor and expect some relief. The unfortunate part is that I have had radiation in some of these areas already (last year) on my right hip and it is dangerous to re-radiate, especially the bowel. They are working on a plan to find a clear path and only radiate the tumor. I should know late next week what the final plan will be. Even though we still have a long way to go, the technology is amazing. On a med note, the MRI confirmed and the PSA added the exclamation point. The PSA went to 96 again. The Abiraterone and Predisone are ineffective for me now and the doctor took me off of them. We'll go with radiation now, and pursue the clinical trial for XL-184. My best to you all!!

B.