Monday, July 18, 2011

Even though it is still early in the process for Abiraterone and Predisone, the doctor ordered a PSA for last week. After 4 weeks on the new medicine, my PSA dropped from 98 to 63. That was welcome news. It looks like the new treatment is having an effect. We will have to see how long lasting and if it can drop the PSA even more! We went to 6 Flags today and mostly stayed in the water park since it was 95-100 degrees. The rest of the week promises more high temps. I felt good and was able to do everything I wanted to do. I am having a great summer so far and I hope that all of you are as well. I will meet with the doctor in 4 weeks with another round of blood work and a CT Scan. The hope is that we will have some measurable reductions in the tumors on the scan to correspond with the drop in PSA. My best to all of you!
B.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Doing Well

I have been on Abiraterone for about 2 weeks and seem to be tolerating it just fine. It is easier to take than Ketoconozale, even though it is similar. I take it just once a day on an empty stomach instead of 3 times daily and the Predisone that I take with it seems easier on my stomach than the Hydrocortisone that I took with the Keto. We have been to Six Flags a couple of times and have really been enjoying some active family time. I feel the fatigue a lot more than I used to, but still manage to do most of what I want. We have confined it to the water park so far, and avoided the theme park altogether. The kids will want that to change soon, I'm sure. I saw the Urologic Surgeon yesterday and he says that the stent in the kidney will cause more aggravation than help, so he is out of the picture for now. I will be back to see Dr. R, my oncologist, on July 15, but probably won't do any blood work until the middle of August. The pain in my right kidney and bladder is still there, but pain meds keep it under control most of the time. Hope all of you are having an active and enjoyable summer.
B.