Various Developments

A few developments have come about since with last spoke. A man named John A. who blogged and posted under a couple of forums when I was diagnosed recently passed away. I found him via David Emerson at "The Big C" which is a blog that this one is linked to. John was always a welcoming soul that helped newcomers like me at the time to keep things under perspective instead of freaking out without all the information that I needed. It is scary enough without having an idea of what you have really found yourself in the middle of. He also managed to keep himself very well informed on clinical trials, the efforts and results of others in their battle. He was a true warrior in this battle and one that will be greatly missed. His last gift was that he blogged the last several days of the rest of his life. So many blogs drop off as the time gets near and rightfully so, but he he gave a picture that so few have ever given of what happens at the end of a prostate cancer battler's life. It can be found at John A's Last Days at http://advancedprostatecancer.net/?p=3135 . I'm sure if you search further, you will find many other tributes to John and his wife. On my medical issues we have chosen to go with more of an supported care as opposed to straight Hospice. The biggest reason why is that if I need a Blood Transfusion, I may not be able to get it in a timely manner. The same goes for blocked Nephrostomy Tubes at my Kidneys. If those things can't happen when they need to because they have become treatment issues instead of quality of life issues, my quality of life could dwindle rapidly since my life could come to an end very quickly. It may not have become such a black and white issue, but the decision had to be made once on the transfusion and twice on the Nephrostomy Tubes. We were being told we may be pushing our luck a little. So I think this will help that situation. Doesn't change much else. Well, it's late and I'm tired so I will talk to you soon. All my best.
Brian.

Updated, a little newer post!

It's been a little while since I have updated on where things stand. First of all on the medical front, I have to second the opinions stressed on other blogs and forums that, before someone makes a headfirst assumption about Hospice based on just end of life stereotypes, that they are missing the most important and course changing aspect of the "treatment" end of this service. I know they are not supposed to count as treatment, but simply adding Predisone to reduce inflamation has allowed me to reduce pain meds, which has allowed less fatigue, which has increased appetite, which has increased energy, which has reduced constipation (somewhat). I feel like this is a list of all of the begats in the bible. But in a way it has given me a new quality of life. That is one, if not the biggest of Hospice's biggest goals. It has allowed us to look and react at med changes immediately to make the biggest impact. I still have no delusions where the end of this goes, but I am extremely grateful for the kind and skillfull care along the way.
The other part is that we have had to make some major remodeling to our basement to accommodate some help from my father and brother -in-law. My Dad and Brothers have attacked this project like they needed it for their own shelter. They are retired or work full time jobs or sometimes both and they have done a first rate job with, unfortunately, very little to no physical help from me. It will be a very comfortable pair of bedrooms with an additional full bathroom that will give Teresa the help from her Dad that she desperately needs right now with a very full schedule and a very important ally should something happen to me in this terminal illness. It does take some getting used to though. Helping plan out a major remodeling project of your home that you won't get to see a lot of. I fully expect to see the completion and to see this project in place for quite awhile. Don't get me wrong, I'm not marking the finish of my basement as a major lifetime milestone, but it is planning areas for somone else to live in, probably long after your gone. Kind of makes you wonder, from a fairness standpoint, how many shots to call on the long term parts of it. But as long as I'm alive, I will continue to live as if I will until I'm called home, whether that be 6 months or 40 years. So your stuck with me until then. :)

Hospital Visit

Monday night I awoke to a sharp pain in my pelvis and abdomen, along with a great amount of pressure. I discovered that the nephrostomy tubes had clogged from infection and the urine was again backing into my left kidney, my only working one. After trying to stretch a little to do anything to dislodge the clog we had to call our hospice nurse. She was great, but could not get it free either. So at 9:00 am, I was on my way via ambulance to the hospital. They ended up replacing the tubes all the way back into both kidneys. The left one began to function right away. I stayed for observation Tuesday night and headed home on Wednesday. All in all, it went very professionally, but I'm glad to be back home again. My best to all of you today along with thoughts on a wonderful upcoming spring!!