I was tired last night so I made my blog entry kind of short. But, interestingly, the tiredness went away when I got a challenging assignment from my job. I love the way doing things for my boss can be so rejuvenating! It does a lot for my self-confidence and frame of mind.
Yesterday at the doctor's office, Marshall asked Dr. Flaig specifically about the use of the PSA test to determine whether or not the tumors are shrinking the way we hope they are. After all, the PSA test faileld him miserably in catching the cancer in time. Dr. Flaig said that the PSA is proving to not be the best tool with regard to diagnosis but that he believes without a doubt the PSA is the absolute best way to track how the cancer is growing or shrinking. However, he also said that if Marshall wanted it, we could do periodic scans and that Marshall would be eligible to have a full body scan around the end of the year.
Dr. Flaig cautioned, though, that sometimes the full body scan can be hard to read. If I understood him correctly, he said that if the bones are busy beating back the tumors, that very "activity" can show up as a problem area when, in fact, it is an area where things are working well. So we are learning fast that there are no sure things in this cancer business.
We talked to Dr. Flaig at length about exercise and he is very middle-of-the-road with regard to exercise. He says that most men undergoing prostate cancer treatment, if you tell them to exercise, they want to get all macho. They will go out and run 5 miles and come back and be so tired that they are bedridden for several days. He believes that works against you. So he stressed the fact that Marshall should consider getting on the treadmill regularly and at the most do a mile but should not overdo it. He thinks a mile on the treadmill would give Marshall an energy boost that could help him throughout the day rather than knock him out for the day.
He explained again that in men, the energy, as well as the muscle strength, all come from testosterone and the whole purpose in the cancer treatment is to stamp out the testosterone so it doesn't continue to feed the cancer. So extreme fatigue will be a part of Marshall's life for the rest of his life.
With regard to muscle strength, he believes in the same principle: do not go lifting extra heavy weights. Take it very easy but do some weight work -- or resistance exercises -- that will help keep the muscles from totally atrophy.
I mentioned to Dr. Flaig that while Marshall is so fatigued most of the time he has to rest after walking less than a block, when he is on the motorcycle -- or even visiting the motorcycle -- there is a high energy level and a huge spring in his step. The doctor said that is very common and comes from adrenaline and the mental stimulation that comes from doing something you are passionate about. But it is a temporary "high" and cannot be sustained for long periods of time. We still need to be careful to not overdo.
Marshall is planning to return from Ohio on Tuesday so that means I have 4 days of "me" time (I don't mean to be disrespectful to Red's memory and the rest of Marshall's family's grief, but I need some me time so that I can be there for Marshall when he gets back).
Today is Pet Project's monthly pet food distribution at the Care & Share so I'll be there all afternoon. This evening I'll be cuddling with the boys and watching old sitcoms. Tomorrow a quick trip to Canon City to check on our booth at the Marketplace. And then just a few days of doing nothing, puttering, and napping. Maybe a professional manicure/pedicure. Who knows?
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