Our Walk With Stage IV Prostate Cancer

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Gnomes

Marshall is now really a collector of gnomes. We need to find a spot to display them.

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Friday, March 21, 2014

Well, this morning (after another night of him getting up to pee every hour and a half), I took him out around 6:30 and he was walking fine. All of a sudden he started walking sideways and his rear legs gave out.

We rushed him over to the vet (40 miles away) with me barely dressed, no combed hair, no brushed teeth. First of all, one of his stitches, the one that is holding the penis in its sheath (OUCH), came loose. So she put a new suture in. But she was very concerned about the walking sideways thing and the legs giving out.

The walking sideways could be from pain and he could be favoring one side over another until the pain starts subsiding and everything heals. But the legs giving out...not sure about that. So she took a movie of Coco walking and sent it off to a neurological guy in Denver and we are at home now waiting to see if we need to rush Coco up to Denver for a consult with neurology. The guy she picked happens to be the guy who did Coco's back surgery in 2005, so he kind of has a record on Coco.

Marshall felt good today and was energetic throughout all of this.

He picked up his new "tester" CPAP machine today. He will need to use it for two weeks to see if they can solve his nighttime oxygen problem.

That's today's story.....

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Coco is home; Marshall still has the blahs

We picked Coco up today and he was so glad to see us. We now have a 10-14 day recuperation period to go through and then another round of dental surgery.

Marshall still has the blahs, can't seem to get rid of them. And the doctor didn't show up today for the home visit, which was disappointing. He knew we were leaving at noon to pick Coco up so he was supposed to come this morning. There were no messages so we don't know what happened.

Tomorrow should be a quiet day. Nothing is on the agenda.

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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Coco's Surgery

Coco had his surgery today. The vet said it was a 4-hour surgery but it went well and we get to pick him up tomorrow afternoon. She didn't get to finish everything because she didn't want to keep him under anesthesia any longer, so he will have to come back in a month or so to finish out the dental surgery. It sure is weird here at home without him.

Marshall is having some hip pain and he had the blahs yesterday and today. Every now and then the enormity of everything just takes center stage. Our primary care physician here in Westcliffe actually does home visits and he is due to visit Marshall (along with his nurse) tomorrow morning. That should help get rid of the blahs.

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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Anniversary

Tomorrow (March 17) is the two-year anniversary of the date Marshall was diagnosed. That's pretty good!!

He's still enjoying the good effects of the nightly oxygen. He has lots more energy.

My office is finally done -- Tricia did an EXCELLENT job! I am including a "before" picture and can't believe I let things get so out of hand....

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Monday, March 10, 2014

Snow

On Friday, we got one of those wonderful Colorado spring snowstorms and we got a foot of snow. This year has been really good for moisture, so I hope that bodes well for the upcoming forest fire season.

Okie is still readjusting to being back home. Not sure what he encountered during those four days, but it stressed him out. He has a cold and is sneezing a lot. We went to the vet today and got some medicine.

Back when we were searching for him, I climbed up the mountain a bit to where we caught a glimpse of him and when I got up there I took a picture looking down at our house. It is about dead center in this picture, you'll have to look closely to see it.

Coco has to have surgery next Tuesday for bladder stones, poor baby. And Marlee is still recovering from his bacterial infection.

My office is almost done and it is beautiful. Tricia did a phenomenal job and she worked her butt off while she was here putting things together. It's not picture-ready yet, but it will be soon. (Tricia, thank you SO much...)

Marshall continues to have better energy with the use of oxygen at night. They are still adjusting the oxygen level to try to get the perfect setting, but it's really great. And at our visit to the cancer center this past week, the Nurse Practitioner increased Marshall's dosage of Protonix (stomach medication) to see if we can get a grip on the nausea that regularly hits him very suddenly.

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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Okie is back home!

What a good day this was. When we left for the cancer center, we put a bunch of our dirty clothes in the garage along with Okie's favorite pillow and his bed and some blankets.

Our dogsitter told us that Okie slowly approached the garage around 3:30 today and she convinced him to go into the garage. She closed the door and trapped him in the garage. She took food and water to him. He hid under the Prius and wouldn't come out. When Marshall and I got home, Gina and I were able to convince him to come out and we brought him in the house.

He was dirty and VERY hungry. He walked around the house to be sure everything was where he left it (LOL) and he kissed the dogs and now he's on my lap sleeping.

In addition, Marshall's checkup today was another excellent one.

WHAT A GOOD DAY!!

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Marshall's Story (condensed)

On 3/14/12 went to emergency room with severe chest pain (turned out to be bone pain)
3/17/12 diagnosed with Stage IV Prostate Cancer (metastasized to the bones), PSA was 49
3/29/12 Biopsy confirmed advanced cancer, with a Gleason Score of 8, PSA had risen to 95
3/29/12 Received a double injection of Firmagon hormone therapy (very painful!)
Early April 2012, within less than a week, bone pain subsided, and he was out of bed!!
4/30/12, PSA had gone down to 9! Hormone therapy changed from Firmagon to Lupron (a 3-month injection) Side effects: fatigue & hot flashes
6/11/12, PSA now down to 3.9! Considering a clinical trial.
6/19/12, decided against the clinical trial.
7/10/12, lab work done at request of VA regarding Agent Orange claim.
7/12/12, evaluation by a private doctor at request of VA.
7/26/12, visit to oncologist. PSA remains at 3.9!!! Very good news. Bone strengthener postponed for 6 weeks. Next appointment 9/13/12.
8/6/12, VA approved Agent Orange-prostate cancer benefits; Marshall is now considered 100% disabled. This decision will be reviewed again in six months.
9/4/12, passed out, chest pain, pale, sweating, clammy, rushed to hospital by Flight for Life. Doctors were unable to find a cause, but it wasn't cancer related. Left the hospital 9/6/12.
9/13/12, PSA went up to 6.6 ... depressing. CT scan, bone scan and another PSA test scheduled for 10/11/12.
10/11/12, Bone scan showed no change from prior bone scan; CT scan showed slight increase in "activity"; PSA up to 10.01. Casodex is started as well as megadoses of Vitamin D2.
10/18/12, Excruciating back pain, thought it was a Casodex side effect; oncologist says it is not SE. Went to clinic, got x-rays of spine, showed nothing, maybe hairline fracture, got injection of "aspirin" and started feeling better.

10/25/12, Lupron injection; Xgeva injection; flu shot. SE from Lupron was pain at injection site for several days.

11/21/12, PSA 10.22, Xgeva injection.

12/17/12, Kavanaugh (radiation oncologist)

12/20/12, 12/21/12, 12/22/12, first 3 radiation treatments

12/27/12, 12/28/12, last 2 radiation treatments

1/1/13, called 911, stomach pain, taking laxatives per instructions of Dr. Yeh, radiation oncologist. In hospital 3 days, diagnosed with radiation colitis. PSA 12.3. Colitis can't be treated, needs to resolve itself. Sent home 1/3. Advised that white blood cell count was low, get it retested.

1/7/13, went to clinic for lab work

1/8/13, appointment at clinic, white blood cell count heading back up but sugar very low and dehydrated. He was put on intravenous fluids for 40 minutes, felt better.

1/17/13, PSA 13.2, Vit D in normal range, Lupron shot, Xgeva shot, discontinue Casodex, white blood cell count almost back to normal after radiation.

1/28/13, went to emergency room with excruciating pain in right leg; no blood clot, no hairline fracture, no sciatica. Advised that fracture was imminent and to get wheelchair.

2/7/13, saw oncologist to get tests after emergency room visit. They do not agree that fracture is imminent and thought pain may be caused by withdrawal of Casodex. We go back on 3/1 for PSA test and discussion of clinical study of GTX (estrogen therapy) added to the treatment plan.

3/1/13, saw oncologist; PSA almost tripled to 31.06; started process to participate in clinical study for GTX-758.

3/4/13, not accepted in clinical study, bloodwork showed "low threshold" for clotting; will start Zytiga & prednisone on 3/12/13, started Zytiga with Prednisone;

3/17/13, FIRST PAIN FREE DAY IN MONTHS!

4/7/13, STILL PAIN FREE

4/8/13, visit to hospital for lab work; all good; PSA DOWN TO 10.23!!

4/22/13, visit to hospital for lab work; all good. Received Lupron shot. Xgeva will be stopped until calcium levels go up. STILL PAIN FREE.

5/8/13, lab work; all good. PSA down to 5.1. Got Xgeva shot.

6/12/13, lab work; PSA down to 1.45. Dehydrated, hemoglobin low. Need to come back in a week to re-check kidney function.

6/18/13, lab work, kidney function back to normal; need to start iron supplement for anemia caused by Zytiga.

7/9/13, PSA down to 1.04 !!!!!

7/31/13, PSA down to 0.88 (woo hoo!)

8/28/13, PSA 0.88, got Xgeva shot

10/7/13, PSA 1.28, Xgeva discontinued because of side effects

10/16/13, CT scan, bone scan, MRI

10/21/13, results of tests showed healing in the bones, no evidence of new metastatic disease

11/13/13, lab work normal, got referral to psychologist

12/11/13, PSA 2.16, doctor says not to worry

1/6/14, saw psychologist, went well

2/4/14, CT scan, bone scan

2/6/14, PSA 2.8, scans look good, CT showed healing, got Zolodex injection, still off of Xgeva

3/5/14, PSA 2.45, all lab work normal

4/7/14, PSA 4.64, lab work normal, doubling the antidepressant, saw psychologist

5/15/14, PSA 3.72, lab work normal

6/19/14, PSA 7.46, lab work normal, bone scan showed new activity in upper spine

7/17/14, PSA 9.4, repeat scans set for 8/12

8/14/14, PSA 11.23, cancer progressing slowly, may start chemo in a few months.

9/15/14, PSA 20.8, new scans set for 10/14, then we find out what happens next.

10/16/14, PSA 33, Zytiga discontinued; started on Cytoxan; radiation scheduled for early November.

11/18/14, PSA 35.6, Zoladex injection, could he be suffering from radiation "flare?" Radiation oncologist says no.

12/1/14, discontinued Cytoxan.

12/22/14, PSA 28.0, he is in nursing home for physical therapy.

1/15/15, PSA 33, scans scheduled for February

2/9/15, scans cancelled; emergency surgery to remove tumor wrapped around spine; PSA 40

3/9/15, PSA 43, spots found on liver

4/13/15, PSA 45.62, spots on liver are probably fatty tissue. We will watch closely. Continue on oral chemo Cytoxan.

5/13/15, PSA 64.9

6/4/15, PSA 65, got quarterly Zolodex injection

7/2/15, PSA 262, will get radiation and will try Zytiga again

7/9/15, Hospice.
7/22/15, R.I.P.