I Looked at Death Today

DJ7

Trew said:

The gold Standard
DJ7, I just finished radiation on Jan 15. the doctor assigned to my case told be one of the big drawbacks of the deVinci surgery is that it is difficult to get many lymph node samples. The open surgery will give the doctor a pretty good look, access to over a hundred lymph nodes so he should get a very good sampling from you.

And welcome to the fellowship. I am sorry to hear you will have to go through this process. And sympathy is ok. You are having more than a tooth pulled- you are going to have serious surgery.

Gold Standard
Trew,
Thanks for your kind words.
That is the reason I think Partin if pro open surgery.
I sure want the lymph nodes checked.
DJ

Trew

DJ7 said:

Gold Standard
Trew,
Thanks for your kind words.
That is the reason I think Partin if pro open surgery.
I sure want the lymph nodes checked.
DJ

What Every doctor Believes
And what every doctor believes is that his method of treating PC is the best one. But if you have picked a good doctor, then you should get one of the best jobs out there.

Again, welcome to the fellowship.

Trew

Trew said:

142, I told Don about this site and you comment, that men he doesn't even know wish him the best.

I spent a nice half hour with him. 3 times I indicated I should leave, he was in and out and I didn't want to tax his energy levels, but 3 times he indicated I should stay. He wanted to hold a hand tonight. He couldn't say little, but I talked of the school we both attended thought ten years apart. He had a number of soft smiles between hard swallows.

This is a tough visit on eligard- my emotional base is so messed up right now, but I found it comforting being with him.

PCa is serious stuff.

I will be back over to see him tomorrow. I expect he will be gone by Monday. Just my guess from what I have seen before.

Thursday, 2/11/10
Don is still with us. I stopped by today but he was out from pain meds. And he is having a lot of sleep apnea- up to 47 sec long at times. I thought he had died while I was looking at him, but he took another breath and then went on. He is very close to the end.

Very serious stuff this prostate cancer.

Very serious.

erisian

DJ7 said:

Ditto
I was diagnosed 1/27/2010 Gleason 6 in 3 samples one 60% dicontinuously.
So having open surgery 3/12. Going to Hopkins, Dr. Partin is doing the surgery and he recommends open over DaVinci as he said if it were me I would have the open surgery.
Getting back to your statement about "its just prostate cancer" drives me crazy.
I don't have a death wish and am staying positive and I do want to live but the lack of knowledge regarding PCa is mind boggling. My wife is even in denial.
So I read excessively, talk to a few guys even on the phone and deal with this alone.
Do I want sympathy, no but I am having more than a tooth pulled.

Not a Simple Subject...
Not only does every doctor think his treatment is the best kind, but every case is different. Your cancer is no more identical to anyone else's than your fingerprints are to anyone else's. Do all the research that you can stand. And do look at nutritional info! My cancer center has a library. I usually have a couple of their books. That library has proven to be an excellent source of RELIABLE information.

If you can find one like that, use it.
Welcome to the club that nobody wanted to join!
You have already taken a good big step in the right direction by joining a forum. There are a lot of men who have prostate cancer, but only a small percentage of them are using these types of tools, or support groups, for that matter. But what is important for advancing knowledge through communication is not the number of people with prostate cancer, but the number of connections that exist between those people.

The breast cancer women are beating the crap out of us in that department, too!
We need to get organized the way they are. There IS strength in numbers!

Welcome also to the fight of your life. Good Luck brother!

Trew

Update 2/12/10
Don is slipping away. I was in today to see im at the hospice center. Don was sleeping, but I got to meet with some of his fmily. This is hard: he has a 90 year old mother and Don is her only child. And at her age she is watching her only son dying.

I do know how to pray. I had prayer with the family, then alone with Don. Even if he can't hear me, he is still a person.

PC is a hard death.

And his wife told me Sunday, 2/14, is their anniversay. Said she: I hope he doesn't die on the 14th. I can understand that.

The 14th is also my anniversay. I would not want to share that date with death, either.

142

Trew said:

Update 2/12/10
Don is slipping away. I was in today to see im at the hospice center. Don was sleeping, but I got to meet with some of his fmily. This is hard: he has a 90 year old mother and Don is her only child. And at her age she is watching her only son dying.

I do know how to pray. I had prayer with the family, then alone with Don. Even if he can't hear me, he is still a person.

PC is a hard death.

And his wife told me Sunday, 2/14, is their anniversay. Said she: I hope he doesn't die on the 14th. I can understand that.

The 14th is also my anniversay. I would not want to share that date with death, either.

Hospice
I understand his mother's thoughts - my grandmother outlived my dad, and my mom has spent the last months in the same fear as I find myself in the PC world.
My best wishes to all of Don and family, and to you for being there to give them support.

Trew

2/13/10 The End
The battle Don was fighting ended this morning at 6: 15 ET. I just got a call from his wife. The pain is over. Sleep has come. He did not die on 2/14 as she feared.

This is the real side of PC, what we are all fighting to avoid.

I guess this is the end of this thread.

The fellowship continues with us.

PC is serious stuff.

lewvino

Trew said:

2/13/10 The End
The battle Don was fighting ended this morning at 6: 15 ET. I just got a call from his wife. The pain is over. Sleep has come. He did not die on 2/14 as she feared.

This is the real side of PC, what we are all fighting to avoid.

I guess this is the end of this thread.

The fellowship continues with us.

PC is serious stuff.

Don't think of it as an end
Don't think of it as an end to this thread. Yes PC is serious and many are fighting the battle. The threads will live on and provide hope and comfort to others even when facing death as we all must at some point. Please give my regards to Don's wife and family.

Larry

randy_in_indy

lewvino said:

Don't think of it as an end
Don't think of it as an end to this thread. Yes PC is serious and many are fighting the battle. The threads will live on and provide hope and comfort to others even when facing death as we all must at some point. Please give my regards to Don's wife and family.

Larry

Trew - this is sad...
I read this entire thread and was crying before the end....and I'm not on hormones. I feel so sorry for the family and especially his spouse. Yes this is a very serious illness especially when you do the math. Probably everyone here has seen this but:

Detailed Guide: Prostate Cancer
What Are the Key Statistics About Prostate Cancer?

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. The latest American Cancer Society estimates for prostate cancer in the United States are for 2009:

about 192, 280 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed
27,360 men will die of prostate cancer

About 1 man in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. More than 2 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer. About 1 man in 35 will die of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer accounts for about 10% of cancer-related deaths in men.

The 5-year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after their cancer is diagnosed. These rates are used to create a standard way of discussing prognosis (outlook). Of course, many of these patients live much longer than 5 years after diagnosis. Five-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed and first treated more than 5 years ago. Improvements in treatment since then may result in a better outlook for recently diagnosed patients. Five-year relative survival rates compare the observed survival with that expected for people without the cancer. That means that relative survival only talks about deaths from the cancer in question. This is a more accurate way to describe the outlook for patients with a certain cancer.

According to the most recent data, for all men with prostate cancer, the relative 5-year survival rate is nearly100% and the relative 10-year survival rate is 91%. The 15-year relative survival rate is 76%. Keep in mind that 5-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed and first treated more than 5 years ago, and 10-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed more than 10 years ago. Modern methods of detection and treatment mean that many prostate cancers are now found earlier and can be treated more effectively. If you are diagnosed this year, your outlook is likely to be better than the numbers reported above.

So, if you do the math...there are 525,600 minutes in every year...divided by # of deaths for 2009 = 27,360 Which means every 19.2 minutes a man dies from prostate cancer.

On the positive side the 15 year survival rate of 76% is from patients diagnosed over 10 years ago...much better treatment is in our group. Also many of us caught it soon enough and hopefully without Pca shortening any of our lives.

God Bless us all and our fight against this cancer!

Randy

142

Trew said:

2/13/10 The End
The battle Don was fighting ended this morning at 6: 15 ET. I just got a call from his wife. The pain is over. Sleep has come. He did not die on 2/14 as she feared.

This is the real side of PC, what we are all fighting to avoid.

I guess this is the end of this thread.

The fellowship continues with us.

PC is serious stuff.

a stop on the journey
My sincere condolences to his family, and thanks to you for helping them by being there.

Trew

randy_in_indy said:

Trew - this is sad...
I read this entire thread and was crying before the end....and I'm not on hormones. I feel so sorry for the family and especially his spouse. Yes this is a very serious illness especially when you do the math. Probably everyone here has seen this but:

Detailed Guide: Prostate Cancer
What Are the Key Statistics About Prostate Cancer?

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. The latest American Cancer Society estimates for prostate cancer in the United States are for 2009:

about 192, 280 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed
27,360 men will die of prostate cancer

About 1 man in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. More than 2 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer. About 1 man in 35 will die of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer accounts for about 10% of cancer-related deaths in men.

The 5-year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after their cancer is diagnosed. These rates are used to create a standard way of discussing prognosis (outlook). Of course, many of these patients live much longer than 5 years after diagnosis. Five-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed and first treated more than 5 years ago. Improvements in treatment since then may result in a better outlook for recently diagnosed patients. Five-year relative survival rates compare the observed survival with that expected for people without the cancer. That means that relative survival only talks about deaths from the cancer in question. This is a more accurate way to describe the outlook for patients with a certain cancer.

According to the most recent data, for all men with prostate cancer, the relative 5-year survival rate is nearly100% and the relative 10-year survival rate is 91%. The 15-year relative survival rate is 76%. Keep in mind that 5-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed and first treated more than 5 years ago, and 10-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed more than 10 years ago. Modern methods of detection and treatment mean that many prostate cancers are now found earlier and can be treated more effectively. If you are diagnosed this year, your outlook is likely to be better than the numbers reported above.

So, if you do the math...there are 525,600 minutes in every year...divided by # of deaths for 2009 = 27,360 Which means every 19.2 minutes a man dies from prostate cancer.

On the positive side the 15 year survival rate of 76% is from patients diagnosed over 10 years ago...much better treatment is in our group. Also many of us caught it soon enough and hopefully without Pca shortening any of our lives.

God Bless us all and our fight against this cancer!

Randy

Randy....
Very well done, heart-felt expressions noted. I will pass on the sympathy of tis group to the family. We are all together in this. Yes, many will survive, but we do not survivie whole, and many do die. that must never be forgotten. PC is not just a slow cancer men get.

Trew

Thursday, 2/18/2010
Don's funeral is today.

I have been asked ot have a part in the funeral and I plan to mention the fight against PC begins with a simple blood test.

Don was an active boater, outdoors type person with a sanguine personality. He is now at rest.

The fight goes on.

He has a son who has a PhD and works for a BIG pharmasucial (sp!) company. Their work is long, time consuming and expensive. Go big Drug Companies- beat this thing!