Update on my fil

[beachbum_al]

I heard from my sil today. This is the email she sent explaining what is going on with my fil.

Good morning. Well, David was correct in saying that the stage of Daddy's cancer is quite advanced. He has metastatic disease in his bones which is generally the first place prostate cancer travels once it leaves the prostate. This occurs because of its proximity to the pelvis which is one the places he has a boney small tumor. He has a few of these, but he is not really symptomatic at this point which is why they are not treating these areas with radiation. His primary attack on the disease at this point is hormone therapy. He is taking a drug that will make his body stop producing testosterone and other male androgens/hormones. His tumor is testerone fed tumor so if you cut the supply the tumor should stop growing and actually shrink and some of the clinical data shows that metastatic tumors can basically become undetectable. The name of his drug in zoladex. He was given a one month injection, and for the first two week after receiving the initial injection he has to take another pill to make counteract the initial spike in testerone caused with the initial introduction of zoladex in the system. The side affects of the secondary drug can cause changes in liver function so he comes back on 2/14 for a liver profile(blood work), and if all goes well he will receive his second zoladex injection on 2/27. On 2/27 they will do a PSA again which will show whether the initial injection is shrinking his tumor. In the mean time, daddy was given very strict orders to lose weight thru diet and exercise and take a calcium supplement twice daily. The big side effects of the drugs are hot flashes, loss of body hair, moderate breast enlargent, loss of bone density, weight gain, loss of muscle mass so you can see why exercise and diet would be extremely important for anyone taking this. He started sugar busters the day after the injection and is slowly increasing his activity levels. So while this is incredibly serious; his disease can be managed effectively with hormone therapy for one to three years. Then you start seeing slow rise in PSA levels so chemotherapy and radiation therapy become the next stage of treatment. Most physicians agree that with the current stage and grade of his disease the chemo and radiation will not improve survival rate and should be used only after the other(hormonal treatments) are no longer effective because of the toxicity and limits that chemo and radiation pose to the body. Hence, this again shows why he must get in the best shape he possibly can in order to withstand the chemo and radiation once that is necessary. Hope this information is helpful. He seems to be in good spirits, but he is still in a little denial about the seriousness of the condition. Just encourage him to stay on his diet and get moving. Talk to you soon,

Nita

[beachbum_al]

I meant to include this above but please keep Ferd, his wife Millie, and my husband David, Arthurl, and Nita in your prayers. They are going through a difficult time dealing with the news. Also his sister Amelia has already given up hope. She thinks it is spreading to his liver and thinks he has liver cancer. That is not what is going on. She misunderstood and no one seems to be able to persuade her that it is not in his liver at the time.

[arkess7]

Prayers on there way from Ocala..

[Dee Bee]

Prayers for wholeness, comfort, and strength for the whole family are going out right now.

[breeze]

Prayers from TN for your FIL.

[Stephanie]

Prayers are on their way for you and your family.

[DaylilyDawn]

Prayers going out for your FIL from Lakeland!

[wxmann_91]

I will pray for you.