Cancer still sucks

It's been a while since I updated this blog, as everything has been pretty status quo. Well, the kids keep growing up, but in terms of Jim's and my health, everything has been pretty status quo - until recently. Jim has been going every 3-4 months for a checkup with his urologist, and it seems that the hormone therapy they've had him on isn't working so well anymore. This was expected, they told us when they started this therapy that at some point it would have killed off the less aggressive cancer cells and the more aggressive cells would start to develop some critical mass. And it looks like it's that time, as normally the hormone injection drives his PSA down to nothing, and then it slowly builds back up over the next several months, but the last two injections seem to NOT have lowered the PSA.

So several scans later, it's a good news/not so good news situation. Good news is that Jim still has no evidence of a tumor or growth anywhere, including lymph nodes and bones. Bad news is that the next treatment they would put him on tends to only be covered by insurance when there IS evidence of disease. So really, we're supposed to just wait until he has a tumor??? Well the urologist is trying to get insurance to cover it, and in the meantime, Procter has a GREAT benefit where we can get a second opinion from the best doctors in the country for various diseases, so his records are being sent to the prostate cancer experts to see what they would recommend. He feels great, and in fact he will be running the Cap City half marathon with Julie at the end of this month. Here's hoping all that healthy living will help keep things at bay a while longer. Prayers appreciated, as always.

Teri