Posted Monday, July 23, 2007

With the support and prayers of so many, and the skill of the doc’s (Dr. David Crawford & Dr. Al Barqawi) along with the staff at the University of Colorado Hospital, my targeted focal treatment for prostate cancer went extremely well. I checked in at 6AM last Friday morning and was on my way home by 11AM. By late Saturday I was out and about running errands. Amazing!

As I mentioned last Thursday, my first PSA (prostate specific antigen) check comes in 3 months, and every 3 months after that until 1 year. At that point I’ll have another 3D mapping biopsy.

For those of you who’ve been following my story, I thank you and hope we’ve given you some encouragement. Lord knows, I’ve gotten incredible and indispensable encouragement from all of you.

While I will continue to add links to the Reporter's Notebook and share any new information related to prostate cancer research and treatment, this blog will now become more oriented toward news, events, issues and personal observations of the aforementioned.

Please continue to write with your questions and or comments about prostate cancer or anything else. I’ve enjoyed this dialogue-thing and am looking forward to continuing it!

Posted Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Just two days away from the big day for me. I'm scheduled to have my targeted focal treatment with cryo (ice-tipped needle) this Friday morning.

I did my pre-op conference at University Hospital’s Urologic Oncology center Monday morning. Dr. Al Barqawi gave me the rundown on the procedure and the risks. This study that uses 3D mapping biopsy to locate cancer and then go back (if it's applicable) and do targeted treatment, has 100 subjects, including me.

I understand the first 4 guys who had the procedure have hit the one year mark and all 4 have come back cancer-free. Of course, there are no guarantees that it will never come back, but I’ll take those odds over the current alternatives.

Another word of thanks to all of you who have written words of encouragement and hope concerning this journey I’m on. And for those of you who've sought information, I hope at the very least I've sent you in the right direction.

We did a story last night about managing cancer (all cancer) by being proactive in choosing your treatment. One of the warnings was not to overload yourself with information from the Internet. I had to put my own caveat on that story by saying "Be kind to your mind, and check out recommended sites ... not every one that's out there!.

My procedure will be done quickly and I'll be home by Friday afternoon. I’m planning on being back at work on Monday, July 23. I'll update you then on how it went.

Wish me luck!

Posted July 5, 2007

I hope your 4th of July was wonderful and safe. Mine was very different from last year as I was still trying to digest the news that I have prostate cancer. Just 2 weeks before, on my birthday, I’d been diagnosed.

A year later I have a lot more information, a lot more options and a lot more hope. In 2 weeks, I’ll undergo targeted focal treatment for the tumor on my prostate at the University of Colorado Hospital. Using the gird from the 3-diminsional mapping biopsy I had in April, they’ll go back and freeze the tumor. I’m told recovery will be similar to the mapping biopsy, about 3 days. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Let me take this moment to tell each of you who've written and called how much I appreciate your support and encouragement. I've tried my best to answer your questions honestly and to direct you to the best information available. I hope it's helped. Stay tuned!

Posted April 19

On Friday, April 13 (FRIDAY THE 13TH!!!) at 9 a.m. Dr. David Crawford at the University of Colorado Hospital performed my 3D mapping biopsy.

I'd been told the mapping biopsy involved 30 plus needles. But because my prostate is still so large, even with four months of Avodart, they ended up taking 90!

Those guys at University ARE thorough!

The procedure took about an hour and with a couple of hours in recovery they sent me home. I have to say I was surprised that while there was certainly some discomfort, I had little or no pain.

The biopsies (all 90 of them!) were sent out that day and late Wednesday (4/18) afternoon, I got an e-mail, complete with the computer rendered image of my prostate from the mapping biopsy. The news was incredible.

They did find cancer in one spot on the left side of the prostate (where the original biopsy located it) but it came back at 3 percent. That's extremely low threat and an answer to a lot of prayers from friends, family and perfect strangers.

I followed up today with Dr. Al Barqawi at University who is developing the software that allows the 3D imaging. As I understand his explanation, the standard 12-needle biopsy can identify cancer and its general location.

The 3D mapping biopsy gives you the specific address.

Now I'm officially a candidate for "targeted focal therapy," or as Dr. Crawford has described it -- "The male lumpectomy" (removing the cancer, not the prostate.)

I can do that...or...once again, choose not to do anything --just yet.

For the present, I'm going to catch my breath, send up prayers of thanksgiving for all the support and encouragement I've gotten and count my blessings.

Stay tuned.

Posted March 23

April 13th is the big day for me. That's when I'm scheduled for my 3-D Mapping biopsy at University of Colorado hospital. I'm excited and tentative at the same time. Excited because it's an opportunity to find out how much cancer and where so I can pick an appropriate treatment. Tentative because it's about to look me square in the face and make me choose how I'm going to fight it.

Truth is, I'm just glad that I have the opportunity to have a choice. I've heard from a number of people through e-mails and phone calls, whose situations are much more severe than mine. And others who have made life-changing decisions about treatment that can't be undone.

In any case, I'm thankful for all the support and encouragement of those who have called and written and I'll keep you posted on what happens next.

Posted Feb. 26

It was quite an unwelcome 60th birthday present from my doctor last June when he told me I have prostate cancer. My life didn't flash before my eyes, but the level of confusion about what I was up against and what kind of treatment was appropriate for my case was overwhelming.

The stories from the docs and prostate cancer patients I talked to convince me that I shouldn't do anything right away. My initial biopsy showed a small amount of slow growing cancer and I could do "watchful waiting." In other words, I could monitor my PSA (prostate specific antigen) level with regular blood tests and should probably have another biopsy in 6 months or so.

We aired our story "What Do I Do Now?" last November on 7NEWS which outlined the lack of clear answers that many men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer get. Doing stories about my experience with prostate cancer has been cathartic and very fulfilling.

I've received more than 500 e-mails from here and around the country from husbands, wives, significant others and health professionals sharing their experiences and providing incredible insight.

Our latest report on prostate cancer aired Sunday night, Feb. 26 on 7NEWS after the Oscars. In it, we followed up with news of an existing procedure that had been fine-tuned right here in Denver by doctors and researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences, Anschutz Cancer Pavilion.

The procedure is 3-D mapping biopsy, which takes 30-plus needle biopsies from the prostate (as opposed to the standard 12 needle biopsy).

That information can then be used to create a 3-D computer image of the patient's prostate with specific mapping of how much cancer there is and where it's located. In certain cases, that can allow doctors to perform "targeted treatment." That means doctors can remove the cancer and not the whole prostate. In about 30 percent of the cases, doctors will find more cancer than first identified.

I'm going to have the 3D mapping biopsy procedure next month and my new friend Jerry Lee of Boulder, who just had it, reminds me of an important fact. I may, or may not be a candidate for targeted treatment depending on what the dozens of biopsies find.

Jerry had his done and let us follow the procedure for our latest report. He found out that his cancer was such that radiation or prostate removal was a better choice for him. In Jerry's words, "It's not what I wanted to hear, but at least I now know what I'm up against."

I'll continue to update your on my progress and any new information we come across on prostate cancer treatment and research.

We’ll provide some useful links to that kind of information here on TheDenver Channel.com. We’re not qualified to offer insight on one prostate cancer treatment or procedure over another, so we’ll just try to help you as you continue on your journey in this fight.