Riding the Prostate Cancer Roller Coaster

Another 3 month span of time has elapsed, it is time to get some blood drawn  and check my PSA level once  again. The anxiety level is high and waiting for the results adds to the stress of the moment. The roller coaster ride of stage 4 prostate cancer is in full effect. It seems lately that I have been getting  very tired in the evening and the hot flashes are becoming more intolerable which are both side effects of the medicine. It has been a full 3 years now since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and sometimes I get emotionally low, but that’s when I thank the Lord Jesus for keeping me alive another day.  My days are filled with highs and lows, studying the Bible daily, working out in the gym and being with my family are the highs. The lows come from having too much time on my hands and thinking about when will be the next curve ball that prostate cancer will throw at me.

The amazing thing about this whole process is that the cancer is in remission and that the lupron  has arrested the spread of cancer to my bones and organs for now. I praise the Lord Jesus for extending and sparing my life. My oncologist has told me that most people die within 2 years of being diagnosed. Why was I spared? To be honest I don’t know. I do know that God is Sovereign and that He has mercy on whom He has mercy on. With that being said I think of Farah Fawcett who was diagnosed the same time as I and now has passed on. She was  such an inspiration to me and went through all the treatment with such grace for the amount pain that she experienced. Most of my problems seem minor to what others have endured, and really most of mine are side effects and not from the cancer.

So where am I in this battle against prostate cancer, well my PSA came back and it went up a little 0.38 from 0.21. I will have to go back in 6 weeks and get another PSA test. The oncologist is not that concerned as long as the PSA stays under 1, my survival is looking better and better as each day goes by. If I am still in remission by year 5, I can probably stop treatment and see if my PSA rises. All throughout I always expected the worst scenario because of the seriousness of the cancer, right now I have a fighting chance to make it and with Jesus help I  know  I  will.

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