One Man's Perspective on Prostate Cancer

  The Fight Against Boredom Back on my post from Mar 7th - 8th / 2024 - No Energy in the second last paragraph I mentioned an idea about creating a fabrication lab.  My vision is to build a small-scale facility of digital fabrication equipment designed to provide access to cutting-edge technologies, foster innovation and creativity in a community setting.  The goal is to expose the technologies to those that are interested in learning more about digital fabrication and what can be done with it.   It is important to me to impart my knowledge and experience with others, acting as a mentor in these technologies before my time comes to an end.  As Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Locally in the Woodstock, NB area public access to digital fabrication is non-existent.  You can certainly hire companies in the area to create the work for you, but that doesn't teach you how to do i...

What Snowblower? Hey, get this - we got slammed over the weekend (it was actually one day only) with a whopping 22 inches of snow in just one day! That's right, it pretty much matched the ENTIRE snowfall we had all winter long. If you're from New Brunswick, you're probably like, "Meh, big deal," but for the rest of you reading this, let me tell you, it was a winter wallop to remember!  Here is a picture of my snowblower pretty much buried!  WTF do I do now? The snow is too high for it to gobble up the snow and toss it off to the side! I gotta give it up to my neighbor Scott - he waltzed in with his massive snow blower like a superhero and saved the day by digging out my truck! Thanks a bunch, Scott! And just when I thought the snow chaos was over, my pal with a tractor/blower combo showed up and cleared out the walkway and  the rest of the driveway. Talk about snow removal squad goals! Hospital Visit: Monday morning, I had to plow through the snow drifts w...

I am very happy to say this was a very good week for me. Let's get into it! What's on the agenda for this week: Friend's and the effect of mental and emotional well being New Brunswick - Government Drug Plan Help Medical Scanning Technologies MIR and PSMA Smart Drugs for Cancer Treatment Bleeding Edge Medical Research using AI AI tools to help your Research and Well Being  The hormone drugs must be working as I'm not as sore and I cut back on the pain meds. Which really helps keep my mind from being fuzzy.. ha! I wonder what my good friends would comment on that statement! ;) I spent an afternoon with a good friend at his saw mill cutting 200+ year old hemlock logs.  There is something very satisfying creating timber from raw trees.  These hemlocks were damaged during a storm and had to be removed from the hardwood forest.  It's too bad in a way as I'm sure there isn't a lot of 200+ year old trees in New Brunswick anymore due to all the logging.  Each of the...

I have decided to blog on a weekly basis unless I feel there is a significant change or important information I should pass on.  In this way you will know when to expect an update from me :) Good idea eh? It's Saturday morning Mar 9th, the sun is shinning and I finally have some of my energy back and not in constant pain.   The drugs I'm taking for shutting down my testosterone production must be working.  It's the testosterone that is feeding the cancer in my prostate, lymph nodes and bones.   Dalton and Kendal are coming over today to pick me up and head over to the workshop. There are a few items to be moved and cleaned up before I start to advertise on market place some of the tools and equipment sell off.   I was given a really old beast of a machine, an eight inch jointer and weights over 400 pounds that I never did connect up and see if it works.  It needs a lot of TLC as you can see in the picture.  I got the guys to move it to p...

Mar 7th - I wake up at 4:30 still weary, my mind foggy and I can't sleep.  It's a difficult time, where the drugs are taking a toll, sucking all the energy out of me.  I don't like this feeling of being so lethargic.  I spend most of the day between sleeping for an a couple of hours and watching Netflix movies.  Of course with the hydromorphone and naproxen I'm not in pain.   I'm not one who likes to stay inside or sit idle for very long.  A good example is if we go to the beach I can lay down soaking up the sun, people watching for about 30 minutes.  Then I'm done! I need to get up and be active, take the dogs for a swim and find other things to do.  A beach visit is short and sweet.  Then I move on, go hiking and exploring (Those days are over for me).  I much rather be exploring and meeting new people than laying down on a recliner feeling my body waste away.  Fuck that!  Michele is finding it hard to concentrate at wo...

 4:00 AM - My day starts with a green tea.  I boil the water and while I wait for that I think of how much coffee I used to drink, but not anymore as I was told green tea is good for my prostate.   You might be wondering why the hell I get up so early. Well I'm hyperactive, been that way since I was born.  I drove my parents crazy because from the age of 0 to 19 (I left the house at 19) I only slept 4 hours a night. Then it increased to 5 hours in my thirties. I have woke up between 4:00 and 4:30 am and still do. Of course I have lots of stories from my childhood but that is going back a little too far - 40+ years too far. :) I hear the pitter patter of our two Weimaraner dogs coming down the stairs from the bedroom to greet me and say good morning. Sasha is three years old and is currently in heat. Saxx is fixed and very hyperactive (brings back memories of my energy). They both go outside through the dog door to do there business and I keep an eye on them...

Feb 29th/24 - Thursday I got into the doctors office, she prescribed some additional medication to help with the pain and inflammation but warned this would knock me off my feet at least until we got the right level of meds worked out.  She provided a bunch of support resources and local groups that can help. We spent the next few days reaching out to these resources and writing down everything we could in a notebook to keep track of all the appointments, contact information and my daily meds. Mar 4th/24 - I am now able to stand up from a chair and go up and down steps without major pain thanks to the pain management drugs I'm taking.  While it's been just over a week that I have started this journey in life it seems like it has been much longer. I have spoken with many friends and a few people from Prostate Cancer support groups both local and across the country.  Everyone has been helpful and encouraging.  With this support my mental and emotional situation is stro...

 Monday Feb 26/2024 - 12:45 PM - I'm sitting alone on a gurney in the Waterville ER for a while now, my wife was with me at first but had to leave for a bit.  The ER doctor enters the room after checking the CT scan results produced at 11:41 AM. He looks at me with a very serious face and tells me he has bad news for me.  I said I figured that....waiting for the news.  "You have cancer throughout your bones and an extremely high PSA value.  I have to do a prostate exam."  I take in stride saying okay.  I'm in shock but don't realize it, I'm going along with whatever the doctor wants to do in a calm, cool collected way.  The doctor finds a more private room and does the exam and I return to the original room where my wife would expect me to be.  ~ 1:45 PM I'm back at the room, Michele walks in and asks what is going on.  The doctor comes in around the same time and I give her the news - "I have cancer through all my bones and prostrate"...

Now that I look back I can see all of the indications pointing to prostate cancer but each of those signs and symptoms could also be easily explained by something else happening in my life. In 2018 I had a vasectomy, which I thought was a good idea at the time. My PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) was 3.2 after this surgery which is in the normal range. This was never checked again in my bloodwork until I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2024. (PSA is now 1215) It started with a sore back and sore hips, I would get joint pain at night but I thought it was my mattress or something I did during that day at work. I had left my job as a Principle System's Designer at a large Corporation called "Xplornet", now called "Xplore". There were many big changes in the Company and many of us felt we were not valued as we once were, when the Company was smaller and still had that personal touch. Many of my colleagues left after I made my exit. The stress was just too much,...