A special thanks to Doting for the shout-out. Yes I can give you the update.
Last Friday I started round 3 of the clinical trial with Abiraterone (with Predizone). It is 30 days per round. We had not seen any indication that we were getting the real drug. My PSA had continued to rise. January blood work showed that it was at 19.4. We had a heart to heart talk with my Oncologist about what the next step would be. Unblinding the trial, applying for compassionate care, finding the drug overseas, etc. But, God works in His own time frame and not ours. The blood work from last Friday showed my PSA at 11.87. Huge drop. My friends say that the PSA dropped because we went on a 4 day cruise the we before my visit. We still don't know if it is the real drug because other blood work shows no change in my potassium levels. I go back in next Friday for more blood work and we will see. More scans are planned for later in the month. On the trial you get the scans more often than normal. I will get an EKG, MUGA, CT, and Bone scans. My last bone scan showed an increased uptake in L4, T5, Ribs, pelvis, and a new one on L2. So, new scans should show what is really going on. The drug does not help with pain, so we still deal with that. It is still under control with meds and has not stopped me from singin'. (thank God) Lortab 3 to 4 times per day and around 2 hours laying on the couch before I do anything special.
One thing that is really scary is that you have to be off ALL other meds. So no eligard, casodex, etc. I only get zometa once every 4 weeks. But Mr. Spock said it the best...."The needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few, or the one." My favorite one is.."Live long and prosper." I thank God that I have been given the opportunity to help get this drug on the market. It will be the silver bullet that we have been looking for to combat this monster. Over the past two months 3 more men at our church have be diagnosed. Two were caught very early and one as bad as mine (maybe worse). His name is Ken. Surgery is not an option. They started him on lupron, casodex, and will start broad beam radiation next month. He is in his early 60's and has had yearly check-ups for the past 15 years. His doctors said that he most likely has had cancer since his 40's. Even the DRE's and PSA's did not find the cancer until this year and it was too big for surgery, open or robotic. Scary! Keep Ken in your prayers, please.
So, that is the update. One man on the same trial with me has seen his PSA drop from 100 down to 0.3 in 5 months. How cool is that? I will update again here and at my Caringbridge site Monday 2/16.
The battle continues, but war has already been won. Praise God.
Peace and love to all, and as usual................WAR EAGLE, baby.
Walt