Cancer (Again)

911

911

Well-known Member
Location
USA
I have been living pretty much alone the last few months while my wife is being nurse to her mom and sister in Florida. This means that I have been doing some grocery shopping, which has become a learning experience.

Today, while racing through the aisles, I heard someone call my name. When I looked around, I noticed a friend that I had worked with on the Force. He and his wife were doing their weekly shopping. After a few minutes of chit-chat, he tells me that his life was changed forever this past Tuesday. I asked why. He then told me that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer and Stage 4 Bone Cancer. Well, you could have knocked me over with one finger.

He just retired last year. I have thought of nothing else all day.
 

911 said:
I have been living pretty much alone the last few months while my wife is being nurse to her mom and sister in Florida. This means that I have been doing some grocery shopping, which has become a learning experience.

Today, while racing through the aisles, I heard someone call my name. When I looked around, I noticed a friend that I had worked with on the Force. He and his wife were doing their weekly shopping. After a few minutes of chit-chat, he tells me that his life was changed forever this past Tuesday. I asked why. He then told me that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer and Stage 4 Bone Cancer. Well, you could have knocked me over with one finger.

He just retired last year. I have thought of nothing else all day.
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omg @911 what a shock! I wish your wife was home now, is she? It would be nice for you to share and feel comforted.

A prayer is sent for your friend.
 
911,
He has my total sympathy as he has a very rough road ahead. My prostrate cancer was nowhere near that stage when they caught it. Your friend has a real uphill fight and will need all the support he can get.
Some Doctors are telling their older male patients that they don't need a PSA test after the age of 70. That is total BS. I was 75 when my PSA went up like a rocket.
If this stuff is caught early, the treatment is not that bad.
 

So sorry about the news 911, sounds like it has had a big impact on you. I had a friend who had the same kind of cancer about 3 years ago. It's a horrible illness.:cry:
 
Pecos said:
911,
He has my total sympathy as he has a very rough road ahead. My prostrate cancer was nowhere near that stage when they caught it. Your friend has a real uphill fight and will need all the support he can get.
Some Doctors are telling their older male patients that they don't need a PSA test after the age of 70. That is total BS. I was 75 when my PSA went up like a rocket.
If this stuff is caught early, the treatment is not that bad.
Click to expand...

I asked him what his PSA tests had been showing. He told me that his doctor told him that as long as he felt no abnormality in the prostate, he doesn’t order a PSA. I told my friend that he is entitled to one PSA test per year, regardless what your doctor says.
 
I am more concerned about the bone cancer. To the best of my knowledge, there is no cure for that. My B-I-L had prostate cancer and his Urologist inserted seeds into his prostate, which with radiation, he has been cleared showing no cancer.

My friend was shot in the stomach about 10 years ago, survived and returned to work.
 
My heart goes out to you and your friend. Diagnosys like that changes everything as quite rightly pointed out by your friend. How can one say anything to console ? Just being a listening friend and understanding that all of us sooner or later will need to face our mortality. I think about that often and for me I give my love to my boys as though it is the last day I am seeing them. Every morning when they go to college I make sure that we part without bad feelings even if there has been an disagreement we make up and we go knowing there always is a chance that may be the last time we see each other.........it is life
 
I have been reading everything that I can find about this disease. What I found to be most consistent from all the websites that I have read about "bone cancer" is that this type of cancer probably originated in some other organ like the Prostate, so now this makes sense. Metastatic Prostate Cancer can attach itself to the bones and that's how the bone cancer is started. The 5-year mortality rate with Stage 4 Bone Cancer is about 70%.

The doctors found his cancer through a PET-Scan. He has an appointment with an Oncologist this week and then he has to have an MRI. I told him that his doctor and him are probably going to become very good friends, meaning that they will be seeing a lot of each other.

After thinking about all of this, I have come to the conclusion that this is scary stuff and we have no control over it. I wonder now if his doctor had ordered him a PSA if he wouldn't be fighting this disease. Why wouldn't a doctor take every precaution and have this simple blood test done?
 
so sorry t hear this … I lost my online friend this year 'she had it ' had a op on the breast 2yrs ago all ok '
then bam she had signs from her scan it had spread yet again ' the doc said she had about 3months she told me 'and died in a month of knowing spread all over to her brain -so sad miss her lots 'and she left 2 young sons with no husband ..life can be devastated
 
911 this is terrible news to receive, especially from
a friend!

It is upsetting to think that it reached an advanced
state before he knew about it though.

I wish him a pain free journey, though the fear has
to be awful.

Mike.
 
I never heard Rodney say a swear word or speak bad of anyone. He is not judgmental and went above and beyond many times. Rodney, another Trooper and myself ran the Toys for Tots program inside the PSP, which is sponsored by the Marines. He is never shy about going into merchants and asking them for donations of toys. This guy could get blood out of a turnip, so to speak. Everyone loves Rodney. How does this happen? He just retired last year.

Thanks for all the kind wishes.
 
911 said:
I am more concerned about the bone cancer. To the best of my knowledge, there is no cure for that. My B-I-L had prostate cancer and his Urologist inserted seeds into his prostate, which with radiation, he has been cleared showing no cancer.

My friend was shot in the stomach about 10 years ago, survived and returned to work.
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I think the bone cancer is a much bigger deal, too.
 
911 said:
I never heard Rodney say a swear word or speak bad of anyone. He is not judgmental and went above and beyond many times. Rodney, another Trooper and myself ran the Toys for Tots program inside the PSP, which is sponsored by the Marines. He is never shy about going into merchants and asking them for donations of toys. This guy could get blood out of a turnip, so to speak. Everyone loves Rodney. How does this happen? He just retired last year.

Thanks for all the kind wishes.
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The person who often gets lost in these situations is the wife who often experiences much more stress that the person with the cancer. The person being left behind starts to realize the load they are going to carry. If you know her well, be sure that she gets as much support as your friend.
Your friend should hope for the best, but start thinking/planning for the worst. In an odd way, that will bring him a level of comfort.
 

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