Chemo Therpy & Hormone Blockade 07.23.08

PSA is 26.5 as of 07.23.08. The past two weeks have been incredibly busy and exhausting for Jerry and I ... and next week we will still be on the go. Last week we were up in Los Angeles for a pre-operation appointments with Dr. Bob (oncologist) and Dr. Spirt (Gastroentrologist) for colonoscopy. We stopped by Dr. Bob's first for the CBC (complete blood count) and Chest X-ray in radiology. Then Jerry had the colonoscopy at 3:00pm. This week, Tuesday we had the follow-up appointment, again in Los Angeles, for the colonoscopy with Dr. Spirt at 11:00am. We have "good news" and "not to good news" On the piece of the colon that Dr. Spirt could see and took biopsies from everything was clear and no signs of C-diff (C-diff and Chemotherapy could kill you). On the other part of the colon, unfortunately Dr. Spirt could not see because it was "dirty" and was not able to get any biopsies on that part of the colon. The colonoscopy will need to be repeated in at least a year, unless other problems arise. Then we were off to Dr. Bilcheck's office (Santa Monica about 11 or 12 miles from Dr. Bob's office) for a two hour consultation with Dr. Bilcheck who will be doing the surgery for the port implant. We were there for the full two hours, but the actual consultation was only about 10-15 minutes. The other time was mostly wait, and wait some more. Yesterday we had to be in Santa Monica at 6:30am for his 8:30am surgery. The surgery lasted about an hour we were discharges around 11:00am. After surgery we were back to Dr. Bob's for the chemo therapy to start. Jerry had his first chemo therapy and hormone blockade since 5 years ago when he was on chemo therapy for 6 months. This chemo therapy and hormone blockade will also last for 6 months, as well. We will be driving into Los Angeles (Century City area which is actually past downtown Los Angeles) once a week for 3 weeks, 1 week off and then the cycle starts again. Therefore, our next chemo therapy is next Wednesday July 30th, Wednesday after next August 6th, off one week and back on again on Wednesday August 20th. This cycle will continue for a 6 month period.

Oncology Appointment - 07.11.08

Jerry and I went for a follow up visit with the Gastroentrologist in Century City (recommended by Dr. Bob, oncologist). Since the prescriptions and the regiment that Jerry followed for the past month did not clear up the colitis completely and Jerry's PSA has risen to 24.5 and Dr. Bob doesn't want to start chemo therpy until the colitus diarreha has stopped... Dr. Spirt, Gastroentrologist has scheduled a colonoscopy for Wednesday, July 16th. Once the colonoscopy has been done we will have a follow-up visit for the results on Tuesday, July 22nd. Also, scheduled is surgery to implant a port and possibly Chemotherpy depending on the colonoscopy results. Prior to the chemotherapy starting Jerry needs to get a baseline of his condition. For example a CT Scan of his bones, Chest X-ray, Cardio, MRI etc. All the tests he normally has about every 6 months. So as you can see the next two weeks will be busy with doctor, radiology and lab appointments.