Death by Prostate Cancer. [View all]
Last edited Sat May 11, 2024, 05:17 AM - Edit history (1)
Russ, a member of our group of musician friends, died yesterday of prostate cancer. He'd been battling it for a while. Neither my husband nor I were especially close to him in real life, but knew he was an excellent player and got to know him over the past couple of years through Facebook. We learned he was a very intelligent super-Democrat with a great sense of humor.
He was also one of the men who helped my husband deal with the shock when he was diagnosed with a very aggressive case of prostate cancer three years ago.
In addition to talking one-on-one with my husband about it, Russ frequently posted about his condition, and treatments and their success or lack thereof.
A month or so ago, he'd said his PSA had suddenly shot up & that more intense chemo treatments were being initiated. Then we didn't hear any more...until friends began sharing that he'd been in hospice for less than a week and had just died.
So sad. I guess it just seems like it's always the good ones we lose, but it sure does feel that way.
My husband has been through surgery, radiation, and ADT. His cancer is considered oleometastatic, meaning it has metastasized, but only to one known spot near to where it began.
He is now in his fifth month off the meds that were suppressing the male hormones the cancer feeds on. Supposedly, in time, this type of cancer will almost always reassert itself. Every three months he gets checked to see if his PSA has risen. The next test is in three weeks.
We both took the news of Russ's death pretty hard, thinking of the difficulties he endured and of his close friends & family, as well as of my husband's condition.
I believe I worry more about his illness than he does, but I've come a long way from the first 3 months when I cried nearly all day every day. Sometimes now a few days can go by when I don't even think about it. But neither of us have been able to forget about it for the past couple days and I suspect it will continue to be a very conscious, present worry for the next couple of weeks, at least.
Oh, and then there's that suspicious lesion they just found on my lung. Wait a year and check back the pulmonologist said. I think I'm going to need a second opinion.
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