It’s not something that you see everyday, but it’s something that made me smile when I did.

In a world of pink breast cancer awareness ribbons and Susan G. Komen Foundation ads, it’s refreshing to finally see a glimmer of light blue.

I was recently in a Vons supermarket (part of Safeway) and they are promoting prostate cancer awareness for the entire month of June.  The store had blue ribbons hanging over the cash registers; blue reusable grocery bags for sale (for $2.99 but $2.00 from each bag goes to the Prostate Cancer Foundation); a cash donation box; and a prompt on the credit/debit card swipe terminal asking if you would like to contribute to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Apparently the Safeway Foundation has been doing this since 2001 and has raised over $68 million for prostate cancer research.  To be fair, they’ve also done this for breast cancer research and have raised over $108 million in the same period.

It’s both refreshing and encouraging to see a business take such a proactive and highly visible interest in combatting prostate cancer.  You can read more about the Safeway Foundation here:

The Safeway Foundation

Prostate Cancer Foundation – Vons/Safeway Support

While I’m not in the business of endorsing commercial enterprises, I will tell you that, if given the choice between a Vons or Safeway and a Kroger, Ralph’s or Piggly-Wiggly, I’d be inclined to support the Safeway chains.

In last month’s posting, I talked about the new normal for me as it related to my stress incontinence. Not long after posting that, there was a noticeable improvement that seemed to happen almost overnight.

Last month, if I sneezed or coughed, there was almost certainly going to be a leak after either. But about 2 weeks ago, if I sneezed or coughed there was very little leaking, if anything. That’s been a pleasant surprise.

If I sense a sneeze or cough coming on, I will try to tighten my pelvic floor muscles in advance, and that helps, I’m sure. But there are still times where I’ll spring a leak, but when I do, the volume seems to be smaller now. So I consider this to be progress (I always was a late bloomer!).

Sexual function is still an issue, although it, too, is slowly improving without the aid of Cialis. Considering that I have only one nerve bundle remaining, that’s a very positive sign. I’ll continue to be patient and at some point may try the Cialis again.

Finally, best wishes to a reader of this blog as he undergoes his radical prostatectomy today.

Well, not much has happened in the last month or so.  With an earlier spring than usual, I’ve been quite busy around the house, and all of that activity sent me back to wearing pads for a while.  If I know that I’m going to be doing a lot of lifting, bending, or squatting, I just resign myself to the fact that I’m going to spring a leak or two, so the pads go back in the underwear.  Not the ideal situation, but it beats the alternative.

As far as sexual function is concerned, there’s been some slight improvement (or perhaps wishful thinking on my part), but still have a long way to go.  I’ve thought of trying the Cialis again to see what happens, but that gets a bit pricey–about $140 a month.

So that’s about it for this update.

Okay, so I’m a day late posting this.  Sundays are supposed to be days of rest, right?  (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)

It’s been a good month except for a little head cold that brought enough sneezing and coughing that sent me back to wearing pads for a couple of days just because of the equal and opposite reaction down below.

I think that I had a light bulb moment during the cold: This is my new reality, and I shouldn’t be frustrated by having to wear pads on occasion.  (In last month’s post, I was still fighting the idea of having to do that.  This month, I’ve come to terms with it.)

I continue to try and educate when an opportunity presents itself without being overtly aggressive about it.  If awareness is enough to cause another man to get checked out, then it’s worth it. 

So that’s about it for now.  The warm weather got me cleaning out the garage this weekend… It was more fun than one would think…

Okay, so it’s mid-February and I’ve gotten an early jump on some serious spring cleaning.  But being so active has highlighted the fact that the stress incontinence persists. 

Bending, twisting, lifting, stooping, climbing, all can bring a little “surprise.”  And, as usual, some days seem to be better than others.  If I’m going to be really active for an extended period, I find that I will revert to using the pads again.  Not something that I’m thrilled about, but a necessity.

When I was at the surgeon’s last month, we talked about this and he said that at a year out, there’s not going to be much more improvement.  In other words, this may be as good as it gets.

Disappointing?  Certainly.  Of course, I’d love to be 100% dry, but I guess that just isn’t in the cards.  So I’ll adapt and learn to live with what I have.  And, again, it’s more of a nuisance than anything and something that I can tolerate given the alternative.

“PSA undetectable.”  Music to my ears!!

That was the result of my one-year post surgery PSA test, letting me know that I remain cancer-free.  Needless to say that made my day.

This time I didn’t get nearly as worked up emotionally waiting for the result.  That doesn’t mean that I didn’t think about it all week long; I simply didn’t wig out like I did for the six month test back in August.  I guess experience is a good teacher.  Besides, the results will be what they are, and there’s not a thing that I can do to change them.  I can only learn how to adapt to them.

So for all your continued thoughts and prayers, thanks!  They’ve been working.

Happy New Year!  Hopefully, this year will be a bit better than last.

The holidays were generally good for me with the exception of catching a stomach bug that was going around.  Let’s just say that stress incontinence was the least of my worries for about 30 hours beginning at 6:00 AM on Monday, 26 December.  At least mine waited to kick in.  My sister and brother-in-law suffered through it beginning Christmas Eve, and my nephew’s step son fell victim to the bug on Christmas day.

Later this week I get my blood drawn for my one-year PSA test.  I’ll get the results on 19 January, so keep your fingers crossed.  I hope that I won’t get as worked up about this round of tests as I did for the six month test back in August.  I’m sure that I will for a little while.  I mean, really, if the PSA comes back showing something, then that means the cancer is elsewhere–bones or organs–and that will be much more problematic to treat.

I’m beginning to think that I’m about as good as I’m going to get when it comes to the stress incontinence.  I just haven’t noticed any real improvements since the last posting or two.  I’ll talk to the surgeon about it when I get my results. 

It’s not that it’s all that bad…  But it’s enough of a nuisance to frustrate me.  Somedays are nearly perfectly dry; and then there’s the off day where a pad might have been needed.  Unfortunately, I can’t predict how the day will go.  It just happens.

So that’s about it.  Look for a special post next week with the PSA results.

So I’m sitting in San Diego International Airport hammering this out as I wait for my flight back to Indiana.  Bah-humbug! 

I had this week of vacation scheduled for nearly two months, but no real destination planned.  At the last minute, I was able to get some tickets and decided to head back to the land of never-ending sunshine.

I read an interesting article this week that talked about a new program to increase prostate cancer screening and awareness among men by training barbers to talk about the topic while giving haircuts.  That’s an interesting approach and, if it gets a couple of guys to get checked out, then all the better.

The last month has been good for me physically.  The stress incontinence doesn’t seem to be as bad when I sneeze of cough, although when I feel a sneeze or cough coming on, I do my best to tighten those pelvic floor muscles in advance, and that seems to help.  I also seem to do better at controlling things while sitting; when standing or walking, it becomes more difficult and I’m likely to leak a little more.

As far as sexual function is concerned, I can feel things wanting to come back to life without chemical assistance (Cialis), but there’s still a long way to go. 

Things I’m thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day:

Family, friends, and being cancer-free.

‘Nuff said.

Wow.  Hard to believe that it was a year ago today that I was sitting in the doctor’s office being told that I have cancer. 

There hasn’t been a day in that year that I haven’t thought about cancer and the effects of its treatment.  But I don’t necessarily dwell on it or worry that it will come back.  I think about the practical aspects of living after the prostatectomy; about educating others and increasing awareness; and about what’s next in my life now that I’ve been given a second chance at it.

So let’s break this posting into manageable chunks.

Worry about cancer returning

Nope.  I can’t say that I do.  Getting through the six month PSA test was a bit unnerving, but the results were great.  I’m sure that I’ll get worked up before each future PSA test, but I think that the whole reason for having the radical prostatectomy was to get all those little bugger cancer cells out of my body, and that approach seems to have worked.

Sure, the surgeon told me that I may have a one in five chance of having the cancer come back in 10 years, but that little tidbit of information stays pretty well sequestered in the back of my brain.  It doesn’t rule my thoughts.  It doesn’t run my daily activities (but maybe it should–more on that later).

Daily Life After the Prostatectomy

Getting all of those little bugger cancer cells out of my body wasn’t without costs.

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you know that I’m not 100% “dry” when it comes to the incontinence or that my sexual function has not yet returned. 

The incontinence is limited to sneezing, coughing, or performing some sort of physical activity (squatting or lift something heavy at an odd angle–something my herniated lumbar discs don’t appreciate, either!).  It’s a nuisance more than anything, but it can be a frustrating nuisance.

It’s that frustration that has been gnawing away at me; my patience just isn’t what it should be, I guess.  Yes, the doctor told me it could take a year or better for things to get back to normal, and it’s been 10 months since the surgery.  My overachieving self wants perfection.  NOW! 

Is it so bad that I would recommend not having a radical prostatectomy to someone?  No.  But it is something that I would share in detail with someone who’s considering his treatment options. 

And that brings me to my next topic…

Educating and Increasing Awareness

Obviously, it wasn’t long after the surgery that this blog turned from a means of keeping family and friends informed into something intended to educate others diagnosed with prostate cancer.

It was really helpful for me to have a couple of first-hand accounts of going through this journey, and I knew that I wanted to return the favor by sharing my experience here.  If it helped just one person understand what they might encounter, then I consider this blog to be a success.

There’s no shame in having cancer and, as you can tell, I have been very open about discussing my experience.  (Too open, according to some.)  But too many people are afraid to even utter the word “cancer,” let alone have an in-depth discussion of the disease, its effects, and its treatments.  Shying away from it does no one any good–the patient, his family, and his friends.  Quite the contrary, for me, talking about it openly was helpful and therapeutic.

October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and–without disparaging anyone with the disease or who has worked on a cure–it really irked me that you couldn’t turn a corner without seeing something pink to increases awareness, while in September, I didn’t see a single blue ribbon promoting Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.  So I’ve kind of made it my personal mission to try to increase awareness in my little sphere of influence.

No, I don’t walk up to a guy and ask, “When’s the last time you had your prostate poked?” But I do let guys know that I was one who followed the rule, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and had not been for a physical in a couple of years.  I encourage them to get checked and also let them know that I’m available to talk with if they want.

What’s Next?

Heck if I know.  Really.  And that’s the one thing that’s caught me off guard.

Trying to figure out what to do with this second chance at life has been an onerous task.  Of course, the analytical German Capricorn in me is what’s making it so onerous.  Paralysis by analysis.  A year has gone by and I’m still in the same place, doing the same job, and doing it alone.

Of course, there is no rule that says if you’re given a second chance, you must do something different with your life…

So I’ve been gathering thoughts and ideas, and have been trying to prioritize them in a spreadsheet to help me find the answer to “What’s next?” 

But there’s that little tidbit of information in the back of my brain telling me that there’s a one in five chance of having the cancer come back in 10 years.  Maybe I should move that tidbit to the front of my brain as a catalyst for action in both my daily life and for the long haul.  Dump the spreadsheet and just do something!

One thing that will be on the agenda is to continue with monthly updates here on the 11th of each month, so stay tuned…

And speaking of the 11th, today is Veteran’s Day–hug a Vet if you see one.