Lifestyle Changes

I got good news from my urologist yesterday. My PSA is 4! That's down from 15.8 in one month. I'm still a long way from remission, but the numbers are going the right direction. It means that the Lupron is keeping the cancer in check for now. We are very thankful!

When you have cancer, people give you all kinds of advice. Don't eat sugar. Don't eat carbs. Don't eat red meat or processed meat. Take this or that supplement. People make all kinds of lifestyle changes when they face something like this. I'm changing some things, like I'm working out again, because Lupron makes you lose muscle tone. But other than my weakness for sweets, we live a very healthy lifestyle. We eat organic as much as possible, and do our best to stay away from red meat, deep fried foods, fast food, and processed food. I stand at my desk rather than sitting for the exercise, and also because I had a repetitive stress issue a couple years ago that forced me to change my posture. But that just reinforces my point. And I do have one, by the way.

My point is that, though we have been more than willing throughout our lives to make lifestyle changes when we thought they were warranted, at this point, there's only so much I can do, or that I'm willing to do. My wife has always been the more heath conscious of the two of us, and a few years ago, she was telling me that I shouldn't eat charred meat or refined flour because of health concerns. The next day, I told her I'd been thinking about it a lot, and I'd been seriously asking myself if life without charred meat and refined flour was worth living! It's like the old Jack Benny joke:

Robber: "Your money or your life!"
Benny: (pause) "I'm thinking! I'm thinking!"

So please don't tell me not to eat the rest of the Halloween candy I bought last week. Remember, prostate cancer is fed by hormones, not sugar like other cancers. And I will continue making my world famous dark chocolate ice cream! Come on over and have a bowl. It'll change your life. And I will continue eating Whole Foods bread and charring chicken on the grill. So sue me.

Thanks again for checking in! Your comments mean more to me than I can say. I've literally been living off of the encouragement I get from all of you. God bless you!

(From Comments)

Thanks again to all of you who comment. It really helps and encourages me. I am able to check my stats on this site and see who all has visited, and I have to say, it's overwhelming to see the number of people who have checked in at least once. I realize that most won't comment, or at least not most of the time. But it really helps me when one of you tells me that you're reading my journal. It's more fun to write if you feel like you have readers! I have become convinced that encouragement is more precious than gold. I can't thank you enough for all your encouragement.