Tell Your Story

I'm not sure that my story is unlike any of yours. I've watched someone I love live with, and eventually die from, prostate cancer. You may in the former camp, or unfortunately, the latter, but chances are you've been touched in some way by prostate cancer if you're reading this. It was June, 2001. He was retiring at the top of his game. Looking forward to a move to be closer to his two young granddaughters. Receiving the news that grandchild #3 was on its way. Planning the intricate details with his wife of 37 years to build their dream home. Designing a dream garden to go with the dream home. Forgetting about his annual physical. The next year went by just as planned. The third granddaughter arrives. The house is complete. The garden begins to flourish under his watchful eye and loving attention. He makes an appointment and has routine blood work done. This part didn't go as planned. Receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer is by no means a death sentence. Caught early, there are numerous treatments available to stop the cancer in its tracks. Unfortunately for my father, his cancer had already spread and his treatment routine was not meant to cure but to stop further spread of the cancer cells. After my dad's death in September, 2007, I wanted to get involved in some small way, to let people know how treatable prostate cancer is. Funny how things present themselves. I received an email about the race series sponsored by the Prostate Cancer Education Council (PCEC) and noticed that a race was being held on my 40th birthday. What a great way to spread the word, celebrate my birthday and remember my dad at the same event! When I arrived at That Dam Run on March 1, 2009, almost 80 of my friends and family came too and we walked and ran the 5K together, to celebrate and remember. Pictures of my Dad and my family were at every mile marker, the crowd sang happy birthday, and there was even cake to mark the milestone. The only thing missing was my Dad. He would have loved the celebration! I was told that at events, mostly women come to the PCEC booth to get information for someone they love. I guess men need a little bit of prodding. Encourage the special men in your life to keep up with their routine exams. Drive them to their appointments. You'll be glad you did!

I found out I had prostate cancer two years ago, I was 57 years old. I had all the risk factors, but didn’t think I needed to go to the doctors. After many attempts from my wife to go the doctors, I finally went and that’s when I got the news. As soon as it became a reality, I took every step to turn it into a positive. I started treatment and a friend told me about PCEC. They had great information and education that not only helped me, but helped me to inform others. Many called my prostate cancer as a struggle or a burden, and I wouldn’t call it either, I called it a road block in life. I have started taking better care of myself, which has been the greatest life saver throughout this journey I am on. I am walking 2 times a day with my wife, my “wake up call” caused my golf buddies to become more aware and educated. Some say I almost lost my life, I look at it as though I got my life back.

I lost Daniel, my husband of 25 years (together for 30) on May 5th. I wanted to share that with you along with an article about him in the newspaper. I also wrote a poem that he really liked that you may appreciate. I want to thank all of the group for years of support.

“Men in Blue”

This is so crazy, we are so blue,
To see what prostate cancer has done to you.

It could have been prevented
if only they would have seen,
how early detection meant everything.

PSA monitoring was all that was needed,
to save your life and give it such meaning.

With all the knowledge and technology
comes such debate,
to screen or not to screen is their question
that can seal a man’s fate.

Don’t be misled by those with unknowing roles.
Be wary of their motives and take control.

Your life is special, so do what it takes,
to be healthy for you and your family’s sake.
Do not be in our position.
Please, please listen.

By Pamela Blue

Dedicated to my Husband,
Daniel Blue I Love You

The Race of My Life: A Story of Cancer Survivorship

Having been through a prior prostate biopsy a year earlier, I didn’t exactly relish the idea of going through another, especially considering my PSA Score was virtually unchanged (4.5) from the prior year. However, respecting my urologist’s recommendation that prostate biopsies are not 100% conclusive, I decided to go ahead and go through another biopsy this past January (2007). I really didn’t give this second procedure much concern since my PSA hadn’t changed and so I expected the same “no cancer” result as before.

To my dismay, when my urologist called with the biopsy results he informed me there was an indication of cancer from two of the biopsy needles, albeit “miniscule amounts; I guess that was somewhat of a silver lining on this dark cloud that now hung over me.

Being a lifelong competitive runner, with 80 marathons to my credit and thousands of other road races, the last thing I wanted to think about was something interfering with my life’s passion: competing in weekend races with all my running friends! How could I have cancer when I felt so good, I thought?

However, as I tend to approach most everything, I plunged headfirst into as much research as I could find about prostate cancer treatment. As I got into the research, I was intrigued by an “active surveillance” option where you can basically carry on with life as usual and simply “watch” for any progression of the disease. I thought that sounded good since I could simply continue my lifestyle as usual – after all, I was only 54 years old!

But therein was the dilemma: I was only 54! This disease is known to be a slow grower but, desiring another 30-40 years of running, even for a “slow growing” disease, might prove to be a bit optimistic. And there was no guarantee it wouldn’t spread beyond the prostate at some point. Always being someone who wants to control his own destiny, I quickly realized the only solution was to not procrastinate but rather find the best treatment available to beat the cancer.

After thoroughly investigating the various prostate cancer treatments available: surgery, seeds, radiation, and hormone, I came to the conclusion that the treatment that would best accommodate my competitive athletic lifestyle was surgery. What also helped with this decision was the fact that, during the course of conducting my research, I was surprised by the number of friends, acquaintances, and even doctors, who had been through prostate treatment of their own! And, almost to a person, most all these people ended up with the same conclusion: surgery is the surest way to rid the body of prostate cancer.

A further decision I faced was “open surgery vs. robotic laparoscopic surgery”. It didn’t take long for me to determine that the robotic surgery was not only considered to be the “state of the art” surgical procedure in prostate cancer treatment but that it also provided for recovery rates about 50% faster than that with open surgery.

That decision made, the final step for me was to select the surgeon I believed would be the best in this field. I called several friends who had gone through this procedure and got their input, as well as interviewing surgeons on my own. In the end, based upon reputation and experience I decided to undergo my procedure with Dr. James Porter of Swedish Medical Center. I really felt that Dr. Porter appreciated the kind of athletic and competitive person I was. I also felt he could relate to what I was dealing with at this my young age since he, himself at age 45, had undergone the same procedure not one year earlier- who better to appreciate my anxiety and concerns!

Having made my decision, the only thing now was to schedule the date which, probably not surprising to admit, I based upon my racing schedule and the anticipated take time off for recovery. That date ended up being May 29th, 2007. And, my last race before surgery? May 27th!

Having never taken any significant time off of running and racing for the past 30 years I was most nervous about recovery time after the surgery. That preoccupation probably kept my mind from thinking about the surgery itself and the possible results from it: Would all the cancer be removed? What about other possible complications?

The first thing I remember when I opened my eyes in the Recovery Room was looking at the clock and seeing that I had been “out” for nearly 6 hours. Moments later Dr. Porter was at my side and he had a smile on his face- that was a most reassuring sign I thought! When I asked how he felt everything went he commented that he felt as good about the outcome of my surgery as he has ever felt about any of the 350 robotic surgeries he has done over the past 4 years. What a sense of relief to hear that!

The very next morning, when I awoke in my hospital room, I remember how sore and exhausted I felt. I thought to myself “how in the world could I go home today when I barely feel like I can roll over in bed”? 8 hours later, I was walking out the front door!

The first week of recovery from prostate surgery is uncomfortable but, that said, less than a week after surgery I was back at work and, even the first weekend, four days after surgery, I was able to attend school graduation ceremonies for both my daughters!

On the 7th. day after surgery I went to Dr. Porter’s office for follow-up and results of the pathology report! A big day to be sure. Believe me, hearing that “all the cancer was contained and no signs of any cancer escaping the prostate” is some of the most satisfying words you can hear.

Having the satisfaction from the great pathology report, the secondary concerns were next on the list- how quickly could I recover and return to my passion of running and racing? I was told to not be overly optimistic that sometimes recovery can take weeks, or even months, to fully regain all normal body functions and condition. I was intellectually prepared for this but emotionally not really excited to accept these possible timeframes.

Within ten days of surgery, I was back on the road and running – a very easy 7 mile run - albeit a bit like running with a side ache the whole time. But just to be back on the roads again and enjoying a run with my friends was a victory!

For the first 2 weeks I kept my running to training runs (6 to 8 miles in length), not wanting to push it too hard by entering into competitive races. By the third weekend though the competitive juices were just too strong: I just had to go race again and see how I felt. So, on June 23rd., about three weeks after surgery I was standing at the starting line of the Bridle Trails 10k (6.2 miles). I didn’t have any huge expectations, as far as time goes, I was just happy to be competing again. That said, as I took off I was surprised by how strong I felt and how easy the run seemed to progress and the results would indicate as much: I had beaten my prior year’s time by 10 seconds! How could that have been? I don’t have an explanation other than perhaps the adrenalin rush from the excitement of having “just beat my most challenging competitor- cancer”!

The next day I felt so confident I entered the 6.7 mile Shore Run, ironically a run dedicated to “cancer survivors” and turned in another surprising performance by beating my prior year’s time, again. The next weekend? I competed in my first triathlon- 1//2 mile swim, 21 mile bike race, 5 mile running race- finishing in a respectable time of 2 hours and 20 minutes.

However, probably the most satisfying accomplishment was that just 6 weeks after surgery I lined up for the SeaFair Marathon (26.2 miles) alongside my son, Hunter! Not only had it been less than 6 weeks since I had surgery but I was able to finish the marathon in 3 hours and 29 minutes – good enough to win my age division!

In the last 18 months since my surgery I have now completed 10 full marathons and dozens of half marathons, 10k’s and 5k’s.

In reflecting back over my experience, and the many challenges and decisions I faced, I have to say that, although cancer certainly is a formidable foe, the better prepared you are the better the chances of beating cancer and recovering quickly. I feel that my 30 years of running and racing helped prepare me for this biggest challenge of my life.