9 January 2024
It was 46°F this morning when I got up and that was cold to me. I’ve been in South Florida too long (40 years) and my blood has gotten a bit thin for cold weather.
I didn’t walk this morning because I slept late and needed to be at Tom’s by 10:30 to take him to see his neurological surgeon. In essence, he was told that from a surgical point of view, there wasn’t anything for him to do so there would be no need for follow ups.
Tom later treated me to lunch at Doc B’s. The place was packed so we sat at the bar and ordered food from there. The food was good, the service slow but effective. That’s the third or fourth time I’ve eaten there and the food is consistently good.
After dropping Tom back home, I headed to Walgreens to pick up another prescription. I’ve lost count of the number, the names, and what they do. Maybe that’s for the best. Otherwise it would drive me crazy.
Once home, I crashed. I was more tired than I imagined. When I finally got up from my nap, I had a test result comment from Dr. Dunhill. My PSA test was 2.92 which he considered still high and recommended seeing a urologist (which I have already scheduled for March).
A high PSA test doesn’t necessarily mean I have prostate cancer. It could simply mean I have a high PSA test. One good thing is that there is some evidence that the Signatera test that I take every 3 months can detect prostate cancer and so far I’ve had 5 tests that were negative. What I don’t know is if the test I am administered is looking for breast cancer markers only.
When I lectured on cancer, I always told my students that if you are male, the best cancer to get is prostate. It’s tends to be slow growing and if you are in your 80’s, a lot of physicians recommend no treatment because you’ll die of old age before you die of prostate cancer. I haven’t checked lately to see what recommendations are these days and in any case, I’m not 80 – yet.
My Dad had prostate cancer but that’s not what killed him. He also had lung cancer, liver cancer and brain cancer. It’s debatable as to whether the prostate cancer spread on him or if he simply had additional cancers in place.
Regardless of whether or not I have prostate cancer, I don’t anticipate undergoing treatment for it. I’ve had enough of chemo and don’t think I’ll be a fan of radiation. We all have an expiratory period and there comes a time when enough is enough. In any case, I won’t have to worry about it again until March.
Last night was movie night with Chris and Tucker. Tucker was happy to see me but it may have been due to the treats I normally give him. The movie was Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Fred Clark and Peggy Cass. (When was the last time you said Peggy Cass was in a movie?) It’s a great, silly movie based on a book by Edward Everett Tanner III (under the pseudonym Patrick Dennis). The character Mame Dennis is based on the real life Aunt Marion, his father’s sister.
We started the movie off with homemade hot chocolate and finished it off with a Pinot Noir. Can’t complain about that!
Stay tuned!
