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| Each man's Journey is listed under his BASIC treatment. When you click on one of the names to read a particular Journey, you may see one or more different treatments in bold lettering immediately above the Journey text. You will see (Recurrence) if they are due to a recurrence. Otherwise, they will be treatments used in conjunction with the basic treatment, i.e. Lupron with External Beam Radiation or External Beam Radiation with HDRT/Brachytherapy, etc. | |
Active Surveillance Alternative (Natural) Therapy Cryoablation - Freezing Hormone Therapy Radiation - Brachytherapy Radiation - External Beam Radiation - HDRT Surgery - Open Surgery - Robotic |
My name is Len Lindstrom; I am 82 years old and live in Coos Bay. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in July 2008. I am also a diabetic. My family doctor's office is in Florence and he sent me to a urologist because of what I thought was a urinating problem. I made an appointment with Urologist Dr. Doug Hoff and he gave me some pills to try, which did not seem to help. He said I should have a PSA test. The April 9, 2008, test result showed that I had a PSA of 8.30. That was much too high even for a man of my age. Knowing I was having urinary problems along with an elevated PSA led Dr. Hoff to suggest a biopsy of my prostate gland. That is the only way to make a definite diagnosis of prostate cancer. The biopsy was done in July 2008 and the results showed three areas of cancer with Gleason Scores of 6, 6 and 7, only "moderately aggressive" cancer. That would give me adequate time to decide what I wanted to do, if anything other than watchful waiting. And, at my age, I probably wouldn't have to be concerned with an aggressive treatment. After getting these results and being unable to decide what to do, Dr. Hoff suggested t I see an oncologist. After visiting with the oncologist and discussing possible radiation, I was concerned with possible side effects and quality of life due to my diabetes plus the difficulty of driving daily from Coos Bay to Springfield for treatment. So, I decided I would rather wait it out and see how the future PSA tests went. Dr. Hoff scheduled them for Nov. 10, 2008; June 15, 2009; and Dec. 29, 2009. Those PSA numbers came back 8.93, 10.6 and 17.3, respectively. I decided to take another PSA test in one month instead of waiting six months; on Jan. 26, 2010, it was 14.7. I went to the Internet for information about prostate cancer and become more confused than ever. On one of my visits to my family doctor, I saw a poster on the office window about Man to Man meetings. I discussed this with my wife and daughter and decided this might be a great place to gain information. Bob Horney, the gentleman in charge of the organization, is amazing. He is really helpful as well as all the fellows at the meeting. They take the time to explain their treatments and resulting side effects and how they are coping with them. What is somewhat surprising is that they seem to be dealing with far fewer and less debilitating side effects than what the media would have us believe. I want to thank all of them for their help and support. Also at the meetings, Urologist Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff answers any and all medical questions about prostate cancer. On March 16, I had another visit with Dr. Hoff to talk about the Jan. 26 PSA of 14.7 and a March 8 PSA of 11.7. He had no explanation for the decreasing PSA. I raised the question of taking Avodart and Dr. Hoff had some concerns about that since one of my Gleason Scores was 7. He also talked about his preferred option for me, hormone treatment, and how it works. In the end, we decided to go with Avodart for now, have a follow-up PSA in three months and then go from there. We found out the devastating news that Len had prostate cancer when he received the results of his July 2008 biopsy. We just sat there and looked at each other wondering, "What now?" This may be a man's disease, but it affects the entire family and we both knew from the beginning that we would be with him every step of the way. If he needed us to help make a decision, we would be there for him, but he would make the final decision. We would stand by his decisions and give him all our love and support to help him through whatever might be ahead. After all, he is "our man" and very important in our lives! We attend the Man to Man meetings in Florence every month with him and find them to be valuable help with lots of information from everyone, wonderful support and just great people to be around. In their own quiet way, they have replaced our fear of the unknown with the confidence that comes from having a better understanding of this disease called prostate cancer. What a difference! Lorraine Lindstrom is the wife of Len Lindstrom; Lonna Coleman is the Lindstrom's daughter. |
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