So, if I can, let me spread a little bit of Christmas cheer. I have now completed a year on what was going to be a temporary measure before I started to take enzalutamide. Many people will know I was given a steroid called dexamethasone. This was to help me through into retirement. And yet again at today's appointment my PSA has gone down to 3.74, this is from 59 at the beginning of the year. No appointment for another three months, a minor triumph in procrastination. The battle goes on and so after five years I am still here and resisting this advanced metatastic prostate cancer. I for one will enjoy my Christmas on this basis.
That is not to say that the last few weeks have not being difficult for other health reasons. I had a nasty fall about three weeks ago which brought me bad bruising on the left side of my body. This restricted my movements, painful in the day and at night. I don't think I cracked a rib but anyway I just had pain relief which would have been the same even if I had. In the last week it has started to ease and I'm beginning to feel okay again.
I had got this improvement just in time for my colonoscopy. The preparation for this is pretty gruesome and Saturday found me spending most of the time on the loo it took me four hours to watch Strictly as I kept having to pause and dash. The procedure itself went okay and they didn't find anything untoward so for now unless biopsies show any difference I seem to have got irritable bowel syndrome as a result of the compilobacter infection I had earlier in the year but nothing more serious. This could go on for at least the next 12 months but using Imodium I can keep it reasonably in check.
My visit to my diabetes consultant, my third new person in the past year resulted in a rise in my Blood sugars necessitating a change of treatment. I have not yet reached insulin but I am now on an injectable treatment as well as other tablets. I suspect with the steroids and HT this messes with my diabetes and at some point I will be insulin bound. At least at that point I will be able to exert more control over it.
So it's been a hectic few weeks but concluding with the best news of all that the cancer for now is behaving itself. I have all the usual effects of five years of treatment, a lot of fatigue, a lot of aches and pains but much less pronounced than 12 months ago because of the positive effects of the steroid, restrictive walking which shows no sign of improvement, but hey I've had a much better 12 months than the previous 12 months and so I'm going to enjoy Christmas and hope you all do too.
Let's look forward to good 2017 and year 6 of this journey.