Three Month Update

This entry qualifies as a good news bad news edition. First the good news: (1) I am totally free of the nuisance side effects reported earlier, i.e., intestinal turmoil,urgency and incomplete voiding and (2) my PSA has dropped to a remarkable 1.10. I am unsure of what I expected, but I can say with absolute certainty it never occurred to me my result would be quite this low. The staff at UFPTI advised us not be be overly concerned if we experienced an occasional spike in our PSA during the two year monitoring period. In keeping with this advice I will try my best not to become overly optimistic in view of this phenomenally low, totally unanticipated reading.

For the record the reader should know UFPTI directed the lab to run a Free PSA; my result was 12 which signifies my risk of an existing cancer is less than 25 per cent. A Free PSA will be run periodically over the next 21 months.

Now for the bad news. My potency seems to have diminished (I am guessing) in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 per cent. This erosion may be due to the aging process., If it is due to proton radiation, however, it contradicts the prognostication of Dr Gud E. Nuff. On the other hand it places me among the 35 per cent of men who report some change in their sexuality as per R. Marckini , p.67. I suspect I am much better off than would be the case had I selected a treatment modality other than proton therapy.

Stay tuned. Who knows what the next three months will bring.