Live above cancer: We continue..........

Our son Eric & Terence- salmon run 2011!

Terence is on his second 6 week round of Nilutamide which is still causing him some side effects & he's not so sure he want to continue. It causes flu like sysmptoms (fever, aches, etc)- It's been perhaps the toughest cycle thus far for him, only because he knows this is the lower dosage which is supposed to be helping with the side effects and it's not, really. He's had quite a few rough days, or weeks!

On Friday Terence takes a new PSA test (first one in 6 weeks. We stopped taking them because it's almost irrelevant now & it causes so much worry when the number rises.) The doctors' and Terence determination and decision on where to go next is a question of quality vs. quantity at this juncture.

As you may or may not know, Terence's prognoses with advanced/metastatic PCa is not curable and with conventional cancer methods. There are currently only a few FDA approved 1st and 2nd line (hormone) therapy drugs which may help to slow progression of the cancer if one responds well. Terence is on the last of the 2nd line treatment- on average, Terence's body has responded favorably to treatments for about 3-4 months. But these past 18 weeks treatments have been effective for only 3-5 weeks- before we start looking at what's next and we're not even sure if this last round is working.

Terence's next oncology appointment is September 7th- at that meeting with Dr. M we'll see how well the cancer is responding to the lowered dosage in T's body. If the cancer symptoms and side effects are at a status quo, and if Terence can continue to manage the side effects he'll probably stay on this treatment until there is a marked difference in the cancer related symptoms.

Terence and our son-in-law Mike and Hanai kids, Travis & Stacy!

Next line of treatment (next week, next month, not sure when) will be chemo- (a 6 to 9 month round I think)- or- for how ever long it works, balancing benefit with quality of life.

After that will be Zytiga-(we hope) which is a newly approved post chemo treatment, however that comes at a great expense; 5K a month (our co-pay will be about 1/2 I think). Yikes.

Anyway, that's the generic course ahead of us at the moment- things can always change~ for better, we are hoping!

Matt, T's longtime friend from WYO

So meanwhile, we're learning to be thankful for every day. Spending time with my family, friends... some people never have that opportunity. T took our eldest son Eric, fishing and I knew they were making memories that will last. Terence is trying to spend quality time with me, our sons, daughters, grandchildren and close friends while he feels strong enough to get around. It's a shame we don't think more about the time we do have every day before we are diagnosed with a life threatening illness or a catastrophe takes place in our lives.

T is avid that life is precious, and not to be wasted. "We can't take anything of worldly value with us, but we can make an eternal difference in those people around us that will go on for eternity. The list is pretty short when it comes to what truly matters in this life"~ Terence's quote.

So, we continue pastoring & ministering via "The Pipeline"-every Sunday either here in GH or in Seattle. That's been a huge blessing of fellowship and encouragement for us!

AND.... it's the great 2011 salmon run in Washington (the salmon run through here every other year)! Terence's favorite sport is fishing- so he's been out on the Puyallup river (fever-or-no) fishing, teaching and hanging out with our kids and his closest friends.

Until next month- blessings to you and your families. Terence & I pray for each one of you.

I'll be in touch regarding what's next for the T- man.