Radiation and the Art of Living

April 10, 2024

Last year I thought I had dodged a bullet. Post-cancer surgery lab tests in June 2023 revealed that a cancer remnant remained even though the pathology was clean. Lab tests and scans could not pinpoint whether it was localized in my surgery area or already spread. After 6 months of watching the tests stayed the same, not growing, but not going away either. Consulting multiple oncologists, all agreed it would eventually grow bigger if nothing was done, but when and how much no one could say...But if it spread outside the pelvic region of the surgery it was incurable. The most prominent oncologist advised to hit it with everything, i.e., castrate (aka hormone therapy) and radiate to have the best chance of it not returning. The adverse side of this would be to lose muscle, energy, and essentially manhood with a small chance of very adverse permanent side effects. Others suggested a more nuanced approach of just radiation to start. Looking at all the options I consulted the naturopaths and Mexican alternative cancer clinics. But even they suggested I should stick with the traditional treatments, rather than their promises of a miracle cure. So it was clear I needed to proceed with at least radiation treatment or hormone therapy, or both. The hardest part was I had always felt fine and was in excellent shape. If I went full in and did the hormone treatment, I would certainly lose some months of feeling great and possibly never get back to the level I was at until death I do part. Or I could just wait until it started to grow.... In the end, it was the latest tech (Foundation) using cancer biomarkers characterizing the cells of my cancer (from my pathology) as having a very low probability (<10%) of metastasizing and the 2nd radiologist telling me, "If you were my father, I'd just try radiation" that convinced me to not go all out and just try the 3 months of radiation.

And as it turned out radiation treatment over the winter months put me in great shape. Each day I rode the 15-mile round trip from my abode to the hospital district where the radiation was administered, even when the weather was below freezing. Would also workout at the gym with aerobics, yoga and weight lifting.

Biking to radiation in the cold

Walking into the radiation clinic with my bike helmet I would be surrounded by patients all looking really sick and frail (some even died there). I felt the odd man out but in a good way. The treatment itself was simply lying still for 15 minutes, feeling nothing as a big device circled around me making a buzzing sound. Every 2 weeks I would be asked by the radiologist if I felt tired and every week I would be able to say my time to ride to the clinic was decreasing. Was it my mindset or just the nature of my disease? Was anything really happening? In any case in early February after completing radiation the lab tests showed that the radiation had eradicated all but a very microscopic level! While not zero didn't warrant any more treatment at this time, just surveillance for the next 5 to 10 years or until it grows bigger.

How did that make me feel? I was prepared for the worst so this was fantastic! I was so glad to have chosen not to undergo the hormone therapy. In my mind, every day I feel good without any physical disability is an even sweeter gift and to live every day fully. So now, biking, dancing, tennis, weight lifting, clubbing, singing, playing guitar in my band, cooking, gardening, traveling, helping others, and tennis are all part of an everyday healthy lifestyle with a full-court press of engaging friends and family to live fully with me.

No longer constrained by daily radiation treatments, I restarted traveling. First a baby shower for another one of the 3 grandkids in the hopper. Then in March I took my youngest son and his two teenage kids to Cozumel, Mexico to get them scuba-certified. What a blast!