Blood pressure

Since my weight loss, my blood pressure has fallen from an average of 122/73 in October to 114/73 now.

PSA update

My PSA remains less than 0.1, now nearly 4 years after salvage radiation.

Weight loss update

I've now lost 27 lbs. on Weight Watchers.

blood drawn

Had blood drawn this morning for my 6 month PSA. It has now been exactly 59 months since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer,  57 months since prostatectomy, and 48 months since the commencement of salvage radiation (IMRT).  So far, so good.  PSA has been less than 0.1, which is undetectable on the standard assay.  As I noted before, I'm a little concerned about my white blood cells, and will see what the radiation oncologist says about that.

I had a weigh-in at Weight Watchers today.  I lost 1.6 lbs. this week, 1.8 lbs. the week before, and 26 lbs. since I joined.  My body mass index has just fallen within the healthy range (now 24, was 28) and my appearance has changed dramatically, especially my face.  I feel much better not dragging all that fat around, my blood pressure has come down a bit, and I've lost 4 inches in my waist.  I now get questioned all the time about how I did it.  It's not hard, and I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.  I had a donut from Dunkin' Donuts this morning, for example.  Last week I had a big slice of birthday cake at a party and I have a regular pub night (beer, nachos) with some co-workers.  But I track it all as carefully as I can, and do my best to stay within the allowed number of points.

WBC

For some time now my white cells have been too low in number. My WBC is 2.8 k/mm3 (2,800 per cubic millimeter of blood) and the count should be above 4.0 k/mm3.

It was slipping way before I had radiation, but it has gotten worse since. And it's also gone back in a positive direction. In 2008 it was as low as 2.2.

My neutrophils count is also sometimes a little low, as it is now.

Scouring the web is not turning up much on this condition. It could be from radiation, I suppose, but the numbers and dates of treatment don't seem to correlate. Or there might be something wrong with my bone marrow, unrelated to prostate cancer. It's a mystery right now, because I have not seen a hematologist. My primary care doc wants to keep an eye on it right now. He says he would have referred me if I had been having trouble with infections (I haven't).

Beaumont Hospital Launches Study of Single-Dose Radiation Treatment for Prostate Cancer

A single, 15 minute treatment for prostate cancer? Sounds appealing to me, knowing what surgery and two months of IMRT was like.
Beaumont Hospital Launches Study of Single-Dose Radiation Treatment for Prostate Cancer

age distribution of prostate cancer

Here are some interesting age-related statistics about prostate cancer in the US, from the SEER database.

From 2003 to 2007:

DIAGNOSIS
The median age at diagnosis was 67.

• 0.0% were diagnosed at age 34 or younger (that doesn't mean zero in absolute numbers, just percent)
• 0.6% were diagnosed between age 35 and 44 (that was my age bracket at diagnosis)
• 8.9% were diagnosed from age 45 to 54 (still a small fraction)
• 29.9% were diagnosed from 55 to 64 (now we're talking)
• 35.3% were diagnosed between 65 and 74
• 20.7% between 75 and 84
• 4.6%  85 and older

DEATH

The median age at death was 80.

• 0.0% (again, this is percent, not saying zero men in absolute numbers) of the men who died from prostate cancer were 34 or younger.
• 0.1% of the deaths from prostate cancer occurred between 35 and 44.
• 1.4% of the deaths were between 45 and 54
• 7.5% between 55 and 64
• 19.9% between 65 and 74
• 40.3% between 75 and 84
•  30.8% were 85 and older. 

MORTALITY
24.7 out of every 100,000 male deaths per year are from prostate cancer.  This number has been in decline since the early 1990's.  This figure is dwarfed by that of cardiovascular disease.







Photo credits (used under Creative Commons license):  alper and deVos