Doctor
If I had it to do over, I would be much more assertive and much less trusting. I didn’t ask my surgeon how successful he had been, what his strengths were, his failures, and so forth. If I had it to do over, I would use all the strategies I know how to use when […]
Decide
Every professional I saw tried their best. My surgeon recommended a prostatectomy, my radiologist recommended radiation, my counselor didn’t recommend any specific course, but said that watchful waiting would be a possibility. In the end, with a Gleason score of 8 (high), I choose surgery. Following surgery a biopsy was done which indicated my score […]
Poison
Poison. Betrayal. Despair. When I wrote this poem, I was flailing about. It seemed so unjust that my body, and in particular, that part of my body which had, throughout my life, brought unimaginable physical and spiritual pleasure, would now possibly be the source of my death. If you find this poem and my thoughts […]
Fear
I have had what seems to me to be an odd experience with fear as I went through the stages of diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Odd in that I did not actually feel afraid. I knew that my cancer could kill me, but I didn’t go into it. Instead, I put a lot of energy […]
Ripped Out: Finding Words to Get Through Prostate Cancer
Beginning with my diagnosis 2006, I began to write everyday about what was happening to me and how I was reacting. Eventually, I transposed my daily journal writings into a book called Ripped Out: One Man’s Journey Surviving Prostate Cancer. Writing everyday saved me from despair. Pulling those writings into a book was one of […]
