March, the month things started to take a turn for the worse. The PSA was begining to double every 6 months and the urologist had just about exhausted the options from his speciality. The urologist put Roger back on casodex (Roger was on a different anti-androgen for about a year for a break from casodex) Roger was refered to an oncologist.
Appointment was made and we met the new doc on the scene. Older gentleman, wore a bow tie. Spent more time looking at the computer and hollering (let me insert definition here: less vocal than yelling, I believe hollering in Arkansas talk can refer to a level of sound or the place you live, i.e. I live in the holler :) at the nurses to look up stuff on the computer, as well. Near the end of the visit, doc recommended/prescribed a round of ketoconzole (an anti-fungal which has a side effect of lowering testerone-the food of the prostate cancer)prescription. We walk out of the office with a prescription for 30 days. At the same time my daughter, living in Boston, MA, is having a wedding shower, and arranges for me to visit her so I can attend. Her shower is on a weekend and I fly up there for 3 days--had a lovely time, gave her two of her grandmother & great grand mothers quilts.
I return from Boston and the prescription has not arrived, some mix up with getting the prescription called in or from the prescription drug plan we have or both. (note: it is a three ring circus out there in health care land)
While the details at this time are unclear, I wasn't keeping notes daily like I am now, the ketoconzole becomes available two days before I leave for my daughter's wedding (April 22, 2011) at Loreto, Mexico, out on the sea side of the california baja. I leave on the 19th to spend 6 days out there. Roger starts the keto stuff April 17. Roger is okay when I leave.
I spend six days out in the sun, enjoy the celebratory events and watch my beautiful daughter marry an outstanding young man. It was a very relaxing time. I kept in touch with Roger through daily Skypeing.
I arrive back in Tulsa (have to travel to Tulsa, tickets out of XNA were $250 more), in the midst of Monsoon season. It had started raining when I left and was still raining when I got home. As a matter of fact, the flight arrived just before a storm was moving in and I was lucky to have arrived when I did. It rained on the way home, had to stop a couple of times because the rain was so hard. It took 5 hours to make a 2 hour trip. I had to take an alternate road to get home because of flooding in Rogers on New Hope Road (the main road to get home).
I arrive home with hamburgers and fries. Roger is on the couch, happy to see me but sick as can be.
"honey, I haven't been able to eat anything since you left, I gag on every bite"
he didn't want to tell me this while I was gone,
and he had been out in the rain trying to keep the boat dock anchored.
So the last week of April is spent with doctors. First the family doctor, where he gets antibiotics and an inhaler for the bronchitis he developed while working to keep the dock in order in the rain.
Then the oncologist to see about stopping the keto crap.
But no the oncologist doesn't want him to stop the keto *$%!, instead gives him more crap for the nausea.
and the nausea meds don't help
and finally says maybe Roger should stop taking the ketoconozole
because Roger doesn't want to stop taking the drug unless the doc okays it
and finally Roger stops taking the drug
and we go back to the urologist and tell him we don't want to go back to the strange oncologist and could he refer Roger to a different oncologist
and he does
and we go to an appointment with the new oncologist and he really is new
about 3 years out of residency new and he is kind.
and Roger is much happier and has more confidence in the new doc
and all this is good news.
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