Well first of all Happy New Year. My treatment #10 was today. No problem. However as I sat in the waiting room I was saddened as I looked around at people who were sicker than me. For some reason my heart sank much further today as I reflected on how blessed I am on this New Years Eve. The sight of very weakened and emaciated patients really depressed me today. I see some of these folks each day but today there seemed to be additional cases in attendance. Cancer is one debilitating foe. I attend my treatments with a positive attitude and with a smile. I get fist bumps and high fives from the people (Radiation Techs) I have become acquitted with over the last two weeks. I have a playfulness when I visit the hospital. But the folks I viewed as I waited my turn don't have the same visible spark as I. I feel a semblance of guilt and At the same time a thankfulness. Today I can't help but acknowledge how serious things really are for me. As I view my fellow patients I am so thankful that I am a blessed man. Some were old , some were teens and some even younger. This could have been me is a thought that resonates deep inside. But at the same time I feel Gods blessing that I was vigilant and proactive and that this cancer is the most treatable and curable of all cancers.
My Doctor says that this will be a 2 year odyssey once my treatment ends to make sure I am totally cured. COH pull so punches however my cure rate is very very good.
So again the next update will be at treatment #20. Oh and the only side effect which was predicted, is a little diarrhea sorry if this is TMI....butt this is life and nothing that a little Imodium A-D won't fix!
Now here is some really sad news. Can you say death sentence in more ways than one. Bi, Gay, or straight Black men need to recognize.
HEALTH: Black Gay and Bi Men Less Likely to Get Prostate Screening December 31st, 2008
Black gay and bisexual men are less likely to get screened for prostate cancer than men of any other racial and ethnic backgrounds regardless of their sexual orientation, a new study by a researcher at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science reveals. Citing his study, which is published in the December issue of Medical Care, Medical News Today reports that Kevin C. Heslin based his examinations of prostate and colorectal testing rates on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Using telephone interviews with 19,410 men who participated in the California Health Interview Survey, he discovered that there was no overall difference in the use of the prostate-specific antigen (or PSA) test among gay, bisexual and heterosexual men. Still, he found, “the percentage of gay and bisexual Black men who received the PSA test was 12 percent to 14 percent lower than heterosexual Blacks and 15 percent to 28 percent lower than gay and bisexual Whites,” Medical News Today reports. Said Heslin: “Gay and bisexual Black men had the lowest use of the PSA test, compared with every other group of men in the study. For Blacks, being a member of both racial and sexual minority groups represents a kind of double jeopardy when it comes to getting PSA testing.” So why are the findings so significant? Heslin notes that Black men are more likely to be diagnosed late with prostate cancer and, as a result, are more likely to die from the disease than any other racial or ethnic group.
