There are many questions and emotions that flooded my being when I first came face to face with the reality of prostate cancer in my body. I am going to walk through four of these with you. I looked at the “who” and a little bit of the “why” parts of this process in my earlier posts. Even though these two are in the classification of “the big” "W’s," the purpose of this posting will be to work on some of the more obscure ones.
The first biggie is “woe.” Now I know this may be an obscure word to some of you, but it really hits home in this instance. For you King James folks, you are probably saying “thou hast smitten the anvil squarely with that one.” “Woe” is an old English word that means “grievous distress, affliction, or trouble.” Hearing my diagnosis for the first time was one of those “woe is me” experiences. Often at the core of this reaction is the fear of the unknown or unseen. In the case of PCa it is often both. Add in the fear of dying and you can see how this can be woeful moment. Once you pick yourself up and begin the pilgrimage down the road of knowledge and understanding for this cancer, the “woe is me” begins finding solace along the way. Notice I did not say the woe part goes away. But there is comfort and hope out there from a multitude of sources. There are those who have gone on before us and have paved the way including patients and countless people in the medical community. And others will come into our lives as we navigate through this ordeal. Then along the way hopefully you will discover “wow” factor .
As you study for this course in PC 101 you become amazed at the medical progress with not only prostate cancer management, but for all cancer treatments. This is part of the “wow” factor. This disease can and has been licked many times over thanks to the advancements in modern medicine. Even though we find disagreement in the medical community regarding the best treatment for PCa, we have excellent outcomes for most of these treatment options. This is especially true with an early diagnosis. Just think, PSA testing has only been going on since the 1980’s. It was not that long ago when “PSA” stood for an airline company rather than Prostate-specific antigen. Whether it is your urologist, your oncologist, your radiation oncologist, or your naturopath, they each have confidence in their discipline’s ability to meet the challenge of curing or managing your cancer. Even though this is confusing to the patient, we can at least sit back and say “wow, isn’t modern medicine amazing in that we have these various options available to us at this time in our lives.” Just think how much more will be accomplished by the time our sons and grandsons may have to walk down this road. More than likely there will be better options for them.
There comes a time in your pretreatment journey when you will likely be overcome with the anxiety of making a decision regarding a course of action. This is the “whatever” stage. It is riddled with questions and uncertainty. This is when the treatment you were leaning towards gets knocked around and the options you thought you eliminated jump back up on the table. I think I hit this wall last week. But I also think it marks a turning point in the decision making process. It shows you are doing your homework. The “whatever” stage is a double-edged sword. On one side is the negative, colloquial, surrendering type of “whatever.” This happens when you throw up your hands in despair and say “whatever.” On the other edge you find the more positive, growing assurance type of “whatever” that comes from knowledge and understanding. This involves processing all the factors you have deemed important for your particular situation. On this side you come to grips with knowing that “whatever” you choose (if you have done your homework well) your choice will be the best decision for you. Do you wonder if there is something beyond doing your homework? I believe there is.
The final “W” word I would like to take a look at addresses this question. It is the word “wonderful.” This is definitely not a word you associate with prostate cancer… and it should not be. This cancer is a deadly, horrible disease that impacts many men, their families and their relationships. But the word wonderful does describe how we are made. The psalmist wrote in thanksgiving to his Creator “I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it well” (Psalm 139: 14). For me there has been a growing sense of wonder as I have delved into the nature and complexities of the human body and soul. Do you also see the link between knowledge and thanksgiving from the verse above? In the case of King David (the writer of the psalm) it is the knowledge of his Lord’s personal involvement with his life. This is summed up early in the psalm when it is declared: “Behold O Lord, You know it all.” This has been a comfort for me as I face PCa head on. Another gem from this passage is to listen to your soul. This presupposes there is some substance within the soul to manifest this kind of response. Do you have that sense of how wonderfully made you are? Are you aware of the hand of God in your life? There is a deeper healing beyond the prostate that is available to all mankind. I would encourage you to spend some time in this psalm as part of your journey. Hopefully you will also find knowledge and meaning for your own soul as you digest its words.
The first biggie is “woe.” Now I know this may be an obscure word to some of you, but it really hits home in this instance. For you King James folks, you are probably saying “thou hast smitten the anvil squarely with that one.” “Woe” is an old English word that means “grievous distress, affliction, or trouble.” Hearing my diagnosis for the first time was one of those “woe is me” experiences. Often at the core of this reaction is the fear of the unknown or unseen. In the case of PCa it is often both. Add in the fear of dying and you can see how this can be woeful moment. Once you pick yourself up and begin the pilgrimage down the road of knowledge and understanding for this cancer, the “woe is me” begins finding solace along the way. Notice I did not say the woe part goes away. But there is comfort and hope out there from a multitude of sources. There are those who have gone on before us and have paved the way including patients and countless people in the medical community. And others will come into our lives as we navigate through this ordeal. Then along the way hopefully you will discover “wow” factor .
As you study for this course in PC 101 you become amazed at the medical progress with not only prostate cancer management, but for all cancer treatments. This is part of the “wow” factor. This disease can and has been licked many times over thanks to the advancements in modern medicine. Even though we find disagreement in the medical community regarding the best treatment for PCa, we have excellent outcomes for most of these treatment options. This is especially true with an early diagnosis. Just think, PSA testing has only been going on since the 1980’s. It was not that long ago when “PSA” stood for an airline company rather than Prostate-specific antigen. Whether it is your urologist, your oncologist, your radiation oncologist, or your naturopath, they each have confidence in their discipline’s ability to meet the challenge of curing or managing your cancer. Even though this is confusing to the patient, we can at least sit back and say “wow, isn’t modern medicine amazing in that we have these various options available to us at this time in our lives.” Just think how much more will be accomplished by the time our sons and grandsons may have to walk down this road. More than likely there will be better options for them.
There comes a time in your pretreatment journey when you will likely be overcome with the anxiety of making a decision regarding a course of action. This is the “whatever” stage. It is riddled with questions and uncertainty. This is when the treatment you were leaning towards gets knocked around and the options you thought you eliminated jump back up on the table. I think I hit this wall last week. But I also think it marks a turning point in the decision making process. It shows you are doing your homework. The “whatever” stage is a double-edged sword. On one side is the negative, colloquial, surrendering type of “whatever.” This happens when you throw up your hands in despair and say “whatever.” On the other edge you find the more positive, growing assurance type of “whatever” that comes from knowledge and understanding. This involves processing all the factors you have deemed important for your particular situation. On this side you come to grips with knowing that “whatever” you choose (if you have done your homework well) your choice will be the best decision for you. Do you wonder if there is something beyond doing your homework? I believe there is.
The final “W” word I would like to take a look at addresses this question. It is the word “wonderful.” This is definitely not a word you associate with prostate cancer… and it should not be. This cancer is a deadly, horrible disease that impacts many men, their families and their relationships. But the word wonderful does describe how we are made. The psalmist wrote in thanksgiving to his Creator “I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it well” (Psalm 139: 14). For me there has been a growing sense of wonder as I have delved into the nature and complexities of the human body and soul. Do you also see the link between knowledge and thanksgiving from the verse above? In the case of King David (the writer of the psalm) it is the knowledge of his Lord’s personal involvement with his life. This is summed up early in the psalm when it is declared: “Behold O Lord, You know it all.” This has been a comfort for me as I face PCa head on. Another gem from this passage is to listen to your soul. This presupposes there is some substance within the soul to manifest this kind of response. Do you have that sense of how wonderfully made you are? Are you aware of the hand of God in your life? There is a deeper healing beyond the prostate that is available to all mankind. I would encourage you to spend some time in this psalm as part of your journey. Hopefully you will also find knowledge and meaning for your own soul as you digest its words.
This is great, Dad!!! Thanks for letting us come along with you in your journey. We love you, PYODM!!!
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