Vickie wrote both a very moving and very important email to the “circle” mailing list. After reading this post I contacted her to asked permission to repost it on this blog. I am very thankful to her for giving me permission to re-publish it and I am hopeful that she will continue to share her wisdom as she and her husband continue with their battle with advanced prostate cancer and life in general.
Joel T Nowak MA, MSW
My husband has battled prostate cancer for 5 years. We started at stage 3 and a psa of 5.7, gleason 9 (5+4) at biopsy and 8 (5+3). He is now 57 and at stage 4 also. I am also going through perimenopause. Hot flashes together is lots of fun.
Don’t give up on other treatments. Gaery has done Zoladex, lupron, chemo (taxotare), Avadart and is currently doing lupron, zometa and a clinical trial of Abiraterone Acetate & Prednisone. There are many options. It is probably not the shot that is the problem but a PSA report that has always been our point of anxiety. The last we knew Gaery’s was at 48 and rising rapidly. They haven’t done any testing since he has started this trial so we are a little nervous about the next one. There have been so many times I have wondered if the treatments were going to kill him before the cancer had a chance.
At one point during this whole mess Gaery asked me if I was disappointed because he hadn’t died. I was shocked. I had been hiding my emotions and crying in the shower, etc to save his feelings and not upset him. Not until I shared those feelings and opened up to him did he really know I cared. Now we spend time talking about the future and the what ifs. We cry together and support each other when one of us is scared or upset. It is really important. With the Lupron a man has no hormones. He lacks some of the emotions and feelings. It leaves alot of anger. You have to help him by being open with him.
No one can tell what is at the end of the tunnel and the roller coaster will speed up and slow down at random. This is a horrible disease that eats away at the body and it changes and mutates at will we have no control over it. I find that praying gets us through most days.
God bless you and keep you strong through this battle.
Vickie
Vickie,
Thanks for sharing your experience and situation with such honesty. Since you mentioned prayer, I want to suggest to you and other readers a couple of healing-prayer possibilities. (These are bona-fide ministries with real results, not crazies or people after your money.)
First is Bethel Church in Redding, CA (www.ibethel.org – don’t let the snazzy website put you off). They are on the “leading edge” of aggressive training and practice healing prayer to demonstrate God’s love through Jesus Christ. Their staff and congregation have many testimonials of healing through prayer, and especially of cancer healed. People are coming from around the world to this church, to receive prayer for healing and blessing.
A second ministry, in Jacksonville, Florida, is Christian Healing Ministries (www.ChristianHealingMin.org). Run by Francis and Judith MacNutt, this ministry offers regular prayer sessions with well-trained counselors for anyone who comes. This ministry has an solid history, and the MacNutts have professional credentials (he’s a Harvard PhD, she was a practicing psychologist).
Finally, there is a ministry called The Healing Rooms (www.HealingRooms.com) of Spokane, Washington, which also has associated Healing Rooms ministries around the nation to which you can go for prayer. At the website you can search for your city and state. Go to this page: http://kl.am/25c for their prostate-cancer healing testimonials.
In listing these, I’m not putting down any other ministries, churches, etc. I’ve studied healing prayer for over 10 years, however, and know that people who are serious/desperate to be healed should consider making a trip to one of these ministries.
Right now I’m recovering from robotic prostatectomy and have learned there’s some residual cancer (I had “positive margins”). I’m praying myself for total healing, am receiving regular prayer at my own church, and am considering a trip to Bethel Church in the coming months.
Following this comment, I have posted a comment from Don. Don writes about the power of prayer and offers referrals that he believes might be helpful for those looking for that type of support. I personally have no knowledge of any of his suggested referrals.