“Sit-Rep” .. No.40
“Glowing in the dark is a myth!”

First, let me begin by saying that, as some of you know, I recently started trying to teach myself to use some of the tools that exist in the “A.I. Universe”.

It has been fun for me, and I think the guys in my leagues are enjoying it, and it helps set our leaves apart from the other others.
At the same time, I must admit, and as I’m sure you can certainly see, that it is still a work in progress.

That’s as far as I’ll go with regard to the fact that my mini me doesn’t quite look like me. I’ll keep working to get it right.
On the other hand, I might decide to use it as motivation and get myself into some kind of physical shape again.🤔

So, enough for the apologies. Let’s get to work.

There’s a lot going on, so I’ll just jump right in.

There have been a number of VA Appointments…

Update… Lab Results are in: PSA is up ⬆️ 190… so is pain level😏 with 2 💊 daily … then we filter in Biopsy results👎🏽 which determined that the area in my ribs that was causing considerable pain is definitely cancer.

Met with Oncologist and Urologist yesterday…
Their opinion is that Radiation will slow spread and reduce pain and hopefully reduce number of 💊💊 necessary.

Had a follow-up session with Dr. Y….
He wasted no time going straight to the point…🤔
“Well Coach, what do you think? Will Giannis come to the Rockets or will he go to Golden State?”

After tossing opinions around for a while, we changed the subject.

When all was said and done, the decision was made to have another round of “Palliative Radiation”

The goal being to stop, or reduce the pain and discomfort, which in turn would reduce the number of “magic 💊💊” I was taking daily.

Radiation mapping was completed on Monday, and the sessions were set to start on Monday 09.February.

On Tuesday, as I was still in the “mental preparation stage, the phone rang and Dr. C… said that they were going to move the start to Thursday 05.February.

So, as soon as I finish and post this, I will go to bed and, in a few hours get up and head to the VA.

Once again, let me remind you that nothing I say is intended as medical advice. My goal has not changed. It’s about narrating my journey, and letting you decide for yourself whether any of it has any value for you.
As my doctors have told me, cancer is different for everyone.

The decisions you must make regarding the treatment and options available are complicated.
Educate yourself and discuss things with your doctors and your support group.

Choices, that work for me, might not be good for you and vice versa.

That brings me to one other thing that I wanna mention briefly.

A part of my education process has been looking up the terms that are written in the reports for my consultations and scans and blood test, etc.

I’m constantly playing Internet detective. Well, there’s another term for that.
It’s sometimes called “doom scrolling“.

That’s why I’ve constantly tried to tell you not to play Internet detective.
The reason is that we often look for the most negative aspects of the results that are available.

If you’re not careful, you end up selecting the most negative results and possibilities and by default associating that to your case.
So, just be careful and don’t fall into that trap.

So, let’s finish this up. My PSA has gone up from 23 to 69 to 190 over a six month. Period.
Suffice it to say that my research verified that those results are somewhat less than positive.😏

The finding that the cancer located in my ribs has been identified as coming from my prostate. It’s also something that you’d rather not find in your mailbox.

So, tomorrow we begin two weeks of radiation. There is however, an upside.
This time, the radiation will be aimed at bones. There will be no involvement of the gastrointestinal complex.

That means that I don’t have to worry about the side effects that were associated with the last round of radiation.
That means no fasting, no filling the bladder, and then emptying the bladder, no ridiculous diet, and no chicken broth for breakfast. I’ll count that as a win.😊

I’ll close by saying that as soon as this is over, I jump right into the next thing on my list.
Over the next couple days, I’ll write about the coaching venture that I started.

My team has the name “Remember When”.
The venture is all about putting together a proof of guys who are willing to allow themselves to be coached and play some old-fashioned basketball.

We’ll be heading to one of the Ultimate Hoops national tournaments. It will be played in Dallas on the 21st and 22nd of February.

I’ll tell you more about it in a post next week.
That will be “SIT-REP” .. No. 41 and, in it I’ll let you know what’s going on with the radiation.

https://ritzbball.net/sit-reps

That’s all for now… next time I’ll try and either have my mini me look more like me or make me look more like my mini me.