Since being diagnosed with prostate cancer last week I've been
fortunate to have the loving support of my wife, children, and extended
family, as well as of professional colleagues. After receiving the
results of my biopsy last week, I sent e-mails to my relatives and to
the entire facility where I am employed (a medium-sized healthcare
setting) describing what I knew, my mental outlook at the time, and
something of the direction that I then had in mind for treatment. I saw
no reason to keep the information private once I knew that I had
cancer. The responses were overwhelmingly positive, with relatives and
colleagues offering emotional and spiritual support, which I fully
believe will continue for as long as needed. I have a history of
clinical depression, and recently of anxiety about what lies down the
road, but I'm extremely grateful for my overall health as well as my
low PSA and Gleason numbers, and that the cancer was evidently
discovered early. And for the wisdom showed by my new urologist who
disagreed with one that I was seeing previously about the advisability
of a biopsy with a PSA of 2.7, which the second doctor explained was
high for a 47-year-old in his opinion. And I'm also grateful for the
information and advice given by members of this group, as well as
friends and strangers with whom I've spoken on the phone without which
I'd still feel like I was floundering.

I'm going for bone and CT scans this morning, and will meet with both
my "new" and "previous" urologists mentioned above the day after
tomorrow. I thank the gods, not just that my cancer was caught early,
but that I live in a time and place where medical knowledge and
technology are advanced enough to give me hope for a cure and full
recovery. I hope to be able to maintain this hopeful outlook over the
coming months, though I know I'll need the continued support of loved
ones and friends in order to do so.

I wish the same to all of you, with heartfelt thanks.

Tom