Well then number came in two days ago: 0.1.
It was not the 0.0 I had hoped for, but at least it was better than the 0.2 I feared.
What is this number? It is my PSA level following the removal of my prostate one year ago this month.
At the time of the operation, my PSA level was 4.7 and my Gleason score (a grade for the severity of the cancer was a not bad 6). The doctor was confident that given my stage that he thought was at worst T2 and Gleason grade, the cancer was organ confined and the operation would be curative.
However, following the operation, the pathology report found that the stage was T3a (positive margins..cancer found on the outside of the prostate) and the Gleason grade was upgraded to a slightly worse 7 (but a 3+4 seven which is better than a 4+3 seven).
Stage T3a cancer is one of these in between stages. There is a prostate cancer forum that I sometimes participate in. There are men there much worse than myself on this forum and my heart goes out to them and their families. On the other hand, there are men who have had post surgery 0.0 for years following their operation (my father being one of them). Furthermore, from what I have read in the literature, treatment for stage T3a prostate cancer is debatable. The standard is to wait until the PSA rises till at least 0.2 until follow on treatment is recommended. However, there are some doctors who recommend more aggressive treatment of stage T3a cancer on the logic that the sooner the treatment, the more likely it is curative.
Since it seems to me that the treatment for this stage of prostate cancer is debatable, I have scheduled a second opinion meeting with a radiation oncologist this December. We shall see.
Anyway, what is the prognosis for stage T3a prostate cancer? Technically I am in remission and will be until if and when my PSA rises to 0.2 (which is the standard for biochemical recurrence in the literature I have read ). However the chance of my operation having been curative is less than had the cancer been found to be organ confined.
However, the longer that it remains under 0.2, the more likely the cancer remains confined to the prostate bed and has not metastasized (moved away). This means that I still have a decent chance of being cured through what is called salvage radiation. Should the cancer metastasize, there are still a number of treatments available, but these are not considered curative. However, they could extend my life long enough (prostate cancer is a very slowly developing disease) that I could very well end up dying of something else.
But that is all down the line anyway. I am philosophical about this; even if I am cured of prostate cancer, it only means that I die of something else a little later. Still if I had my choice of deaths, #1 would be gently in my sleep at age 95 or so. Prostate cancer would be significantly lower on my list. But the choice is not mine to make.
Anyway, no matter what happens, I still have a lot of living left in me and refuse to be obsessed with stuff that I really can't control.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Our Church Youth Band Rocks
Happiness is finding your little place in the kingdom of God and doing it.
As for me, my little place at this point in time seems to be with our church youth band.
Now why a bunch of junior and senior high school musicians would put with an old man like myself is beyond me. But they seem to, and as long as they tolerate my presence I am glad to impart what little knowledge I might have about music to them.
I guess it all started about 3 1/2 years ago when I was invited (for some reason) to a church vision meeting. We were all supposed to write down one vision you had for the church. At that time most people had expanding our facilities since we were cramped for ministry space at that time (God graciously granted us to fulfill that vision). For me, I'm not big into buildings and stuff, so I remember writing down having a youth worship band that is equal to the grown up kids worship bands in importance.
Well, as often happens in the kingdom of God, when you have a vision for something, you become a part of putting the vision into action. Two years ago last September we started it up. Now I'm a classical musician with zilcho knowledge of bands, guitars, drums and stuff. Fortunately that year we had an excellent group of musicians (mostly seniors) who were able to help me along the process.
Let's see, we had Bryce (guitar, vocals) who was a worship leader who was later joined by a second worship leader Ashley (guitar, vocals and a wonderful voice) who moved to St. Albans midyear. We had John on drums, Katie and Jackie on vocals and Matt on bass. All but Matt were seniors. That year we should have made Orlando in the fine arts festival, but for some reason the judges didn't quite agree with me (we just missed). Still whenever we do "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place" I think of that version (Ashley had such a wonderful voice for it) as the gold standard by which all other versions are measured.
Last year I really after losing all of the seniors, I really didn't think we had enough to reform the band, but God seems to have disagreed with me. Matt stepped up and became a worship leader. During the course of the year Austin and later Ian (seniors from BFA) started coming to our church and joined in. They both are wonderful musicians on drums and vocals. Matt (a junior high student) was learning drums and joined in. It was wonderful to see Austin mentor Matt during the course of the year. And lest I forget, this was the first year for Shannon a Freshman at BFA. And finally midyear Eli, a wonderful bass player and musician joined the band. Eli is also like me is a Classical Music fan; we like to talk Beethoven and Mozart. And finally Ashley a junior in Swanton who lives fairly near me joined the group as a junior.
Both years we ministered in the "adult services" every six weeks or so. Since we didn't have a keyboard player, I filled in on the piano.
This year, I am more excited than ever about our group than ever. We played in church the Sunday before Thanksgiving and they were great.
Shannon and Eli have stepped up to become sort of co worship leaders. I did not realize Shannon had such a wonderful voice until this year. Ashley is now the senior member of the group on vocals. Matt has come such a long way on drums, but now I have a problem..two drummers. Brendan has also joined the crew and we have to rotate. Meanwhile we have some new members. Hattie has joined the group on vocals, and I want to work her in on piano. Matt's sister Ashley is also doing vocals and flute, while Matt's brother Cameron will be doing sax.
The wonderful thing is that we have the nucleus in place for a wonderful group over the next few years.
I am salivating over Fine Arts Festival this year.
Mea Culpa for any member of the band that I might have inadvertently forgotten.
As for me, my little place at this point in time seems to be with our church youth band.
Now why a bunch of junior and senior high school musicians would put with an old man like myself is beyond me. But they seem to, and as long as they tolerate my presence I am glad to impart what little knowledge I might have about music to them.
I guess it all started about 3 1/2 years ago when I was invited (for some reason) to a church vision meeting. We were all supposed to write down one vision you had for the church. At that time most people had expanding our facilities since we were cramped for ministry space at that time (God graciously granted us to fulfill that vision). For me, I'm not big into buildings and stuff, so I remember writing down having a youth worship band that is equal to the grown up kids worship bands in importance.
Well, as often happens in the kingdom of God, when you have a vision for something, you become a part of putting the vision into action. Two years ago last September we started it up. Now I'm a classical musician with zilcho knowledge of bands, guitars, drums and stuff. Fortunately that year we had an excellent group of musicians (mostly seniors) who were able to help me along the process.
Let's see, we had Bryce (guitar, vocals) who was a worship leader who was later joined by a second worship leader Ashley (guitar, vocals and a wonderful voice) who moved to St. Albans midyear. We had John on drums, Katie and Jackie on vocals and Matt on bass. All but Matt were seniors. That year we should have made Orlando in the fine arts festival, but for some reason the judges didn't quite agree with me (we just missed). Still whenever we do "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place" I think of that version (Ashley had such a wonderful voice for it) as the gold standard by which all other versions are measured.
Last year I really after losing all of the seniors, I really didn't think we had enough to reform the band, but God seems to have disagreed with me. Matt stepped up and became a worship leader. During the course of the year Austin and later Ian (seniors from BFA) started coming to our church and joined in. They both are wonderful musicians on drums and vocals. Matt (a junior high student) was learning drums and joined in. It was wonderful to see Austin mentor Matt during the course of the year. And lest I forget, this was the first year for Shannon a Freshman at BFA. And finally midyear Eli, a wonderful bass player and musician joined the band. Eli is also like me is a Classical Music fan; we like to talk Beethoven and Mozart. And finally Ashley a junior in Swanton who lives fairly near me joined the group as a junior.
Both years we ministered in the "adult services" every six weeks or so. Since we didn't have a keyboard player, I filled in on the piano.
This year, I am more excited than ever about our group than ever. We played in church the Sunday before Thanksgiving and they were great.
Shannon and Eli have stepped up to become sort of co worship leaders. I did not realize Shannon had such a wonderful voice until this year. Ashley is now the senior member of the group on vocals. Matt has come such a long way on drums, but now I have a problem..two drummers. Brendan has also joined the crew and we have to rotate. Meanwhile we have some new members. Hattie has joined the group on vocals, and I want to work her in on piano. Matt's sister Ashley is also doing vocals and flute, while Matt's brother Cameron will be doing sax.
The wonderful thing is that we have the nucleus in place for a wonderful group over the next few years.
I am salivating over Fine Arts Festival this year.
Mea Culpa for any member of the band that I might have inadvertently forgotten.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
About Me
What do you do for the first post on your first blog.
After having given this some thought, I have concluded the best thing to say is welcome to my place on the web.
By way of introduction, my name is Rob Weeks. My vocation is Database Administrator for IBM (where I have worked for the last 23 years). I was born and raised in Rumford Maine (a mill town on the banks of the Androscoggin river approximately 35 miles east of the New Hampshire border) My current residence where I have lived is Sheldon Vermont (a small town roughly 10 miles south of the Quebec border and 10 miles east of Lake Champlaign). Prior to here I have lived in Fairfax, Vermont (10 years), Beacon New York (6-7 years), and Wappingers Falls New York (3-4 years) all the time having been employed by IBM. Prior to my employement at IBM I lived in Lewiston Maine where I held assorted factory jobs.
My education history is professional student. I went to Eastman School of Music in 1973 under the delusion of becoming a concert pianist. When it became apparant that was not going to work out I switched my major to music theory and graduated with a Master of Music in music theory from Indiana University in 1979 and got married. When it became apparant that I had no passion for music theory and that my prospects for employment were bleak, I went back to University of Maine and received a Bachelor degree in Music Theory.
Oh about my family..
My wife Sharon believe it or not is from Mexico. She is most definitely the most remarkable woman in the world to have put up with me for 29 years. My three children are: Matthew 24 army veteran, Stephen 21 Northeastern student, and Deborah 18, University of Vermont student. Oh and we have two dogs (who are definitely nuisances) and one cat.
But what I really would like to share in this blog are my passions. These would be (1) My Christian faith, (2) Classical Music and Amateur Piano topics (3) Passionate Boston Red Sox fan (4) Prostate Cancer surgery survivor.
One more thing. My wife is really from Mexico......Maine (across the river from Rumford). It is a little known fact that the country of Mexico was actually founded and named after explorers from Maine (as were the countries of Peru, Norway, Denmark, China, Sweden and the cities of Paris, Canton, and Lisbon to name a few..a little known fact about the contribution of Maine to this planet).
After having given this some thought, I have concluded the best thing to say is welcome to my place on the web.
By way of introduction, my name is Rob Weeks. My vocation is Database Administrator for IBM (where I have worked for the last 23 years). I was born and raised in Rumford Maine (a mill town on the banks of the Androscoggin river approximately 35 miles east of the New Hampshire border) My current residence where I have lived is Sheldon Vermont (a small town roughly 10 miles south of the Quebec border and 10 miles east of Lake Champlaign). Prior to here I have lived in Fairfax, Vermont (10 years), Beacon New York (6-7 years), and Wappingers Falls New York (3-4 years) all the time having been employed by IBM. Prior to my employement at IBM I lived in Lewiston Maine where I held assorted factory jobs.
My education history is professional student. I went to Eastman School of Music in 1973 under the delusion of becoming a concert pianist. When it became apparant that was not going to work out I switched my major to music theory and graduated with a Master of Music in music theory from Indiana University in 1979 and got married. When it became apparant that I had no passion for music theory and that my prospects for employment were bleak, I went back to University of Maine and received a Bachelor degree in Music Theory.
Oh about my family..
My wife Sharon believe it or not is from Mexico. She is most definitely the most remarkable woman in the world to have put up with me for 29 years. My three children are: Matthew 24 army veteran, Stephen 21 Northeastern student, and Deborah 18, University of Vermont student. Oh and we have two dogs (who are definitely nuisances) and one cat.
But what I really would like to share in this blog are my passions. These would be (1) My Christian faith, (2) Classical Music and Amateur Piano topics (3) Passionate Boston Red Sox fan (4) Prostate Cancer surgery survivor.
One more thing. My wife is really from Mexico......Maine (across the river from Rumford). It is a little known fact that the country of Mexico was actually founded and named after explorers from Maine (as were the countries of Peru, Norway, Denmark, China, Sweden and the cities of Paris, Canton, and Lisbon to name a few..a little known fact about the contribution of Maine to this planet).
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