What a glorious day for me at the Integris Cancer Center! A beautiful day. One I will never forget. The exact polar opposite of the day around two and a half years ago when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostatic bone cancer and given maybe a month to live.
It has truly been a journey. One which required God, my family, my inner circle, and my faith.
Thank every one of you who gave me love and encouragement along the way.
Today was evaluation day after eight tough months of infusion chemo, blood labs every three weeks to check on my PSA marker, a shot in the stomach every 45 days with one drug for bone rebuilding, and another shot in the stomach every 90 days with another special cancer drug related to my bone specific disease, and then of course, the actual chemo infusion every three weeks on a Tuesday starting on the first Tuesday following last Thanksgiving.
And then of course…the Pet Scans. Monday was my sixth Pet Scan to date for me since this journey began. The results of the first one made my wife and son cry. It was horrible and it corresponded with my then 1,212 PSA count. Off the charts horrible.
Dr. Showalter closed the door. My wife started crying. He gave me maybe a month. He said he wasn’t even sure we could treat this disease at this stage. But he also pointed out the cancer cells were contained within my skeleton and had not gotten into my general bloodstream.. But then he said, “There is a Hail Mary of sorts. We can try, if you want.”
I said, ” Absolutely. Let’s give it a try.”
And here I sit tonight…pretty much cancer clean. There is no such thing as total and complete remission with this bone cancer disease, but you can treat it, you can contain it, and in a sense…you can beat it and ring the Stage 4 cancer survival bell.
They actually have a place at Integris where you can do this, but I don’t think that’s for me. Nor the cancer survivor T-shirts. But I might do the Cancer Survivor Walk at the special night OU holds for the two basketball teams in February. I’ve always kind of wanted to do that. It’s an incredibly emotional experience being there with other cancer survivors and patients.
I actually sat fairly close to Toby Keith’s wife and children last February. That was a moment…for certain.
But I didn’t just beat cancer. I rediscovered the better version of myself in the process. My wife says…’I’m kinder, more patient, more supportive, more thoughtful, and more loving, and the guy she fell in love with back in 1980 or so.’
And I very much remember why I got in my truck in 1980 with two airline tickets to the Bahamas and a ring in my pocket and drove to Auburn to ask her to come back to Oklahoma.
So I would have to say in closing tonight… this was a day for the ages for Mike J.
I can never remember being this much at peace within myself and in a complete state of joy.
Life is good.
Don’t ever give up.
Love, Mike