I know this isn't much of a personal touch. But, I'm not one for repeating stories over and over again. So, I'm letting groups of people know all at once.

I had some tests done recently for prostate cancer. They came back positive. If you would like more detailed information, I can provide that. But, for now, I had a cat scan and a bone density scan yesterday (Friday). I'll get the results a week from Tuesday.

In the meantime, I'll be doing research on options and looking at consulting with one or more doctors.

This all started a little over 2 years ago when I had a physical. The blood work came back and the doctor found they'd run a PSA on me, even though he didn't order one. I wasn't old enough. Anyway, the PSA came back a 12. A second test came back a 10. 0 is good. 4 is we need to watch. Anything over 8... is, well... WHAT?

I had a biopsy back then and it came back negative.

I've been meaning to go back and get another PSA. I finally did that back in May/June. It was 12.4. This time I went to a different urologist who did a little more thorough job with the biopsy. That was last week.

So, right now I'm waiting for the test results to come back to see if the cancer has spread, yet.

They use a ... wait a minute... I'm going into detail here... (c:)~

They took 2 samples from 6 different regions of my prostate. They use the word sample. I would use the word harpoon. You know... kinda like Captain Ahab going after Moby Dick... no pun intended. (c:)~ All right, maybe a little.

They add the 2 numbers from each region together to get what they call the Gleason score... or ranking. 5 of the 6 regions were like 5, 6, and 7. Only 1 region came back a 0.

The range of the scale is 1 to 10. If you get something between 7 and 10 then they are concerned about the rate of growth and whether it has spread. Therefore... the two scans on Friday.

So, that's where I'm at right now. It's just easier to let a lot of people know at one time, than to repeat the story over and over and over.

Thanks.

Paul