A Year of Deterioration. With Hope.
On December 14, 2021 my PSA numbers began to indicate that the Study Drug protocol I was on was entering a stage of failing effectiveness, a stage where the prostate cancer cells were beginning to figure out how to reproduce in spite of the drugs that were being used to suppress them. I had been experiencing success far greater than expected up to that point with a PSA value that alternated between "undetectable" and 0.1. According to one estimate, this drug protocol might be effective for only 8 months total, yet I was flourishing on the program going on ~3 years. To that point in December, every time my PSA would fluctuate from "undetectable" to 0.1, our anxiety about the following month's blood draw would peak, then we would experience relief as the number would again drop to "undetectable," but this time, it remained at 0.1. It was the first time the number had remained detectable for two months in a row, and was cause for us to mentally prepare fo...