10 months and nothing has changed

   Ten months at zero. Yesterday I recieved a 2 month PSA result. My numbers have been undetectable since last April. 

   Common knowledge to my readers, it has been almost three years since I completed provenge therapy and 21 months since starting Zytiga. 

  I started zytiga in August of 2013. My PSA had risen to over 30 and I was just a little nervous about watching it rise. I could've waited. There was nothing to speak of on my scans that would warrant alarm but I am just not wired in ways that would allow me to watch the numbers rise and do nothing about it. 

   A month after starting Zytiga my numbers had dropped by 40%. It was a trend that would continue each and every month thereafter until my psa level was no longer measurable. My side effects were mild. I had slight nausea for the first couple of months but after that it diminished. I also had a slight increase in number and severity of hot flashes. They have not diminished but after 9 years of hormones I would not know what to do without them. My liver function appears to be normal. All of my blood tests remain dead center of tolerance. My oncology doctor expected Zytiga to last a year. It has been 21 months. Although he expects it to stop working any day, I intend to take this drug the distance. Provenge has my immune system tuned up and doing its part and I believe it is helping the Zytiga to work better.

   When I was diagnosed the only treatments available to me were first line hormone therapy and chemotherapy. I was diagnosed in an age where there have been great advances in the war on prostate cancer. Three days ago I had my blood drawn for a PSA test. I am fortunate that my results usually come back the same day as my draw. They post the results online so my post draw wait time is a matter of hours, not days. It is a good thing because after my blood draw my mind begins to play games with me. The question I always ask myself is " if my levels are up, then what comes next?". I asked this question to a group of friends and was in awe of the many drugs for PCa that are both available or in trial. Many of the trial drugs have been fast tracked. It appears I have an endless sea of option available to me if Zytiga fails.

   We live in an age of promise and hope. We live in an age that could quite possibly see the end of cancer. We also live in an age where the connection to our friends and family is on a 3 inch screen. It is a strange and amazing world in which we live. I am happy I know who is in control. Todd