Things Change

Over the past five years I have enjoyed writing my Blog and have tried to write on a regular schedule but work on current productions would often get in the way of my retelling of shows of the past.

My resent gap in writing has been caused by several health issues.

Two and a half years ago I found out that I had prostate cancer.

After talking with several doctors and a visit to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo I decided to opt for surgery.

Although I had lost fifty pounds in years the doctors wanted me to lose more weight before they would operate.

I had hit a plateau and could only lose a few more pounds.

My PSA numbers continued to raise and my regular doctor suggested that something needed to be done sooner then latter and this past summer I decided to try radiation therapy.

Not wanting to have to drive to Buffalo every day I saw a doctor at the Wilmot Cancer Center at Strong hospital on Rochester only twenty minutes away.

After new rounds of blood tests, cat scans and bone scans it was offered to me that radiation therapy plus hormone therapy would be a good option for me.

In July I received the first of six monthly shots that would help shrink back the cancer.

The drug has several side effects but not too bad on its own.

On September 8th I began my radiation therapy and finished my last treatment today as I write this post.

I wanted things to be normal and choose to keep working at the college and work on the first show of the semester.

Things went well but as time went on I started to feel the effects of the drug and radiation and it got harder to work on the production.

After struggling to get the show done I decided that I would use some of my sick days and take a leave from the college.

If it was just the radiation therapy I might not needed to take off buy I also have a very bad arthritic hip that needs to be replace.

The hormone drug plus the ongoing effects of radiation sapped my strength and made it harder to do my job.

So I plan to take three to six months off and take care of my health.

I already miss working but know that I have to get better before I can effectively get back to work.

I expect now that I will have more free time I can get back to Blog, but we will have to see.

The staff at both hospitals were both great.

What was unexpected to me was meeting some incredible brave and strong fellow patients.

I met people who were much sicker than I ever was but these people were always upbeat, full of life and fighting their cancer as hard as they could.

These people helped me never to feel sorry for myself.

I have one more hormone shot in a month and will have blood test in February to see how it has all worked out.

I will let you all know what happens.