THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2017 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.
My name is Mari, the wife of Howard. Our story is pretty bad from the start. Howard started having severe back and hip pain in Feb of this year. He went to the emergency room 4 times barely able to walk. He was told he had sciatica and given pain meds each time. On April 29th he got up from the kitchen table and about fell to the floor. He was in so much pain, I made him go back to the ER. This time I was determined they were not going to send him home. We had a wonderful Dr. this time. She checked him from head to toe. Everything seemed great accept the pain in his hip and back. Howard mentioned he had been having a hard time peeing. Getting up several times in the night and sometimes standing there for two minutes before he could get relief. Big Red Flag went up and she did a prostate exam. Findings - Huge prostate and rock hard. She then ordered a CT scan and X-rays. While we were waiting for results, blood was taken and pain shot administered. Finally some relief. About an hour later she returned with a very sad look on her face. I knew then, we were in big trouble and our life was about change. She put her hands on my husband's knees. She said I am so sorry to tell you this. I just burst out into tears. Her nurse hugged me as the Dr. told us the news. She said you have several lesions all throughout your body. You also have a broken pelvis. We believe you have cancer, most likely Prostate Cancer. Howard was stunned and in shock. The only words he could say was How long do I have? Of course no one knows the answer. She recommended that he be transferred to a better hospital for further tests, and to determine what kind of cancer he has. They transported him by ambulance to the best Hospital in Orlando. Once there, things really moved fast.
It's now 7:00 am on the 20th of April. Howard is sleeping comfortably and I am exhausted. After being up all night at the ER, I'm thinking this can't be happening. It must a dream, but sadly it wasn't. They read the reports and immediately did a PSA test. We were woke up by 4 doctors. The words that came out of the urologist mouth was: Guys this is really bad. Your PSA results are in and they are very high. What is HIGH? 1100 he said. I have ordered a biopsy for tomorrow morning to verify that this is prostate cancer. He also ordered a bone scan. He confirmed what we already knew from the ER. Cancer was everywhere. Howard is handling this news pretty well. Maybe due to the drugs he's on. I on the other hand have no drugs and am falling to pieces. We slept off and on during the day. Not much happening accept blood tests and morphine injections.
May 21st. Biopsy and Bone scans are completed. Now we wait for results. Meanwhile, Howard is in good spirits and is relieved of all pain. He tells the doctors "Let's get rid of this". What do I have to do. The Dr. Smiled and said Pray. Next results are in. Bone scan shows cancer in the entire pelvic region, some spots on the liver, bladder, some nodules in the lungs, and all throughout his skeleton. The biopsy is positive for PC. His Gleason score 8. Where do we go from here? He was kept in the hospital until April 26th. We were sent home with lots of prescriptions and will be seeing our urologist at the end of this week. They suggested Radiation for pain. We know he cannot be cured. We know he is going to suffer. I can only hope and pray that they have some type of hormone therapy that will give us some time. He says he will not do Chemo. Please pray for this wonderful man. He is my world. Thank you for listening.
Howard's e-mail address is: perrymari AT yahoo.com (replace "AT" with "@")
NOTE: Howard has not updated his story for more than 15 months, so you may not receive any response from him.
