A Slow Train's A-Comin'

Hello again

Hopefully, some of you are still following the blog and maybe some of you might even have thought I'd left the planet, but no, I'm still around.

At almost 70, I don't make guarantees as to the fluidity of the blog, but I do feel I need to update you on what's going on with me/us so far this year, so here we go:

Regarding the "Slow Train", I reckon by just being told I have prostate cancer, that I'm apparently not  immortal and I'll be catching that train off the planet when it arrives. Luckily, the Cancer Treatment Center Of America has a better than 80% cure rate, and the cancer has not metastasized to my bones, so that's a plus.

But I'm dealing with a "double whammy": my heart's the other one. Recently, I have had what are called syncopal episodes which have caused me to fall and lose consciousness for a couple of seconds. These happen if I get out of bed too quickly and/or even when I'm active. ECG's reveal changes in my heart which are causing this: "sinus bradycardia first-degree AV block and left axis deviation. He also has T-wave inversion laterally." (I put that phrase in quotes because it is the cardiologist's diagnosis).

So what does all that mean? First, let me explain the ECG result for those of us who might like to know: "Sinus Bradycardia" just means a heartbeat at a rate of 60 or below. My resting pulse is usually at 60, so I've never worried about it, but combined with the other stuff, it is of concern to my doctor.

 "First Degree AV Block" is a little more complicated, so let me give you the Google definition:

: "A first degree AV node block occurs when conduction through the AV node is slowed, thus delaying the time it takes for the action potential to travel from the SA node, through the AV node, and to the ventricles. A first degree AV block is indicated on the ECG by a prolonged PR interval." 

The AV node is the atrial-ventricular electrical impulse within the heart which conducts travel to the SA node. "The SA node is the heart's natural pacemaker. The SA node consists of a cluster of cells that are situated in the upper part of the wall of the right atrium (the right upper chamber of the heart). The electrical impulses are generated there." (another Google search)

To continue (sorry for the length, but if you're really interested, I need to explain this)These include right ventricular hypertrophy, reduced muscle mass of left ventricle, altered conduction pathways and change in the position of the heart in the chest.), Left axis deviation (LAD) is a condition wherein the mean electrical axis of ventricular contraction of the heart lies in a frontal plane direction between −30° and −90. Don't "WTH", Bill"? me yet, folks, instead of explaining that one, I'll just tell you what causes it: "Causes include right ventricular hypertrophy, reduced muscle mass of left ventricle, altered conduction pathways and change in the position of the heart in the chest." Got it? Good. 

Yeah. I had to look all that up, even though I used to be a respiratory therapist and dealt with the heart on a daily basis. 😼

Lastly, (Yay!) and this is the biggie: "T-Wave Inversion" (don't worry about that phrase it's just a finding on the ECG - bunch of wavy lines, right?) "Inverted T waves. Ischemia: Myocardial ischemia is a common cause of inverted T waves. ... Ischemia can be due to an acute coronary syndrome caused by rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque or due to factors increasing oxygen demand or decreasing oxygen supply such as severe anemia or sepsis."

So now you've had a little anatomy/cardiology lesson. Did you learn anything?

"Okay, Bill", I hear you saying, "so what are you going to do about it, Dude?"

Regarding the cancer, I am being treated with a) Hormone Therapy every three months. The Mayo Clinic explains what the drug Lupron does to the prostate: "Hormone therapy for prostate cancer is a treatment that stops the male hormone testosterone from being produced or reaching prostate cancer cells".

Did you catch the key phrase there? "stops the male hormone testosterone from being produced"!  I really need that one, y'all. I already have to have arthritis in it to achieve a "woodie", so now it's just a way for me to pee. 😞. I may also grow boobies, lose my hair down there and have voice changes. Other side effects include weight gain, fatigue  and......
HOT FLASHES! 😈 I haven't actually had those yet, but they may be on the way. I also don't have a strong desire to go to Victoria's Secret. Yet.  Nice, huh?

Prostate cancer just happens. I didn't do anything to cause it, or do anything to prevent it. I just have a Gleason Score (look it up😼) of 8 and 9. Those two numbers just mean that's a very high score and that my cancer is serious.

Okay now the "B" part of what we're doing to "rid me of this meddlesome" stuff: Radiation Therapy. You probably already know this, so I'll just tell you that I have to go to the hospital (about 32 miles from here) every day, Monday through Friday, to get zapped with X-Rays for 5 weeks.

I'm not glowing in the dark yet, y'all.

As regards the heart, I am scheduled for a "Stress Test" on 11.18.2019. I know you're familiar with this, so I'll keep it short: I'll get shot up with a drug (probably Persantine), get hooked up to an ECG monitor, get on a treadmill where they will run my sorry ass at different speeds and see what it does to my heart. Right now, I only take blood pressure meds, so I don't know if they will want to give me more drugs or do surgery.

As this is a blog about dementia I will tell you I feel very fortunate to still be alive and able to write, but the short-term memory crap is getting bad. I have to have help with words when I am speaking and my gaming online has slowed as well. Still, I'm almost 70 so I should expect that, right?

My demeanor may need an "attitude adjustment" though: I have a propensity for saying inappropriate things to the wrong people and/or episodes of rudeness that have not been the norm for me. In short, as Dondra says, "You're acting like a petulant child!" I don't think I have hurt anyone's feelings, but I have upset some folks with my words - especially at family gatherings. I have to be prodded to apologize.

In other news, since Jason's passing, I managed to eat enough to attain a weight of 270 pounds. After 6 months of a very strict diet of 1100 calories a day, I am now a "svelte" 210 going to 185. It's not a myth: "Comfort Food" is real, my friends, and sometimes we eat when we are really not hungry.

Dondra is doing pretty well, although the trips to CTCA are wearing on her to the point of needing to use the cane. Family members have offered to take me (since I caused that accident, I don't drive, remember?), but neither one of us like to bother them or interrupt their day. Luckily, the VA (the reason I am at CTCA) will reimburse us for travel expenses, so that's a good thing, but I try to keep my wife's activity very limited at those times, and I watch her like a hawk.

I have some GRRRREAT News to report, but I'll save that for the next blog installment coming soon to a screen near you!

I apologize for the white highlight, I have searched for ways to fix it, but the instructions are either too old, or my brain can't follow them. Sorry!



Thanks!

Bill