Let me lead with the headline piece of information here: I have been recently diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.
It’s a Stage 3-4 depending on who is doing the grading. More in the ‘4’ camp because it spread to nearby lymph nodes (2 of them) but some would say it could be a ‘3’ because it did not spread to the bone, which was a fear the past 2+ weeks, but all my scans were clear on the bone -- and that’s a huge thing in my favor.
The good/weird thing is that I feel 100% fine and healthy. It was caught on an annual physical with a typical blood test for many annual physical things, but including a PSA check...and that PSA came back high (18) and for the past few weeks I’ve been getting MRI’d, biopsied, tested, scanned to determine IF...then WHAT...and then HOW bad...and then WHERE it has spread to...and now I’m starting the journey/treatments to fight it.
This week (Wednesday) started my initial treatment game plan -- hormone therapies for 1-3+ years and then hopefully radiation on the lymph nodes in a few months, if the hormone therapy is working.
I’m working with a local doctor but also have been accepted for care and advisement by MD Anderson, the top cancer clinic in the U.S., based out of Houston (where I have family as well).
The odds are all in my favor, but it’s gonna be quite the battle ahead because of the toll the hormones and (possible) radiation will take on the body. It could be relatively mild effects, for some...or could be very fatiguing among other ramifications. We’re about to find out. As long as the hormone therapy works, I can deal with the inconvenience of the ‘affects’...and it looks like the aftereffects are not fun but totally doable.
I covet your prayers and well-wishes during this time. There are so many people that have prayed and continued to pray for my situation, and thus several low probability things (some would call ‘miracles’ or ‘divine intervention’) have occurred just in the past two weeks that have been stunning, to say the least. Still, a long way to go in this journey so, I’d love and need the power of the volume of people praying...God has been honoring the volume of prayers ever since I got diagnosed.
Aside from that, I feel great...I’m ready to fight...the modern technological advancements in treatments are all in my favor for many good years ahead and I am so thankful for busy football season to help distract me day-to-day...and the season marches on from here, so I’m back to work like normal.
I am so thankful for the football work/season during this time...I’m so busy in-season that I hardly get time to think about my situation. However, I need to lighten my 90+ hour work week schedule for many reasons...but mainly to be sure to focus on my treatments/fight/recovery. I need to sleep as much as I need to. I need to stay active (so not sit in a chair typing for hours on end). I need to balance work and rehab/treatments as best I can. Also, there’s all the nightmarish admin things every day (it seems) that take up time each day -- like dealing with insurance and scheduling and appointments and tests and follow ups...ugh.
So, you have started to see AndrewDFS and BTC Chris starting to write up some game reports -- they are taking on the game report each week that involves the team they follow the closest/are plugged into (Andrew/ATL, Chris/MIN), and they are already offering fresh FF perspectives on those game scouting/reports. Ross Jacobs is picking up as many games as he can scout/report out on as well to help take some of the load off. They all know what they’re doing and are unbiased analysts that I have known and trust for years. We’re in good hands with their reporting.
I’m still watching/scouting all the games...I’m just not doing the full write up on every one of them...but I will add comments, like I have, to other’s reports where I see something to add.
I cannot thank them enough for assisting me through this time. I was so woozy and tired on day one of the treatments beginning that I fell far behind in my planned/normal work for the day...but I had their reports coming through to ease my mind, to know that we had the reporting to publish to the FFM universe throughout the day.
Any budding scouts/writers/experts on certain teams but are unbiased and know about the league in general and want to get a tryout on writing reports -- I am all ears. And that’s been true my whole FFM existence. We’ve launched a few careers through FFM over the years.
But note...it’s not easy being a writer, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Most people think they’d love it and then they try a report and learn that they hate the writing process, etc., and they are one and done, by their own hand. And note -- I will be all Simon Cowell to help critique new analysts and their foray into writing...so, it’s not for the faint of heart, and most people bow out after one or zero attempts...but my door is always open to help new talent...kinda like a ‘Kill Tony’ bucket pull -- take a shot at it but be ready for the feedback, and I never know who is gonna love it and shine, and who is gonna hate it and/or bomb. But the least I can do is give anyone a shot at it...especially in this time of need. We probably have some hidden gems out there waiting to be discovered.
Other than that...life goes on as normal for me, as normal as I can keep it. I will be writing about my journey from time to time, likely in RC Notes...for my own therapeutic reasons, I’ll write...but also for anyone who might face this in the future, or something similar. It’s been an eye-opening experience in a short period of time trying to get up to speed on this ‘new world’.
OK, sorry to be a bummer today but I want everyone to know...so the pray'ers can pray with me and for everyone in the FFM community to get ready to take the ride with me!
