Uh, back to a decision...
The party on Saturday was a success. We had over 60 people stop in through the course of the day. This includes my brother, sister, and father, all driving from SoCal to be here. See the insert picture...We all had a great time. The food was plentiful. The main dish was Frogmore Stew, a recipe from Alabama. I seriously believe that 'Bama will always be in my heart. When everybody had left, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. but it was worth it. The best birthday party ever.
On the medical front, I have to make a decision about my oncologist. Dr. Nick Vogelzang is an internationally recognized prostate cancer oncologist. When City of Hope doctors saw that I needed more care after surgery, they sent me to him with a top billing as a great oncologist. He has been at the Nevada Cancer Institute since I started seeing him in February of 2007. Today is his last day there. He is changing his alliances to the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada. NVCI has been a great experience for me. My Radiation Oncologist is there and Nick was there. I couldn't ask for a better team. But I have to follow Nick because we are entering the most important phase of my treatment. I want his experience on it while we make the move to enter an off time of treatment for my cancer. But this decision is crucial for me. NVCI wants to reassign my case, but that's not how I choose doctors. In all of my decisions, WHO would work on me played a major role on where I was treated. The City of Hope, for example had over 4,000 robotic radical prostatectomies between two doctors when I selected them. The most important thing to remember is how qualified is the doctor you select when choosing a treatment modality. I tell this to many I mentor in my online work with prostate cancer. It goes true for ANY cancer. So by the time I chose to have surgery, I knew who, how, when, and had complete confidence in what we were doing. And when it came to choosing a Hematologist, the same game plan went into play. Nick Vogelzang was the right guy for me. And he was convenient, too. I would have travelled to other cities if I could not get him to be my guy. But he is just 15 minutes down the street at NVCI. It does not matter where he is going, because of the nature of prostate cancer, the likelyhood that I can't be cured, and the likelyhood that I will have to deal with some sort of treatment for the rest of my life, I won't change doctors easily.
Well easily stated. Now comes a battle with my insurance carrier. If I have to move all of my records and doctor to a new facility, he has to be on my insurance as well. Hopefully that will go without a hitch. But this is always a grey area.
My friend Walter chose to restart chemotherapy this last week. I am happy about that, but I know he isn't. Still his PSA has climbed to near a hundred and he had to make a call. I support him all the way. Ruthie and I love Walt and Johnnie, that sweet lovable wife of his.
And we, too, place our trust in the Lords hands.
