This has been an eventful four months. I was buoyed by the imaging test results in June, enjoyed an unexpected blessing from Dr. Zhi Gang Sha in July, and went on a vacation in late August. During the vacation I decided to experiment with backing off from my normal routine, to see if the need for it was the same. Being away from home meant that I was separated from several of my resources (such as strict diet and daily oxygen therapy), so travel/vacation meant some change anyway. I also took a break from the hormone therapy during this time.
What I learned, within about two weeks, is that my system is still sensitive to such a change. My urinary symptoms (high frequency and urgency, low flow) increased. In late September I had my regular blood test and the PSA had climbed to 17.5, after have been stable for the prior 6 months. I discussed this with my doctor and she was not overly alarmed, because the imaging tests were so favorable in June.
Once I was home I returned to the regular routine and the urinary symptoms started to subside. The symptoms are caused by swelling inside the prostate that restricts the tube from the bladder, so the experiment shows that inflammation is responsive pretty quickly. I have concluded that I will stay with the program as consistently as possible. This means that I will limit my travel and stay focused even when I am going through a busy time with work.
I am not less confident about the overall situation; the key is the imaging tests showing that the problem is restricted to just the one area. Originally cancer was detected in the lungs, bones and extra-glandular abdomen, a bleak situation. Now it is just in the prostate, and seemingly quite manageable.
The visit with Master Sha was wonderful. I got a call on short notice asking if I might participate in a film session in Los Angeles documenting his approach and methods. During the session I was gifted with a Tao Healing treatment and an original personal calligraphy to use in my self-care practices. It was a pleasure and privilege to be able to serve in this way, and I felt great after the treatment and all through July and August, before the vacation.
I don’t know the correlation but the graph shows a pattern about autumn. This is a curiosity to me, that something in the fall is a factor with PSA score rise. I am researching this with great curiosity.
Another point of interest, the imaging tests in June included a spinal MRI. I have had tingling and partial numbness intermittently in my legs since about 2003, subsequent to breaking my coccyx in a hard fall on ice. I had gotten used to this, and it did not seem to have any other effects beyond occasional inconvenient sensation. This MRI shows definite stenosis (narrowing the spinal canal causing pressure on the spinal nerves) at L4-L5, the segments that innervate the prostate. Perhaps the stenosis was a preceding condition for the cancer. I am studying holistic remedies for stenosis and I think I am making progress, particularly with using a back arch when I am lying down, thereby creating an extension pose without strain.