My Cancer Journal, Entry 1: Prostate Test “4” – ‘High Chance’

Chicago, IL –– I know this silent invader firsthand, and through my family as well. Too many hospital visits, too many funerals. My brother’s pancreatic cancer, snuffing out his light in a matter of months. My aunt’s breast cancer which she beat with a double mastectomy. My mother’s lung cancer from a life of post-World War II smoking.

My own body has fought and won battles with this insidious shadow:

• Basal Cell Carcinoma, cut our from my face, sewn back together with 24 stitches.
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) rectal cancer, removed in three laser procedures, leaving a 2″ x 2″ bleeding wound inside my rectum that took weeks to heal, and then
• Kaposi Sarcoma, once known for killing AIDS patients in San Francisco and New York, which was brought into remission through radiation.

Battles won, but not the war.

This month another shadow darkened my MRI scan with a score of “4” on a 1-5 prostate scale from the imaging reporting and data system (PI-RADS). “5” is very likely to be cancer, while “4” is a “high chance.”

The next step is a biopsy to determine my grade or Gleason Score, based on a 1-10 scale. “6” would mean slow-growing. “9” or “10” is aggressive. Of course, my grade could be in the range of 1-5 and my cancer journal could be closed. Or somewhere between 6-10. My understanding is that there is an imprecise correlation between Gleason Scores of 6 / 7 / 8 / 9-10 with Stage 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Cancer, but I am still learning…

At 65, I am calculating what another 5 years, 10 years, 15 years would mean to my life. My dad passed at 83, his mother at 102. My sleep is now interrupted with thoughts of what has to be done to put my house in order should have a particular expiration date. Not nightmares specifically, but anxious dreams.

To be continued with the next wave of tests…

#CancerAwareness, #PancreaticCancer, #BreastCancer, #LungCancer, #BasalCellCarcinoma, #HPVCancer, #KaposiSarcoma, #ProstateCancer, #CancerSurvivor, #PI-RADS, #GleasonScore, #HealthJourney, #ChicagoIL, #PerlmutterCancerCenter, #NYULangone, #MtSinai, #CancerFighter, #BiopsyWaiting, #LivingWithCancer

@PerlmutterCancer, @NYULangone, @MountSinaiNYC, @CancerResearch, @AmericanCancerSociety, @ProstateCancerFdn, @LungCancerOrg, @BreastCancerNow, @PanCanNetwork, @HPVAwareness, @KaposiSarcomaSupport, @ChicagoHealth, @CancerSurvivorsNetwork

My Cancer Journal, Entry 1: Prostate Test “4” – ‘High Chance’ (March 6, 2025)