With months like August, who needs enemies?

Hey Friends. Well It’s months like August that really tests a soul.

*I hope nobody takes too much of what I say here too serious. What I like best about this format is I can say what I please and nobody has to look at any of it.

And this allows me to reach many I care about, where its not practical to individually contact everyone. And everyone has their own stuff, I get that. 😕😃.

And at some point I'm apt to remain healthy for awhile with no new surprises. New doctors often light up a bit when I give them the names of my prior specialists at Dana Farber or Brigham/Woman's, trial @ Sloan Kettering in NYC. Being in the same business and all.

So August 2025 I find myself doing testing and 3 different oncologists, 3 different cancer types, to then await the results. Tried to go 3 and 0, but ill live with 2-0-1.

I am often stunned myself at the the circumstances that have allowed me to "beat the system" so far, this far. And August 2025 was one of those sit back and wait for results for 3 different cancers types.... of which each could be a life changing event.

Aside from cancer and surgeries and procedures and pain, I actually feel pretty good. Walk 5 - 8 miles a day, lift my little weights, drink my "light" beers, smoke a little medicine, etc.

People often say they wont let cancer define them. I get that, but with 6-7 specialists (am quitting a few), and various tests and scans and visits every single month, for years upon years, it’s hard to ignore the reality.

I am asked daily by many here how I am doing. And when I get positive results like last month, -3 times, all these kind people want to congratulate me as if I should celebrate. But it's not like that, it's just a little lower level of anxiety, or feeling of despair. I don't think you can ever get used to being informed you have cancer.

It's kind of absurd. After awhile. Over time. It'd be a great thing not to think about. Let me think about it. If it didn't work on your brain after awhile, it's time to have your brain checked (done).

Which brings us to August 2025.

Many of you know that was a precarious month for me in the cancer context.

1) Having had deep melanoma only to be saved by a clinical trial, and some talented and great doctors, and nurses, a suspicious growth on my left wrist gave me enough worry to contact my dermatologist, who saw me right away.

I cant say I haven't been treated well by some of the best in the world.

So they look at the area and ultimately tell me not to worry, they didn't think it looked suspicious. Exactly as I had hoped to hear of course. But I wasn't too sure, the last dermatologist who told me it was nothing ended up almost costing me my life. I mean, here I am in 2025 still whining about it.

With Melanoma beginning in 2012/2013 remaining out of sight out of mind, some familiar dark spots appeared within days on my left wrist.

My dermatologist had me come right in and they determined it was nothing to worry about. So I'll take that as a tie - 0-0-1.

You will see a story on this blog of another dermatologist telling me same, and it almost cost me my life. It went away in a couple of days and I was glad to see it go.

However, in the past few days it had returned and seemed to spread. And if not melanoma, I'm obviously going to have to go back and have it biopsied either way .

2) Then I was informed I tested positive for Colon cancer via Colon Guard.

I know of the false positives, false negatives, negative people and all those things, so I asked the gal who they had me contact immediately "does positive mean I should be relieved, or that I'm in trouble?"

She said "hold on sir".... As if that were the first time the question had been asked.

So they set me up with a colonoscopy, and a week later I get the results showing there was no Malignancy. YEY! Score appears to be 1-0-1.

3) Then it's the nasty, recurring, Prostate Cancer.

So leading up to this point The Colon Cancer scare was perhaps the least appetizing. I almost feel used to fighting the other two or something.

I remember waking up after surgery from my clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC (2013+-), and the 30ish year old guy sharing the room with me, curtains around us, had already lost his colon, but the cancer had spread rapid anyway. If this poor kid survived, his life was going to be difficult. I wont forget it.

So NO Malignancy for colon cancer was an important one to get rid of.

That left the Prostate cancer. Having had it removed full of cancer in 2010, it returned again in the abdomen area again in 2022, I guess it was. That sucked.

Pay that price, lose your prostate, only for a single cell to hide dormant for 12 years.

So did the full comprehensive blood draw provided results for a few dozen factors, but no reference to PSA. I informed the doc, who called Quest Diagnostics, and had them use the remaining blood, and do an Ultra Sensitive PSA test, which is far more accurate, but takes longer. Someone say waiting is the hardest part?

After treating this 3rd prostate cancer with radiation and hormonal chemo therapy for the year+ prior, and quit chemo as it was killing me, NO PSA means everything.

So doing an early morning walk the other day, and got the email from Quest - "you have new results to view" - THEN it's like, do I try sleep before I look, or risk feeling like death until the sun comes up. But you cant not look.

So I open the file and the PSA is "<0.02" or Less than detectable. That specific number is as low as the machines can register. But is certainly could have been higher. And THAT would be an immediate profound problem.

So the Result came back exactly as I had hoped and prayed it would, undetectable for PSA!

Problem is, it was undetectable in 2010 after the prostate was removed, came back in 2022.

We fought it and it came back elsewhere in 23/24. Got a new L hip in there somewhere..

Guess that makes the total score for the difficult month of August 2-0-1.

I probably aged a few years this past month, and I owe my nervous system big time, but considering how different August results could have been, I cant complain.

I want to thank all of you here in LV, and back home, for all the well wishes, thoughts and prayers. They mean a lot when things get tough, and I certainly appreciate each one!

Who knows, I might start hitting other subject matter along the way. Cancer is so dry.

Thanks, Bob.

bobfont3@gmail.com