Update on Pastor Ron
February, 2009 Good Morning Family and Friends! How can I fully express my gratitude and joy as I write to you this morning? I love and appreciate all of you, and God has done a truly miraculous thing.
February 12th will mark the five year anniversary of my original diagnosis of prostate cancer. After two years of difficult treatments (hormone, chemo, surgery and radiation) we were looking to stay "cancer free" with two years of monthly, "undetectable" PSA readings of 0.1 and made it eighteen months. Then, it began to rise slowly. When it reached 0.3 my doctors said that I had "reoccurred," and the cancer was back. Without a prostate gland, the only thing that makes PSA go up is cancer. With consultation with Dr. K, and my doctors at U.C.S.F., we decided that when it reached 1.0 that I would go back on hormone therapy to "control" the cancer, since we were not able to cure it. They said that eventually, the cancer would become resistant to the hormone therapy and spread from the blood to my bones and/or organs. Most of you know that two months ago, we went to see Dr. K to get the hormone therapy started. He said, "We can start now if you wish, or, we can wait and use our 'big gun' when the bear begins to charge." He was referring to a radical spiking in the PSA - going up very fast. We decided to wait. And we are very thankful that we did! The next month, my PSA actually went down. Without hormone therapy, it had dropped slightly from 1.37 to 1.2 which was really good news.
Well, I got my blood checked yesterday. My PSA has gone down to 0.3!!! Can you believe it? No, this is not a typo ... it's a miracle! And, it's evidence of the hand of God in response to our prayers ... your prayers! I stood outside the hospital in a state of "holy shock." As I drove home, I was crying and just kept saying over and over, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I felt like the Samaritan leper, who out of the ten who were healed, came back to thank Jesus. When I got home, I told Cathi and held her as we both cried. I looked over her shoulder at the Scripture calendar we have over our kitchen sink and the verse was Mark 9:24 (KJV) "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." As I stood there crying and holding my wife as she prayed, I was overcome with gratitude. I'm grateful for a God who is real. I'm thankful that He allowed me the honor of bearing this cross for five years and for all the good that has come from it. I'm thankful that through the struggle, the tears, the belief and the unbelief, that God has been so faithful. I'm thankful for my amazing wife and family, and for all of you, my thousands of friends and prayer partners, most of whom I have yet to meet. Your love, prayers and support are so precious to me. How can I begin to thank you? Someday, we'll meet in heaven and laugh and dance and praise the One who's led us all the way home to Him together.
So, what now? Well, it will be interesting to hear what the doctors say. I can hardly wait for next month's blood test! Remember dear ones, God IS bigger than the numbers. Isn't it so weird that last time, 0.3 was a horrible number, signaling doom. And now, 0.3 is a wonderful number that has me dancing! Let's keep all of our numbers, from blood tests to check books, in healthy perspective. Even in scary times, we are in His hands and we can fully trust Him! Let me leave you with today's verse on my calendar. Psalm 128:5 (TLB) May the Lord continually bless you with heavens blessings as well as with human joys. Today, I'm feeling blessed with a lot of both! May you as well.
February 12th will mark the five year anniversary of my original diagnosis of prostate cancer. After two years of difficult treatments (hormone, chemo, surgery and radiation) we were looking to stay "cancer free" with two years of monthly, "undetectable" PSA readings of 0.1 and made it eighteen months. Then, it began to rise slowly. When it reached 0.3 my doctors said that I had "reoccurred," and the cancer was back. Without a prostate gland, the only thing that makes PSA go up is cancer. With consultation with Dr. K, and my doctors at U.C.S.F., we decided that when it reached 1.0 that I would go back on hormone therapy to "control" the cancer, since we were not able to cure it. They said that eventually, the cancer would become resistant to the hormone therapy and spread from the blood to my bones and/or organs. Most of you know that two months ago, we went to see Dr. K to get the hormone therapy started. He said, "We can start now if you wish, or, we can wait and use our 'big gun' when the bear begins to charge." He was referring to a radical spiking in the PSA - going up very fast. We decided to wait. And we are very thankful that we did! The next month, my PSA actually went down. Without hormone therapy, it had dropped slightly from 1.37 to 1.2 which was really good news.
Well, I got my blood checked yesterday. My PSA has gone down to 0.3!!! Can you believe it? No, this is not a typo ... it's a miracle! And, it's evidence of the hand of God in response to our prayers ... your prayers! I stood outside the hospital in a state of "holy shock." As I drove home, I was crying and just kept saying over and over, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I felt like the Samaritan leper, who out of the ten who were healed, came back to thank Jesus. When I got home, I told Cathi and held her as we both cried. I looked over her shoulder at the Scripture calendar we have over our kitchen sink and the verse was Mark 9:24 (KJV) "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." As I stood there crying and holding my wife as she prayed, I was overcome with gratitude. I'm grateful for a God who is real. I'm thankful that He allowed me the honor of bearing this cross for five years and for all the good that has come from it. I'm thankful that through the struggle, the tears, the belief and the unbelief, that God has been so faithful. I'm thankful for my amazing wife and family, and for all of you, my thousands of friends and prayer partners, most of whom I have yet to meet. Your love, prayers and support are so precious to me. How can I begin to thank you? Someday, we'll meet in heaven and laugh and dance and praise the One who's led us all the way home to Him together.
So, what now? Well, it will be interesting to hear what the doctors say. I can hardly wait for next month's blood test! Remember dear ones, God IS bigger than the numbers. Isn't it so weird that last time, 0.3 was a horrible number, signaling doom. And now, 0.3 is a wonderful number that has me dancing! Let's keep all of our numbers, from blood tests to check books, in healthy perspective. Even in scary times, we are in His hands and we can fully trust Him! Let me leave you with today's verse on my calendar. Psalm 128:5 (TLB) May the Lord continually bless you with heavens blessings as well as with human joys. Today, I'm feeling blessed with a lot of both! May you as well.
Amazingly Graced,
Pastor Ron Salsbury
