Answer to prayer - and keep praying for Ross

Thanks for praying for my coworker, Ross, in his battle with cancer. Yesterday he had his first appointment with the oncologist. Here's what his daughter said:

Dad is in Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer BUT it's not the death sentence it used to be. Hormone therapy has proven very effective even on the bone lesions. The short version is they expect the hormone therapy to kill about 99% of the cancer cells and that as they die the bones will repair themselves. The oncologist even said in time he should be able to travel again! We are just praising God for this time He has given us.

She went on to explain that while the doctor expects Ross to go into near remission, the few remaining resistant cancer cells will eventually multiply and require more aggressive treatment. But it seems the Lord is going to let Ross stay and minister for a while longer. Please keep praying for Ross and his family - their trials are not over yet.

Now here's the long version, again coming from Ross's daughter:

The appointment started with the oncologist sort of confirming our worst fears. He said he didn't need the biopsy to know this was metastasized prostate cancer because different cancers have different kinds of bone lesion patterns and his was clearly prostate cancer (which is good because the biopsy still hasn't come back). He showed us the scans of the lesions and as dad said, "he was lit up like a Christmas tree." He has lesions not just on his spine and skull but all over his pelvis area, on his ribs and femurs. But the Dr. was telling us all this in a very pleasant, happy tone which was very confusing. He started talking about hormone therapy killing the cancer cells, etc. I kept expecting him to then say, so that's all we can do so he's got XX amount of time, but he didn't. Gradually as he went into possible things that might be needed in addition to the hormones it began to sink it that he wasn't meaning hormone therapy because that was all he could do but because it was all they needed to do.

Immediate prognosis: Hormone therapy has an incredible success rate for prostate cancer patients even when it has metastasized. It used to be that once the cancer had spread past the prostate there were no life saving measures that could be done, it was mostly about controlling the pain. But the hormone therapy kills about 99+% of the cancer cells and the bone should begin to regrow even in the disks in his spine that are completely white with cancer lesions. The pain he is experiencing is because of the pressure that is being placed on the nerves that go through that area as the disks have gotten soft and began to put pressure on the nerves. As the bones begin to heal that should decrease and go away completely.

Treatment: He gets another hormone injection in 2 months (he'll get them every 3 months from now on). At that time they will do another full scan to see how he has responded to the initial injection. The oncologist fully expects his pain to be gone by that time. He also expects that there will be lessening of the lesions and regrowth of the bone. If the bone does not regrow as anticipated they can give him medication to help. If he does not respond as quickly to the hormone injections as they anticipate they can give him pills in between the injections to encourage the process. If a particular area of lesions does not seem to be responding they can treat that area with radiation but that is rarely necessary.

Long Term prognosis: He should go into something very similar to remission as far as physical symptoms (we don't know how long this will take to achieve until we see how he responds to the hormone therapy). It is not considered an actual remission because the hormones can not kill 100% of the cancer cells. There is always a small part of a percent of them that are resistant to the hormones. But the doctor said he should be able to take Rowan & Warren fishing this summer (Warren prayed last night that grandpa would be able to take them fishing). Right now his bones are brittle and he needs to be very careful not to break any or they will heal incorrectly. Once his bones begin to heal (hopefully by his next appointment) then he's cleared to wrestle with the boys again (another thing all 3 of them have really missed). There's no telling how long this remission phase will last. The doctor said it could be 2, 4, 6, 8 or more years, there's no way to know. Eventually the resistant cancer cells will begin to multiply and he will have cancer growing again, then it will not be treatable by hormones. He will face more traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and it will probably be aggressive. But God may come before that or mom & dad may die on the field together, their choice as to how they would like to meet their Lord.

PRAY: Dad has lost 30 lbs over the past two months. At 6'2" and 145 lbs he is pretty skeletal. The doctor says this is why he feels so weak. He has gained 3 lbs since going off the Vicodin Friday, which is a huge PRAISE. He still has a lot of weight to regain. Also he has been in bed pretty much all of the past 2 months so he has a lot of muscle strength to regain. PRAY he regains the weight and strength he lost. PRAY he does not break any bones. PRAY he gets the desire of his heart and is able to go overseas again. The only tears that were shed during the appointment were shed by my dad when the oncologist said he should be able to work and travel again - and those were tears of joy. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!