Greg D.
About Greg D.
My husband, Greg, is his own caregiver, He does an amazing job keeping a positive attitude and living life to its fullest. I am his spouse, and support him as a driver, confident, plus a cheerleader when he needs it but that’s not too often.
He has had prostate cancer since 2010, not the slow growing kind, but fast moving with a Gleason score of 8. The decision was made to get radiation treatments which he did for 12 weeks at 6:00 am every morning before work. Things were going in a positive direction for 2 years with low PSA scores but then his numbers began edging higher. He was on hormone therapy which helped for a time but his numbers kept rising and we found through testing, the cancer had spread to his bones, diagnosis, stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. His oncologist is a forward thinker and is always looking for new drugs, treatments, and immunotherapy. The doctor has been able to keep him off chemotherapy infusions until 2019 and Greg went on a 6 month regimen of chemo and another drug as an experiment. Unfortunately, all of this wasn’t effective and Greg was experiencing higher PSAs and then headaches. He immediately notified his doctor, and right away with no time wasted, was scheduled for MRI which showed 3 brain tumors, not typical for prostate cancer spread. He went back on radiation aimed at his head and fortunately they have shrunk. He is back on chemotherapy and will be for the foreseeable future, until a new treatment comes down the pike.
Through all of this, Greg had been faithful with his doctor appointments, treatments and has such a positive attitude. He continues to live his life. We have traveled the world with positive affirmation from his doctor. He’s been there for our neighbors, cutting down trees for them, driving them to the airport, washing pots and pans at the church fish fry, helping our children finish their basements, plus other construction projects, painting men’s shelters, taking care of a summer property, and babysitting our grandsons. We decided after 29 years in the same home to downsize which involved, installing a wood floor himself in the new place, painting our house for sale, decluttering, moving boxes, and planning to go to our son’s wedding in the Philippines all right when he was beginning his first round of chemotherapy. This is the only time he said he was stressed. The man never stops being the “energizer bunny” and hasn’t let cancer get in the way of enjoying his family, grandsons, and friends. He is an amazing caregiver for himself and the rest of us, his doctor, nurses, and family are just a part of his team.