First Post!

A photo of me on my bike back in September of 2020, a mere 3 months before getting my initial diagnosis - not a care in the world at that time!

But fast-forward to that fateful day, Friday November 20th, 2020. My wife and I were driving back home after what seemed like a pretty routine MRI exam ordered by my primary doctor, as a follow-up to an elevated PSA blood test taken a week earlier. It couldn't have been more than an hour since we left the MRI facility, when my doctor called with the horrifying news that the MRI showed something ominous going on with my prostate. Can they really process these test results that fast? He used the word ‘malignant’ which was enough of a gut-check to cause me to veer off the interstate to a rest area to speak with my doctor and process the information. It turned out that my MRI resulted in a PI RAD 5 assessment meaning that, on a scale of 1 to 5, my 5 reading indicated that "clinically significant cancer was highly likely". Worse yet, the cancer was bulging outside of the prostate gland, another poor omen. In school, I was always more of a B/B+ type of student. On this day, I'd manage to get an A+ on this exam.

My doctor told me that the next step would be a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and understand exactly what was going on. 

I ended the call, and my wife and I just looked at each other in disbelief. We had a long hug and shed some tears. What did this mean? How would we tell the kids? What treatment was available? What was the prognosis? After I got home and got my senses, it was time to consult the all knowing oracle of everything, Google. 

My new journey had begun.