Treated 2013 · Posted 2016

I visited my urologist for my annual checkup. A week later, he called to say that my PSA was in the normal range, but he was concerned because my count had gone up the last four years in a row. He felt I should have a biopsy. My biopsy came back with 1 out of 12 samples with cancer.

My wife and I were a little upset when we received this news, but thought that it was caught early so it should be able to be treated successfully. We went to talk to the urologist and he said he could do a radical prostatectomy and "I would be rid of it." However, I had already talked to two of my friends who had prostate cancer. One had undergone radiation seeds and he was having a lot of problems with side effects. The other had a robotic prostatectomy and he said he was fine, so I was leaning in that direction. That friend gave us his doctor's name. We made an appointment. After that appointment, we ran into the doctor who had done the surgery on my friend. We told him why we were there and that we were friends with his patient. We asked to talk to him about the possibility of a robotic prostatectomy for me. He told us that he had some good news and some bad news. The bad news was he no longer performs prostate surgery because he "couldn't stand the stress of getting to know these people and then seeing them with all kinds of side effects" and it "bothered him greatly." The good news? We could make an appointment with someone else and they would "take care of me." My wife and I both felt like this was God shutting the door. for radical surgery. 

At work, one of the fellow attorneys in my office told me that her husband had prostate cancer. He had ungergone proton therapy and was doing very well. At that time, she gave me a copy of Bob Marckini's book. My wife and I read the entire book on the beach during our vacation. We discussed it at length afterward. We both were agreement that this was what God wanted for me.

My wife collected shells each day we were on vacation. When we got home, she washed them and put them in a jar. The jar is clear with a rope handle. We have been studying the book of Joshua in our Bible study and it talks about how Israel made little alters along their journeys when God had moved in their midst. So now we have this jar of shells on our shelf to remind us that God met us at the beach that day and gave us guidance on which action to take. 

Thought we had decided on proton therapy, we also had concerns about insurance coverage. We praid to God about it. Long story short, our medical insurance approved proton therapy. Again, we both felt like this was another confirmation that God was with our decision.\

We are thankful every day for proton therapy.

In Christ,
Warren Kalkhof