PSA Blood Test - to test or not to test?

Dr. Neil Bell

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care says measuring prostate specific antigen, or PSA, in blood is not an effective screening tool because it often produces false-positive results.  Task force member Dr. Neil Bell (family physician and Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta)  says almost one in five men aged 55 to 69, for instance, have at least one false-positive PSA test and about 17 per cent end up with unnecessary biopsies.

Dr. S. Larry Goldenberg

Dr. S. Larry Goldenberg, who is chair of the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation, a professor of urologic sciences at the University of British Columbia, and the author of An Intelligent Patient Guide to Prostate Cancer, does not agree.

In an article, "Dropping PSA test for prostate cancer puts men’s health at risk" published in the Toronto Star today, Dr. Goldenberg is scathing of the Canadian Task Force whom he refers to as "non-experts in the field": 

Telling urologists not to use a simple blood test to screen for prostate cancer is like telling cardiologists not to use a stethoscope to check for heart defects. You don’t need to be an expert to know that neither makes sense. 

Yet that’s what the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, comprised entirely of non-experts in the field, did last week. By urging doctors (and patients) to stop using the prostate-specific antigen test, or PSA, to detect cancer in its early stages, the task force’s recommendation will put men’s health at risk.

Dr. Goldenberg goes on to point out, "When I began my practice in the early 1980s, before the PSA era, almost one in four men with prostate cancer had cancer spread to their bones by the time they were diagnosed. Today, it’s one in 25. Prostate cancer deaths have fallen by 40 per cent.

"Why the difference? Our treatments have improved, and so have our lifestyles. Doctors have new tools to manage complications like never before.

"But we also use the PSA test to find cancers at earlier stages. It’s the most powerful cancer marker in medicine."

I encourage you to read Dr. Goldenberg's full article here. He elaborates on the correct use of PSA testing, as done by urologists, pointing out: "Without early detection, even men whose cancer won’t kill them will see their quality of life deteriorate more quickly and more painfully than if they had been diagnosed sooner... The task force didn’t consider this data; they considered death, but not quality of life."

Remember, Remember the Month of Movember

If you haven't noticed yet, this is the month of Movember. Once again the gallant Mo Stashed Hairiers are covering their upper lips for the cause of raising funds for men's health, notably prostate and testicular cancer research and men's mental health. Please go on over to the Mo Stashed Hairiers blog which also has some information on prostate and testicular cancer and some common sense, health precautions that men can take.

Here is a video we made three years ago.

Getting Ready for Movember 2012

It's that time again. I'm starting to get ready for the month of Movember, 2012.



Since Movember last year my prostate cancer fortunes have changed as many of you may recall. Last year this time I had been living for five years with a small, slow growing cancer of the prostate that was being monitored every six months with a PSA test and with a needle biopsy every eighteen months. At the beginning of this year the biopsy showed that the cancer had gone up a notch in aggressiveness and had also spread somewhat within the prostate. It was time to stop watching and to take some action. After a couple of weeks of reading and consultation I decided, with my urologist, that the wisest course of action was to have a radical prostatectomy.

That was in April. The procedure was successful and there was no evidence of metastasis.  The first of the six-monthly PSA tests that I need to have for the rest of my life showed a count of 0 (zero!), meaning no trace or evidence of cancer. However, I do remain at higher risk which is why the testing needs to continue.

All the above leads me to continue having an interest in Movember and the cause of promoting men's health - physical and mental - through clinical research and public education. To help fund this worthy cause we will be running the Mo Stashed Hairiers again this year and I sincerely hope that friends, family and strangers will be generous with this great cause in spite of hard times.

You can find my Mo Space Home Page here. It has a "Donate" button. Donations by Canadians are tax deductible.

Note. For a blow by blow diary of my prostate cancer journey click on the "Prostate Cancer" label here or in the panel to the right of this blog.

The Thing is gone

This is just a quick update to let you know that the crisis is not only past, but that I am actually feeling better and more positive than I was a week ago before the crisis. Thanks to those of you who expressed your concern and support. It was and is greatly appreciated.

Post-surgery: Sobering but good news

On Thursday I had a follow-up appointment with the urologist who did
the surgery on my prostate to hear the pathologist's report. The
excellent news was that there was no evidence of cancer beyond the
prostate which had been removed; the margins and lymph nodes were all
clear. This means that I do not need any further treatment as a result
of the prostate cancer. In particular, I do not need any follow-up
radiation or chemo. I am so grateful.

The sobering news was that the nature of the cancer found in both
lobes of the prostate was of the more aggressive type that we thought,
from the biopsy, was only in one lobe, and that it had spread to the
outer "peel" of the prostate, getting ready, as it were, to leap into
metastasis. You could say that I had the surgery in the nick of time.

With 20/20 hindsight we now know that we made the right decision to
have a prostatectomy and to have it sooner rather than later. After
Ingrid and I left the doctor's rooms we went to celebrate together at a local
Indian restaurant that we love. He makes the most delicious Lamb
Korma.

Thank you to all my family and friends, and colleagues, for your
wonderful support. I have never felt alone throughout this experience.
I also have a lot of respect and appreciation for my urologist, Dr
Morrie Liquornik. I am aware of the privilege that is mine for living
in a First World country like Canada with such a good health-care
system.

The Thing is gone - Good riddance to the catheter

If you hang one little boy for stealing a sheep then other little boys will not steal sheep.

Once you have committed murder it becomes quite easy to steal or tell a lie.

(I came across both of those quotes many decades ago.  The first, I thought, was quoted by Winston Churchill in his autobiographical book, "My Early Life" and was a threat uttered to the young Churchill by one of the older boys or even a master, but I cannot find the quote in an Internet search. I cannot remember the author of the second quote and, again, I cannot find the quote on-line.)

On Thursday of this week past, The Catheter,  the "Thing" with which I had become obsessed as front and centre of my life, my constant and inseparable and insufferable companion, was removed. A snip of the scissors to deflate the balloon in my bladder, a few tugs of pain - a little pressure the doctor described it as before each tug - and it was out, gone, consigned to a bin next to the bed. Night and day; chalk and cheese; just like that - tug, tug, tug, plop. What sweet, perfect bliss to pee in my pants instead of through a tube and into a bag that I had been carrying around, day and night, 24-7, for 15 days exactly. Other than when lying flat on my back I'd had an almost constant, somewhat painful, sensation of having a full bladder that urgently needed to be emptied. Walking and standing were difficult, but sitting was the worst. I was so  convinced that the darn thing must be at least partially blocked that I persuaded the home nurse, bless her, to irrigate (read back-wash) the catheter on one of her visits - to no avail. "At least we know that is not the problem," she said, putting a positive spin on it.

My heart goes out to all those poor souls for whom this is a life sentence - people in hospices and elderly patients who have no hope that this thing will ever be removed, never ever.

So, now I pee my pants. Without the catheter experience to soften me up beforehand that might have been quite traumatic bearing in mind the carrot-stick socialising process to enforce conformity (the ostracism after peeing your pants as a child was like a public hanging) but now It's quite easy, really; as easy as lying or stealing after committing murder - the more so thanks to my Depends MEN GUARDS! I can do it and nobody knows my dirty secret as I walk down the street or stand up in church to sing the hymn.

This takes me back to my Grade 2 year in school. We called it Class 2 in Natal back then. The boys' toilets were being repaired so we all had to use the girls' toilets. One little boy asked to "be excused." He was allowed to go to the toilet. I thought it would be a good idea to see the girls toilets so I also asked if I could be excused. The teacher said, "You don't really need to go. You just want to see the girls toilets." Well, now. I was crushed and felt put down. How did she know whether I really needed to go or not? True, I did not need to go, but I could go, and I would show her that she was wrong. I peed my pants at my desk in the front row of the classroom. I still remember the warmth and the wet and the smell and the thrill and then the embarrassment when the little girl at the next desk told the teacher that I had wet my pants and it was all over the floor under my desk and was still dripping down. Well, she couldn't say anymore that I had not needed to go, could she. I still relish the look of exasperation on her face. I never really got into trouble for that. She wrote a letter informing my parents what had happened. They scolded my mildly but I think they all gave me the benefit of the doubt.

A Bad Catheter Day Gets Worse

Be warned. The catheter doesn't make for a good story even considering the nice flexible hoses that they use today compared to the bronze artifacts of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks & Romans. Through culpable carelessness I managed to make a bad day worse than it threatened to be.

It started last night, actually. I managed to aggravate something while trying to be diligent about the twice daily catheter hygiene that the nurse had given me strict and detailed instructions about. My poor thing became quite swollen. Thank the Lord for painkillers which enabled me to sleep most of the night. It wasn't as bad this morning but I still felt like I had gone *backward* a few days and was not up to walking around outside as I had done the previous day, really enjoying the glorious weather even with a catheter bag strapped to my calf.

After lunch the serviceman came from Rogers Cable to fix our Internet which has been out of action the last three days. After nearly two hours he worked out that the whole street was out and it won't be fixed until the day after tomorrow. By the time that he left I needed to do a bit of *tending* to myself which involved standing in the bath. As I stepped out of the bath with catheter bag still strapped to one leg I managed to snare the other foot in the tubing while stepping down... As my son, Stephen, pointed out when I told him, I now have a new baseline for 10 on my personal pain scale. Fortunately the worst of the pain was fleeting and the catheter is still draining the bladder with no obvious evidence of bleeding. ...and thank goodness for pain killers.

So, if you are coming up for prostate surgery, be sure to put this high on your list of no-no's to avoid at all costs.
Sent from my BlackBerry

In grateful memory of the first catheter patients

Sometime in your day after reading this blog please observe a minute's silence in grateful memory of those first patients who constituted the human trials for the first catheters. Suddenly the catheter occupies more of my attention than anything else in my day. I read that the Egyptions documented the use of catheters 3000 BC(E). I am grateful to be living in a First World country in 2012.
Sent from my BlackBerry

This, too, shall pass - encouragement from friends

This is a follow-on from my previous posts,
Goodbye Prostate. Goodbye Old Friend - Apr 7
The Picture of Health (Almost) - Apr 25



I have a few friends who have had prostate surgery of one form or another whom I emailed for a metaphorical shoulder to cry on. Here are their responses.

Firstly, from a friend who does not have prostate cancer but another prostate condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) - the chief symptom being inability to urinate.

Welcome to the club. I have been lucky as I go for a checkup once a year. I have had two TURPS, kind of reaming out the prostate like coring an apple. So far, so good.
(For TURP see Transurethral resection of the prostate.)

Then this rather sanguine response from another good friend who was, indeed, diagnosed with prostate cancer:

I'll keep you in my prayers indeed. All will go well.  There is no need to cry.  It is like losing the appendix.

Like losing the appendix? WAS I MISSING SOMETHING? Then I received this more sobering, and lengthy missive (at least by today's email standards) from another good, old friend:

Well, I suppose that's sort of good news - at least it's caught in time (mine was diagnosed just before the heart surgery, so it was first things first, but I think it was also probably a bit far down the track by then even).  Maybe you will be spared some of the stuff I have had - like the erectile function which just never came back, and the incontinence which is sort of OK but when I get tired (or have a beer or glass of wine) then it's on with the pads.


My brother in law (who is about 7 years older than I am) had a prostatectomy about a year ago and everything went fine - he had a post-op catheter for about 2 days(!) and no incontinence, etc.  I don't know how that works.


I don't know if this is a nice thing to do, but someone I know did it for me and at least I wasn't caught unawares - i.e. warn you about some of the things that go on.  I was spoiled by the heart surgery - when you have that everyone treats you like someone special (I mean the hospital staff do).  The prostate was something else - you're just a normal surgery patient.  I have to remind myself that it took a long time to recover from the heart stuff, but the post-op prostate things were definitely more uncomfortable.  The catheter for two weeks was not nice.  Make sure they really do give you a big enough bag - the hospital gave me about a 200ml bag and it was after a few hours after discharge that I realised it wasn't going to last me a night and then the friend (above) went off and got me a 2 litre bag from the pharmacy - and a metal stand thing so that it hangs at the right orientation at night and for walking around with.  Very useful.


The Kegel exercises are a must.  It's weird how this thing that you've done automatically all your life suddenly has to become a willed thing.  For me the first week or so after the catheter came out were not enjoyable.  I seemed to have absolutely no control and it felt like I was never going to come right.  But then I started counting how long it took to empty my bladder when I went to the loo - because the longer it took meant the more I was able to retain.  When I got to about 17-18 seconds regularly I knew I was on the mend.


Anyway, in the end it seems to come right, so none of the above is intended to discourage you.  Remember the wise words from some unknown wise person: "This too shall pass".

This, too, shall pass? Is he talking about the urethra or the catheter or the side effects?

Thank you, my good friends, for being there. It's nice to know I'm not the first and I'm not alone.

This, too, shall pass...

Goodbye Prostate. Goodbye Old Friend.

Many of you who have previously read my Movember blogs or my post on Global Warming and My Prostate will know that my urologist and I have been actively, vigilantly and diligently watching a tiny, slow-growing cancer in my prostate for the last 5 years, and suspecting the existence of one for 2 years before that.

The time for mere vigilance is over.

I am scheduled to have a radical prostatectomy early  next month.

In theory this should remove all the cancer but we will only know that with reasonable certainty after the urologist gets the follow up pathology report which should confirm the grade of cancerous cells in the prostate and whether any cancer has spread to the surrounding lymph nodes - very unlikely but worth checking.

I expect to be in hospital for 2 days after surgery. Initial recovery time is 4 to 6 weeks. I am not supposed to do heavy lifting or vigorous exercise for 3 months. (I believe that includes mowing the lawn and washing the dishes.) For both medical and insurance reasons I should not attempt to drive a car for a full month after surgery.

The most significant side effects for me, which are supposed to be temporary, are incontinence and erectile dysfunction. In my case I'm not going to worry too much about infertility...

I'll have a catheter for about 2 weeks. The benefit of that is that I won't have to get up at night, even if I drink a couple of beers before going to bed, as the bag takes 2 litres. After the catheter comes out I'll be peeing my pants for a few months whenever I cough, sneeze, flatulate or otherwise exert myself. I've already started my Kegel exercises to speed up recovery but I guess I'll be relying on ultimate masculine hygiene pads for men for a while.

The ED is another story. The bad news is that this takes a lot longer to restore than the pee-control. The good news is that I am eligible for nerve-sparing surgery which gives me a better chance of recovering the ability for spontaneous erections or, more likely, erections with help from little pills like Viagra. Getting up in the morning will never be the same again, I'm afraid.

Why now, so quickly?

By doing it now I can have the nerve-sparing surgery. If the cancer is allowed to spread or become more aggressive then that window of opportunity will close.

If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly. - Macbeth

How do I feel about it?

...not very thrilled, as you can imagine, and somewhat disappointed that I could not continue the active vigilance stage a while longer. As Pooh Bear said of Eeyore and his tail, I'm very fond of it and definitely attached to it. (E.E. Milne. Winnie the Pooh, Chapter 4.) I know I will miss it. But it helps to keep things in perspective and remember that this is happening not because of the surgery but because of the cancer. All these side effects, and worse, will happen to me anyway, permanently, if I leave the cancer untreated.

Many thousands of men have been through this before me. I need to be grateful: my prognosis is excellent because we have been watching it so closely all this time. To the men among you let me say that if you are over 40 and have not had a baseline PSA test yet, please ask your doctor to order this test for you. In Canada 1 in 7 men gets prostate cancer and it is the most common cause of cancer death among men in Canada. Yet it is highly treatable if caught early enough.

To the women among you: if your man is over forty and has not had his baseline PSA test, get him to read this post. This is one area where a woman is allowed to nag. It is a known fact that a large number of men finally get their prostates checked just to stop their wives and partners from nagging. It's all good!

Movember comes to an end

Movember has come to an end. I am very pleased and proud at how our team, the Mo Stashed Hairiers, came through at the end. Of course this was impossible without the support and generosity of all our sponsors. Please go on over and have a look at the moustaches, the men (Mo Bros) behind the mo's and the supporters behind the team (Look for the Sponsors On A Roll.)

Also note how other teams with past associations with us helped us raise combined donations of over $10,000. Click on the link to see how Movember closes with a BANG.

Health Update - Judith and Terry: Deo Gratias

Some of you have been asking so let me tell you all that while Judith was home for the Christmas/New Year break she had her six-monthly visit with the Oncologist following her tests and he told her to come back again in six months - so that is good news.

I went to my urologist today following my prostate biopsy a few weeks ago. The pathology report shows no change after more than 18 months, confirming my PSA results, so that is excellent news too.

We thank you all for your prayers and concern - time for a bit of thanksgiving. Actually we had Mark and Luisa for dinner this evening and they brought us a bottle of 2005 Castillo de Almansa at Luisa's parents' request. Thanks, Luis and Connie. An excellent wine for a quiet celebration.

Movember - Day 17

Bob Arpin

Smiling mo' and mo'. Keep it up, Bob - that mo is starting to take form and substance.

Jimmy "The Hulk"

Ja, well, no, fine, Jimmy - whatever it takes to convince your sponsors, but I'm not showing anything below the triceps on this blog...

Wayne "Cool Dude" Hudson

That mo really gives character to the shades - who can resist sponsoring a team with such depth of talent and personality - dare I say "star power"?

Peter 'Mo Love' Righton

Now this makes any man without a 'stache green with envy. Mo love! What can beat that?

Time to recognise the sponsors.

Just over half way through it's time to take stock and say a big thank you to all who have donated so far. Some have sponsored individuals, others the whole team, but you have all given in the spirit of Movember for the cause of prostate cancer research and so, on behalf of every man who has prostate cancer, and every man who will be diagnosed with this disease, let me say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." 

In no particular order: Walter Chan, Janet Landsberg, Mimi Vinluan, Daniela Gaul, Cathy Boyd, Angelica Lau, Tena Bennet, Stella Fayaz, Lucian Acatrinei, BE Whiteford, Jim Kleefman, Tracy Weekley, Lee Farrell, Lynn Bischoff, John Thanos, Kareen Hudson, Joanie Katz, Voula Feld, Margaret Landry, Helga Tedford, Joe Penariol, Doug Ward, Damian Barrett, Patricia Dal Ferro, Julie Knisley, Cathy Kennedy, Michael Cote, Shannon Crumb, Harry Smit, Franca & Nick Sabino, Ashlie Burns, Keith Gartley, Jody Boutin, Remi Parent, Oreste Apolito, Gwen Hearty, James Demarco, Shubh Mann, Paul Strong, John Mumford, Barbara Stroud, Julie-Anne Hearty, Ashley Carruthers, chris connolly, Shawn Glogowski, Chris McDonnell. Oops. Nearly forgot Allanagh Latimer, Edward Yoon. At the time of writing you have together sponsored the Mostashed Hairiers fund raising to the tune of $1,572.14. That is wonderful.  There is still one more thing you can do... Please tell your friends about Movember and pass on the links.

Yours faithfully

End of Movember Day 11

I'm clearly overdue for an update. Deepest apologies.  Although, in my defence, I have been keeping the official Movember blog up to date.

At the time of this blog, The Mostashed Hairiers have raised Cdn $1250.72 for prostate cancer research.  Jimmy has been a great addition to the team, raising almost $500 from among his friends.  He has reassured me that neither blackmail nor extortion are among his techniques. You can see from his innocent and sincere face that he is totally to be believed.

Wayne Hudson is ahead on style with his "Truckers' Stache", but also has a good bunch of friends who have taken him well over $100.00 in donations.

Since my last blog we have acquired some additional members to the team, and I have pictures to replace the smiley faces that I used previously.

Jimmy Demarco

Zachary King

Peter Righton

Greg Forbes

Kevin Timmins

Mike Norman

Raj Bamaniya

Wayne Hudson

Greg Landry

Bob Arpin

Taylor Landry

Mike Peyvandi

Ingrid McCann

Terry McCann

Finally, I should mention that Mark has started his own team, The Great Canadian Moosestaches, which includes brothers Sean and Stephen. We were all together with Mark and some other friends of his over the weekend watching South Africa beat Wales in rugby. Here is a photo of the four of us, from left to right, Mark, Stephen, Sean, Terry.

Movember Time Again

Next month, the month of November, will be Movember and the anniversary of the first time I shaved my beard and moustache since December 1967.  Never mind my kids, not even my wife, Ingrid, had ever seen me without a beard except in photographs. Well, all that has changed and I spent the summer clean shaven - for the most part.

Following is the text of a letter that I have sent to family and a number of friends and colleagues in the hope that some of them will join with me again this Movember to raise funds for prostate cancer research in Canada.  I have also recommended to colleagues in the U.S. and Australia to form teams there.

Last November two of my sons, some male friends and colleagues, and I - with great support from wives, daughters, girlfriends and other enthusiastic and (usually) sympathetic ladies - raised $5,865 (yes, five thousand eight hundred and sixty-five dollars Canadian) in donations for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada . We did this as a moustache-growing team called the MoCann Terriers participating in an international/global fund-raising initiative known as "Movember".

As a man living with prostate cancer (very small, very slow growing, not (yet) life-threatening, under medical supervision) I must own up to having a certain vested interest in funds going towards this cause.

This November I've decided to get hairy and again grow a moustache for Movember - a movement that is changing the face of men's health nationally and globally. With thousands of other men and women I'm committed to tackling men's health issues and being proactive in the fight against prostate cancer. However, I know that on my own I cannot be nearly as effective as doing this together with a great team such as last year's Mocann Terriers and all the supporters who rallied round.

Here is the link promoting Movember 2008.

You can also follow this link to read up about what Movember is.

I invite each one of you to join my team this year, the "Mostashed Hairiers."

What happens if you join the Mostashed Hairiers ? 

You shave clean on the evening of October 31 and take a picture to prove it. You could get supporters to sponsor you just for doing that if you already have a moustache. For the entire month of November you shave your beard, but not your moustache, taking a picture every four or five days to post on the team blog so that the world can admire/guffaw/whatever and, most importantly, your supporters will make sponsorship donations to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada. Your wife/girlfriend/partner/whoever has a very important role to play in helping find sponsors for you from among their own friends and acquaintances.

To join my team, the "Mostashed Hairiers", click [HERE] 

or paste this into your browser: 

http://ca.movember.com/register/register-team.php?join=1&action=invited&search_captain_id=1349971&search_captain_email=terrycmccann@gmail.com

Once registered you'll be sent all the information you need to get donations and get growing as part of my Movember team, the Mostashed Hairiers.

You will need these details to complete your online registration:

Captain's Registration Number: 1349971

Captain's Email Address: terrycmccann@gmail.com

I fully understand and appreciate that not everyone will feel free to join as a mo-growing Mo Bro. There are three other important ways you can help:

1. Sponsor the team, or particular team members, with a financial contribution.

2. Spread the word. Make colleagues, family members or friends aware of Movember and the Mostashed Hairiers via the web links. You don't need to ask them to donate. Hopefully they will enthuse over what they see in their browsers and be motivated to donate to this very worthy cause.

3. Most importantly, educate yourself about prostate cancer - the number one cancer threat to Canadian men. If you are over 40 you are at risk; speak to your doctor about having a baseline PSA if you have not already had one. Prostate cancer is 95% curable if detected and treated early.

Your Movember Mo Bro - Terry

Six Month Catch-up - with apologies

Hmmm. It's over 6 months since my last blog entry. How on earth do I pick up and bring you up to speed with what's been going on at Kwa-McCann?

I'll start off with some recent events, some good news and then some big, exciting news that's now so old it's no longer really news (unless you did not know. :-) Then I'll just bring you random news as it comes to me - mostly good news.

Blue Door Shelters Bed Race Fund Raiser
The agency Ingrid works for recently changed their name from "Transitional and Supportive Housing Services of York Region" (TSHYSR for "short" - really! - no bull!) to "Blue Door Shelters." Try shutting your eyes and saying all names from memory. QED. Anyway, Blue Door Shelters aka. TSHSYR put on a fund raiser bed race on Saturday June 14. For reasons too complicated to explain the "kids" and their partners were on one team, McCann Clan Inc., and I was on another comprised mainly of staff members or spouses, The Bluebeds of Happiness. (Have you neva hed of the bluebed of happiness?)
McCann Clan Inc. beat off the other four teams to win the "race" and The Bluebeds of Happiness raised the most money. Not too shabby. You can see all 150 pictures by clicking on the link to my Picasa album 2008 Blue Door Shelters Bed Race. You didn't click the link? Let me whet your appetite by warning you that my team is wearing Tinker Bell wings...

Health Issues - "Come back in six months"
Both Judith (this month) and I (last month) had the same happy instruction from our respective specialist doctors. Judith was told her CAT scan showed no indication of a return of any cancer; my doctor told me that my PSA levels were slightly raised but still way down from when I first visited him and not indicative of the prostate cancer changing type or size. Next time round I will have another biopsy - stings like the blazes for a few hours but totally worth it.

Tada! An Engagement is announced!
In February (I did tell you it was old news) Mark asked Luisa if she would like to wear an engagement ring he had bought her.

Actually, it wasn't quite like that - it was a lot more romantic with hundreds of rose petals and a flight booked to Winnipeg where Luisa's parents and 3 of 4 sisters live. They stopped at our house pretty-well on their way to the airport to tell us the good news. As it happened, this was Ingrid's and my wedding anniversary date, and they are planning to get married on August 15 next year - the same date as Luisa's parents wedding anniversary.

Three weeks ago Ingrid and I met Luisa's parents, Luis and Connie, for the first time. They stopped off in Toronto for 2 days and a night on their way from Portugal (the family are originally from Mocambique) to Winnipeg. We all spent a wonderful few hours on Mark's boat and then Mark and Luisa showed them where they plan to get married (here in Newmarket at St Elizabeth Seton) and have their reception.


Stephen graduates
On 26 May Ingrid, Stephen and I drove down to Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario for Stephen's graduation with a B.Sc(mech). It was a very happy occasion; Ingrid and I were very much the typical proud parents. Afterwards we had a celebration dinner and invited a former house mate of Stephen's to join us.

Meanwhile, Stephen's girlfriend, Heather, received the very happy news that she has been accepted to study medicine at Western University in London, Ontario. Congratulations Heather! We are extremely happy for you. I have provided my most recent pic of Heather taken at Sinterklaas last December.




The Weather.
You aren't a real Canadian if you don't talk about the weather, I have found. So I will tell you that we broke some temperature and snowfall records this last winter - a winter that seemed to drag on forever. Today is the first day of summer. Yep; in Canada summer only starts on the solstice - spring only starts on the equinox - and it really is like that. It has been relatively cold with a lot more rain than usual for the entire last three months. Yes, we did have some extremely hot days as well - into the 30s (Centigrade; high 80s F) but there seemed to be many more days with the max in the low teens.

Here are two photos taken after a record snowfall in March. One is of my neighbour giving me a hand with my driveway with his snowblower. The other is my back deck and access to the back door.



Summer Vacation
Next week Ingrid and I are off to Cape Cod for a week - making use of an exchange on our SA timeshare through RCI that we still own. I'll let you know how it goes when we get back - maybe :-)

...and a Happy New Year

It's difficult to believe that we are already at the end of the second week of January. I hope and pray for all of us that 2008 will be a good year.

Christmas Roundup.
It was a wonderful Christmas for Ingrid and me, being the first time since coming to Canada that we had the whole family together for Christmas Eve Mass, opening of the gifts, and dinner on Christmas Day. In addition we had two "significant others": Geoff and Mark Dank (the Tank). Luisa made a full (computer) screen cameo appearance from Winnipeg into our living room on Christmas Eve courtesy of Skype, Mark's laptop and our wireless router.

Our family has always opened presents on Christmas Eve. This was made possible by the fact that, while Santa Clause goes to the houses of our friends on Christmas Eve, he and Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) have an arrangement whereby Sinterklaas comes to our house on a weekend close to December 6 while on Christmas Eve Santa goes to the other houses that Sinterklaas did not visit previously. This made total sense to our kids from when they were young enough to know what was fair. The main, practical benefit is obvious - parents get to sleep in on Christmas morning. The other big spin-off for us was that Christmas has always been about the birth of the infant Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem, and not about Father Christmas. We give Christmas presents after singing carols on Christmas eve because we want to celebrate the birthday of Christ - and everybody knows you celebrate birthdays with gift giving...






Stephen, Heather, Ingrid and Judith in our lounge on the occasion of Sinterklaas.







Our Christmas crib.


Good News from Judith and Terry.
In November I went to the urologist for my 6-monthly visit to check up on the cancer in my prostate. He and I were very pleased that my PSA levels had actually dropped by 40%. I attribute this to 3 things: prayer, diet, and the cocktail of vitamins and minerals that I have been taking daily.

On January 2 Judith went to see her oncologist for her 6-monthly visit and was also given the good news to come back again in six months. We all had a bit of a reaction when the hospital phoned this last week for Judith to have a test this month. We all thought, "Oh no. What have they found?" However it proved to be that the person who booked the test had not read the order correctly and was only supposed to book the test for June.






When Judith and Ingrid came back from the oncologist they went and had their hair done!


Quick Summary of "the kids"
Mark is now back from Holland and has found a place to stay downtown Toronto within walking distance of where Miriam is staying. He continues to work at his old job in Newmarket.
Next month Sean will move out of our home to a place not far from Miriam and Mark.
Also next month, Miriam will be starting a new job having accepted a social work position at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. This month will see her finish her MA practicum at CAMH. We are all very excited for her.
Judith and Stephen are both at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Stephen is finishing his final year mechanical engineering this May. Judith will finish her first year of Phys Ed at that time.

Canadian Weather.
Canadians love to talk about the weather and this winter has provided us with lots to talk about. January is normally the "heavy" snowfall month of the winter season. This winter, we had more snow in December than in an average January. One dumping left more snow on the ground than any snowfall since a century record breaker in January of 1999 and temperatures plummeted to -22 deg C. OK, I know Mark's girlfriend, Luisa, is howling with laughter because that is "nothing" in Winnipeg but for a Seffrican Canadian in Toronto that is COLD! We had a 5 foot (150 cm) bank of snow down the side of our drive way - hand shovelled by Sean and myself.









Yours faithfully - the intrepid snow shoveller.






Snowman built in our backyard three days before Christmas - the day before this picture was taken - looking somewhat the worse for wear. Note the nose and pipe and some buttons lying on the ground. These, and the eyes, were given to Mark by his boss' family for Sinterklaas while he was still in Holland.








Snow bank piled up in front of our deck on New Year's Day.







There is a fascinating beauty about snow that collects on branches.







I really do love the "cake icing" effect.

Barely 3 weeks later, and one week after another huge dumping on New Year (see pics,) we had record highs in the teens which melted almost all the snow and brought out the skunks to sacrifice their lives as road kill as they always do in the spring.







Decomposed remains of a once proud snowman.

Clean Shaven for 1st Movember

Yes! It has happened - finally- and here is the evidence.

Let's do it! Enough talk and build up. Time for action.

Off it comes!

Great support from Mo Sista Ingrid, eh?

Those chops look really great but they will have to go...

Is Ingrid really starting to have doubts at this stage of the proceedings?

Using Skype video Judith is able to see the damage after Round 1 between me and the beard trimmer from her dorm in Kingston. She laughed uncontrollably for 2 minutes. That made me feel really good.

Round 2: The Down Shave

This isn't so bad. Shaving technology has come a long way since my last shave nearly 40 years ago.

Ingrid's reactions really made it easy for me - Yeah, right!

Round 3: The Up Shave

This is the part you really have to get smooth: The "Mo"

Ingrid couldn't resist: enough looking, let me feel! And my face wasn't even dry yet.

At some point I started to wonder why I had waited nearly forty years to do this...

Ladies and gentlemen... The "No Mo Bro"

If I play my cards right, I might just get lucky tonight :-)

Who's da man?

For the rest of Movember I will keep my beard shaven but will gro' my mo.
To sponsor my Mo please go to http://www.movember.com/ca/donate, enter my registration number which is 63730 and your credit card details. Or you can sponsor me by cheque made payable to the "Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada" clearly marking the donation as being for my Registration Number: 63730. Please mail cheques to: Movember, 145 Front Street East, Suite 306, Toronto, ON M5A 1E3 Canada. All donations over $20 are automatically issued with a tax deductible receipt. You can donate anytime between now and the end of November (Movember).

All donations are made directly to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada who will use the funds to create awareness, fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer.