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BITS AND PIECES - 07/27/2008
(by Howard Ball - OpEd Columnist - July 30, 2008)
A cancer story with a positive outcome
I was shopping when that old urge sent me to a men's room at a mall. I noticed some black dots in the urine and wondered what it may be. At home the same day I saw the same dots and when I touched one with a cotton swab it blossomed into a drop of blood.
I knew this was not a good thing, so I called Dr. Seth Levine at Associates in Urology for an appointment. When I gave the symptoms, they made a quick appointment, and I was examined by Dr. Matthew Shahbandi, who scheduled several other tests including a biopsy. There was a possibility of prostate cancer and the biopsy would give us direction for treatment.
The biopsy revealed a dangerous form of cancer, which needed immediate treatment. I was given a hormone shot and scheduled for treatment at Collins Pavilion at Chilton Memorial Hospital, Pequannock. After filling out the usual papers, I was ushered into an X-ray lab where a gentle giant named Caesar took multiple plates of my body. I had a session with Dr. Dov Gorshein who prepared a system of treatment for what he said was a pernicious type of prostate cancer.
I had already had prayer at the First Assembly of God and my brothers and sisters of the chaplaincy were praying for me as well. I was very calm and sure that God and Dov Gorshein would heal me.
A special cast was made to hold me still during radiation treatments. I was slated for multiple morning visits to Collins where I would undergo the treatment. There was little discomfort in the regimen and I enjoyed the people at Collins. Caesar was just about to be married and we talked about that. Some of the nurses asked for prayers and I did so. I went through the treatment with a calm and assurance that I knew God and Dov would beat the cancer. There were announced side effects of the radiation, which I never experienced.
Several weeks after the end of treatment my first PSA blood test was .0. Before treatment it had been very high. This is an indication of the presence of cancer in the prostate and my test said there was none.
That was three years ago this month and I visited my friend and physician Dov Gorshein this past week. He was joyful in what he and his staff and God have done. He could find no vestige of cancer and his smile was a big as if he hit a tennis ace.
My cancer was the kind that can kill you. I got to it early and I had the help of good doctors. That is why I write this today. My mother always thought people were slated to die when they went to the hospital. That may have been true then, but hospitals today give you back your life. If you have not had a complete physical, please go to your doctor. Do not be afraid of treatment; it is for the most part painless. Do not hide symptoms from your children. They want you to be healthy.
My thanks to all the hands that held me up in my hour of need. May God bless you, as he has richly blessed me.
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