The Story Unfolds

From: Kim Sjerven [mailto:sjerven@swbell.net]
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 12:20 PM
Subject: A "Quick" Update

All,

This will be a quick update but may be a longer email. I will structure it so that you can read as much or little as you want to address both those who want a quick update along with those who like more of the details.
Spam Prevention (Reply Required To Keep Getting These Emails)
In an effort to not spam those of you who are not interested in reading these emails, please either click the “Accept” option or reply and let me know that you want to continue receiving these emails. Otherwise, I will plan on removing your name from my distribution list. You can also use this opportunity to let me know how I can be praying for you. I should have lots of free time in July!
Pass It On
Also, feel free to pass any of these emails along to others who may be interested. I have been praying that God would use this event in my life to allow me to witness to those around me. He can use you too if you know someone who would be interested in this information. Also, feel free to have anyone contact me that may be going through some similar health issues if you think it would help talking to me.
Quick Update
Here is what I know as of Friday, May 30th. I finally got a call concerning the re-reading of my prostate biopsy (after only 3 weeks). The good news is that they agreed with my doctor’s initial rating of a Gleason score of 6. This means no 6-8 weeks of hormone therapy BEFORE my 44 proton treatments. J The lady assigned to my case (Kim) said that she hoped to find out about my urologist appointment by Monday. That is when I get my “golden” seed implanted and then my body impression cast. Then, I come back a week later to verify the cast fit and then I should be ready for the first of my 44 treatments. Last I knew, these pretreatment trips should occur in June with my first proton treatment starting in July. The treatments would be given once daily Monday through Friday for about 9 weeks.
Our company’s disability program is outsourced, so I will not know if I will be able to travel back on weekends from Bloomington until I actually apply for and get accepted for disability - so I will probably not know for a while. If all you need was a quick update, you can stop reading now (just skip to my Prayer Request section J)!

More Details
The Midwest Proton Radiological Institute is planning to open their new Jill’s House patient’s resident facility July 1st. If my first day of treatment is July 1st or later, I would probably plan to stay there. I think that would be a great ministry opportunity for me – to be housed with all these folks going through cancer treatments. If my treatments start in June, then I would try to see about staying with a church family there.
Prayer Requests
1. That God would be glorified and His purposes worked out in my life especially as He directs me through this unique experience.
2. That I would be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
3. That when prompted by the Holy Spirit, that I would be obedient – immediately and intentionally.
4. That God would bring into my life those who He wants me to interact with.
5. That my interactions with others would be filled with encouragement.
Here is a link to some Prostate Cancer information that I received in a recent email from Johns Hopkins Health Alerts. Simple Steps to Protect Yourself Against Prostate Cancer
My brother sent me the email below concerning how your attitude can make “all” the difference in how you respond to life’s little difficulties. You would think this would be obvious or second nature to Christians but often you may not see that in our lives. I guess I would modify this view a little to say, Jesus Christ is all you need. If you have Christ, then I would pray you would adopt Christ’s attitude. Also, I have added my comments in red below.

Attitude
John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'
(As Christians, do other people – especially non-Christian - want to be around us? Do we encourage others? Is our mood reflective of the love that Christ has shown to us?)
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!'
(As Christians, can we explain to those who “Don’t get it” the reason for the joy that we have in Christ?)
'You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'
He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.' Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
(We too have a choice each day. We can reflect the love of Christ in our attitude or we can reflect our own personal, self centered, sinful attitude. Unfortunately, this can be the most pronounced within the church body itself. Sometimes is it exhibited by the very church support staff in whose lives it should be the most radiant.)
'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.
'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'
(How true this is!! There was a time in my life where I had a lot of ANGER! I wondered why people often made me angry. Then, I read an anger book (along with lots of prayer) and realized, being angry was a choice that I made – not something someone else did to me.)
I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live..'
(I think most of us, like John, would choose to life. We will all die but our goal as Christians should be to help others make that choice to truly live with Christ!)
'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.
He continued, '...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'
'What did you do?' I asked.
'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''
Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude...I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything. (Christ is everything! Christ should be reflected in our daily Attitude.)
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

The Story Unfolds

Subject: RE: Bloomington Proton Therapy Insurance Feedback

All,

I just received a call from the insurance department at Bloomington. The lady said my insurance approved my treatment and my main cost would be $45 per appointment. She said I would have 44 treatments plus 6 planning sessions for a total of $2250. (I will probably have a collection basket on my desk when I get back in the office. ) I asked her if I get “Green Stamps” with that???? (This will probably not compute for those 30 or younger!!!)

So, this is great news! They are supposed to call me and let me know when they will be scheduling my first appointment. Just wanted to let you know. I will let you know when they plan on the first treatment to “microwave” my prostate.

Thanks!
Kim Sjerven
BUSINESS MANAGER
Planning, Analysis, Requirements & Testing (PART) Team
ONE AT&T CENTER
14-K-02
Phone : 314-340-0385

The Story Unfolds

Subject: Proton Therapy Consultation Update

All,

Linda and I just got back a while ago from my consultation at the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI) in Bloomington, IN where we investigated the Proton Therapy treatment option. Bloomington is about 240 miles away and has a small population of about 60,000 (which includes 35,000 college students during the school year). I found out that I am a candidate for the Proton Therapy treatment. So, on Monday, they are to file the paperwork with my insurance company to see if they will cover this treatment plan. If ok’ed by my insurance company, then I would plan on starting the 9 week (44 treatments) program. I had been told I would be able to start the treatments about 2 weeks after my initial consultation. Today, I was told it might be 6-8 weeks as they have a ton of new patients. My doctor, Song-Chu “Arthur” Ko, is going to request my biopsy slides to be reviewed by his pathologist at Indiana University. He thought it was strange that my two readings were done but not by an academic source. He just wants to verify my Gleason score before beginning treatment. If my Gleason score is high than 6, Arthur (I do not think he is a native born American J) may want me to take some hormone treatments to shrink the size of my prostate before beginning the proton treatments. Some good news I found out today was that my last PSA test score was 3.1 not 4.0 like I thought. I never had seen that report so double checked as they did not have that in the medical information they said received at MPRI. This is definitely better than 4.0 J

Once I am ready to start treatments, I need to drive back to MPRI to be fitted for a body cast. I was also told that I would need to have a “gold” seed implanted in the center of my prostate. Otherwise, they have no way of determining the exact location of my prostate for the proton treatments. They said to plan on two days for this trip. Then, I would need to come back for another trip to verify the fit of the body cast they created for me. I asked the doctor how many treatments I would need to have. He said everyone gets 44 treatments (one day shy of 9 weeks). So, that is the story as of today.

So, I just wait to hear if my insurance has ok’ed my treatment and then see when I can be scheduled for treatments (after feedback from Arthur on my Gleason score). So, other than the long drive and so housing expenses, this seems to be an excellent option. I was very impressed with my doctor who did not try to sell me on this treatment. He agreed that most approaches to prostate cancer treatment have similar survival results. The big difference (and what should be the deciding factors) are the side effects.

For continence, he said the best treatments in order were:

1. IMRT (Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy) or Proton Therapy
2. Brachytherapy (Internal Seeding)
3. Surgery

For sexual functionality, he said the best treatments in order were:

1. Brachytherapy (Internal Seeding)
2. IMRT (Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy) or Proton Therapy
3. Surgery

The most interesting thing to me was that surgery was the least effective in both of these areas.

So, that is where I am at today. Thanks for all of your prayers.

God Bless!

Kim


Proton Therapy Web Sites

http://www.mpri.org - Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute in Indiana

http://www.protons.com - Loma Linda University Medical Center

www.protonbob.com - The Brotherhood of the Balloon