A pinpoint treatment | Health Beat

Ben Weykamp and his spouse, Nancy, experienced just fulfilled with a few doctors to go over choices to deal with his recurrence of prostate most cancers.

They have been ending up for the working day when a lot more people walked in.

1 of them carried a cake for their 60th wedding anniversary.

“It was just the sweetest matter ever,” Weykamp claimed. “Here we sat through two to a few hours of annoying things and they arrive in with a cake for us. It was completely great.”

That’s just one reason Weykamp felt he was in excellent palms with the multispecialty cancer group at Corewell Health’s Lemmen-Holton Most cancers Pavilion.

“That’s the form of matter that occurred each individual time I went there,” Weykamp stated. “That’s the sort of folks we had been working with.”

Karen Moy, who gives administrative aid for the multispecialty cancer team, mentioned that when she termed Weykamp to established up his appointments that day, he talked about it was his anniversary.

So she ordered a cake and brought it to perform.

“I appreciate executing those further things for sufferers to make their check out exclusive,” Moy reported.

Point out-of-the-artwork methods

Weykamp experienced previously been on a lengthy journey with prostate cancer just before he identified himself at Lemmen-Holton Most cancers Pavilion that working day.

When medical professionals initial identified the 81-12 months-old in 2007, he opted to have his prostate eliminated with robotic surgical treatment.

Each individual yr after that, his physician would do bloodwork to examine his PSA, or prostate-particular antigen. And for 15 several years, it was zero, indicating no signals of cancer.

“That was generally the to start with detail I looked at, to see if it was zero,” Weykamp stated.

But in January 2022, it jumped to 2.1 ng/ml.

“It was not that the selection was so superior, but that it was these types of a large modify from just before,” he stated.

His most important treatment health practitioner feared that could suggest his cancer experienced returned, so he referred Weykamp to a urologist, who then sent him to the multispecialty crew.

Scans verified: the cancer had returned. And now his PSA was up to 5.1 ng/ml.

It was on May possibly 23 that Weykamp discovered himself assembly with three health professionals via the multispecialty cancer team—a surgical urologist, a radiation oncologist and a health-related oncologist.

Emerson Lim, MD, Weykamp’s health care oncologist, mentioned the staff fulfilled prior to meeting with Weykamp to go over treatment options. The team then organized back again-to-again appointments with all the medical doctors to focus on recommendations.

That process designed almost everything a tiny considerably less annoying, Weykamp said.

Their choice: androgen deprivation treatment, generally referred to as hormone remedy, and radiation.

Because Weykamp’s initial scans had demonstrated most cancers in some lymph nodes, they opted to do a more recent, point out-of-the-art scan named a prostate-precise membrane antigen PET scan. It would enable pinpoint areas for remedy.

“It does offer considerably additional sensitive and precise detection of prostate cancer,” Dr. Lim mentioned. “It is now Fda-permitted and we do have it obtainable at (Corewell Wellness).

“We thought just before placing him as a result of the study course of radiation, we need to double-examine and make absolutely sure that the cancer has not absent wherever else.”

Fortunately, it hadn’t.

“We could sense extra assured proceeding with radiation to that spot,” Dr. Lim claimed.

Keeping hectic

Initial, nevertheless, on June 1, Weykamp obtained a 6-thirty day period dose of hormone treatment, administered with a shot. Thirty days afterwards he was prepared for radiation, in the type of five higher-dose treatments, every other day for 10 times.

Immediately after procedure, he underwent an additional PSA take a look at.

And Weykamp saw what he hoped for: a zero.

That intended he could get back to the fast paced existence he appreciated, which includes fishing, golfing and performing all his very own yardwork—at 81 decades old.

“I really don’t sit even now considerably,” Weykamp claimed. “If you sit nonetheless too long, they’ll kick dirt on you.”

Weykamp worked for 40 a long time as a salesman in the printing enterprise. In retirement he enjoys his interest as an occasion, nature and wildlife photographer.

He also serves on the Grandville Parks and Recreation board.

“I consider angle has a ton to do with it,” he said. “In my brain, I believed, ‘OK. I have most cancers. But we can address it, so let’s get to it.’ It is terrifying, but with Lemmen-Holton and the program they have, the health professionals, that just set us at simplicity.”

He experienced huge guidance from his loved ones, like his spouse, Nancy, his son, John, who attended appointments with them, and his grandson, a physician from Seattle who Facetimed with them all through appointments.

Weykamp is grateful he kept up with his PSA tests.

“Every year when I experienced my actual physical, that was a thing that often came up in my brain,” Weykamp mentioned. “Should we do it? And I’m glad I did.”

Dr. Lim encourages guys to meet with their primary care medical professional or urologist to focus on if, when, and how normally they should have a PSA test.

In the meantime, Weykamp plans to continue to keep busy—and he remains grateful for the treatment he obtained, as properly as the very simple acts of kindness he knowledgeable.

“Those are points that you simply cannot teach,” he mentioned. “Those are just wonderful, superior, compassionate people today. You just cannot teach that. It’s just inside all those individuals.”