Our Celebration "Throw Down" Party. Click on it only if you are ready to throw down, have a great time and kick some cancer butt with me. You all are invited. This is Bernie Mack style

​

Hello,
For many of you, you may have come into the middle of my cancer journey, thus I wanted to share the journey from the beginning with you.
************************************************************************************************
I'm really not use to doing stuff like this, however, my beautiful wife (Elisa) thought it would be a good idea to share our victory and journey over this stuff called cancer, thus here I am!  Now, before we get in to the meat of this stuff, please understand that there are many other people in our world that are dealing with much worse diseases, illnesses and family trauma then what I'm going through right now.   This disease is just a small bump in the road for me and my family.  We have decided to go with the Brachytherapy which involves daily radiation, SEEDS (radio active seeds are temporary implanted into the prostate, crush the cancer cells, then are removed - all before I wake up...thank GOD)!  These treatments along with Hormone shots (which make any cancer cells outside of the prostate fall into a dormant stage) will help defeat this disease.  "They" say side effects are: Extreme fatigue, muscle loss, sleepiness, constant pain and blah blah blah.  Side affects for the Hormone shots are hot flashes, moodiness, sensitivity, urinating while sitting down, watching more programs on Bravo, Lifetime Network and "O" and the urge to have brunch with the neighborhood moms & crying when the Titans or Spurs lose (which won't happen that often).

With all of that being said, if you are reading this craziness, then my family and I view you as a treasure and valued friend (and part of our family), and appreciate you being on this journey with us.  You are loved and appreciated.   And, thank you so much for the daily, inspirational text messages.  They really keep my spirit smiling and strong.  Well, Here We Go!

June 18, 2018
Received a phone call from Dr. Still (Primary Physician) stating that my PSA was high and I need to see a urologist immediately.  Well, being that I'm not a doctor nor have ever pretended to be one....I didn't know what a PSA was or what it meant.  She stated that it's a test on your prostate and that the normal man' PSA is lower than 5 (Prostate specific antigen. A test for PSA may be used to screen for cancer of the prostate and to monitor treatment of the disease. PSA is a protein produced by the prostate gland).  Ouch!  So, she quickly gave me the name of a great urologist, Dr. David Banks, and I called his office and scheduled a visit.

June 21, 2018
I see Dr. Banks at his office, he takes blood, urine, credit card info, first born and everything else possible, and says he will call me back in a few days with his results.

June 25, 2018
Dr. Banks contacts me and states that my PSA is 39 and that we need to schedule a biopsy immediately....now I'm getting a little nervous.  So, we schedule a Biopsy for July 13th. I'm told the biopsy will take no longer than 15 minutes and I can drive, myself, home afterwards.  Okay, so I'm thinking no worries, this will be quick, easy and painless.

July 13, 2018
Elisa and I arrive at the office for the biopsy, then they take me into this somewhat chilly room, and I disrobe from waist down.  I'm a little nervous, only because I have never had this procedure done and this area of my body has never been invaded or explored as such.  Instead of giving you graphic details on the process, lets just say, one of the machines stop working during the actual biopsy, as my pale buttocks is proudly displayed for the entire world to see and there are now two doctors and two nurses in the room trying to fix this damn machine {like it was medical school, except I was the subject :(}

Well, needless to say, the 15-minute biopsy went in and out of the window rather quickly.  In fact, they spent at least 15 minutes (which seemed more like 45 days) on fixing their malfunctioned machine.  After the machine started working, and I lost about 10 pounds due to sweat, they finally finished the exploration of my butt (prostate) and completed the biopsy.  I really felt like they should have given me flowers, candy, dinner and a kiss on the cheek (face cheek, not the other cheek), however, what I did receive was a box a moist sanitation wipes to clean myself up. LOL

This was by far, the most uncomfortable experience of my life.  They say, 8 out of 10 biopsy' go very smooth. Well, guess who was one of the 2 that didn't go smooth.....ME!  So, after I get dressed and have a few Gatorade's and crackers, my wife is driving me home.  Now, if you know my wife, she drives fairly fast, and this particular instance was no different. She proceeded to fly out of the parking lot, hit a speed bump around 50 MPH and then proceeded to say, "where did that come from."  Once my head came back down to my body, I calmly said, "What the' heck are you doing, you're killing me."  She slowed down and carefully drove us home.

July 18, 2018
The phone rings at 4:47 pm and caller ID says "Georgia Urology." So, I'm really hoping that it's Dr. Banks assistant as that would mean Good News!  I pick up the phone, and it's Dr. Banks.  I quickly say, "Dr. Banks, why are you calling me?  You don't call me on my birthday, anniversary, etc.  What's going on?"  He says, "Kim, how are you doing?  Unfortunately, the test came back as positive for cancer but it is treatable.  Your Gleason score is 7 (4+3) and the cancer is only on the left side of the prostate."  He may have said more, but my eyes quickly became cloudy from the tears forming and from momentary deafness, too.  He then said his office would call me to set up an appointment to discuss treatment options. 

After hanging up the phone, it seemed like a lifetime of tears started to drench my sadden face, and Elisa begin to hug me and rub my back.  As we poured each others love into our hugs, we simply had to let everything out and then regroup. She began sharing encouraging words of victory of this disease, which really started to reinvigorate my heart, vibe and spirit.  Words of encouragement I really needed, as I was thinking, "Why me?", God has blessed me with two outstanding companies, why would he do that and then this?"  "What are my children going to do without me?"  This is not fair to Elisa, we always said we were going to die together like they did in movie "The Notebook."
​
"How am I going to be able to coach?" "Who's going to run my businesses?"  Then, after a few minutes of selfishness, we said, "Let's Go Crush this Stuff as "We Got This."  We were not going to allow this to "rock our world."  It did "tilt" it just a little bit, but we were not going to allow it to curse GOD, bring a dark shadow on our lives nor give it life!

July 19, 2018
Life goes on!  We flew to Los Angeles, as Elisa had her Aunt's dinner party to attend and I had meetings in regards to our new company, Halftime Health and attend a former players wedding in San Francisco.  It actually felt good seeing friends and talking about our recent diagnosis.  I saw former players at Melissa's wedding, but did not share my prognosis, as I didn't want to take away from Melissa and Chris's awesome wedding.  But, talking with James, who is a prostate cancer survivor and his wife really helped me understand the process and journey coming our way.  My best friend, Chris, who is also a prostate cancer survivor really helped me understand the options that are available and urged me to continue to workout, stay strong (emotionally, physically and spiritually).  My childhood friends, Tyron, & Charles, along with my brother-in-laws (Eric, Ricky and Daryl) helped with the positive encouragement as we started to ventured down this unknown cancer road.

July 30, 2018
Hardest day of them all - telling our kids about the situation.  This was actually harder then me hearing the news - I have cancer.  There wear tears, hugs, spreadsheets, How To Beat Cancer website links and more shared with us that day.  And, it just reminded me of Why I have To Beat This!  I have the greatest family ever!!!

​August 9, 2018
We met our oncologist team, which is AWESOME!  One member of our new team, Gail, has a son in my Halftime Sports basketball program, so when she saw me - it was a happy smile that quickly went south, as she knew why I was there.  The team consists of Gail, Cara, Wendy, Nikki and a few other awesome Angels who are the most delightful, wonderful, warming, knowledgeable people you could ever meet.

We felt so comfortable and confident with our new team that we cancelled our appointment with the other doctor (prostate removal).

August 16th
Visit our friends at Dr. McCord's office to get fitted for a lower body mold and have (what they call "tattoos") placed on my left & right hips and lower abdomen.  This is where the machine will shoot beams of radiation attacking the cancer cells in my prostate.  It is also Elisa's Birthday :)

August 22, 2018
I'm so pumped, as today starts my treatment and crushing the cancer in my body.

Just received a phone call from Dr. McCord's office that I cannot start my treatments today due to the Insurance company not approving the treatments yet. What a huge bummer!  So, I went an ate a Chili Dog....not good for me but it did help me emotionally.

August 23, 2018
Visit Dr. Banks office to get two Hormone shots in my stomach.  I made the mistake of viewing the needles that will be used to inject the hormones into my body and begin to get very nervous.  Becca, Dr. Banks assistant, tells me to raise my shirt and breathe out, so I do so while looking up at the ceiling.  One shot then two.  Not so bad!  Well, I felt a little hazy for the rest of the day and now my stomach looks like I'm pregnant with twins.  Yuck!  The areas where the shots were given are hard and angry, but nothing some Advil can't take care of.  

August 24, 2018
Having Starbucks drinks with Ashley O, Wendy calls me and tells me all is good and can I come in at 1:30 pm today.....heck yes!!!  I meet Cara and the staff at Dr. McCord's office and we go through a "dry run" of the actual procedure.  I'm so excited to get this party started, however the reality, that I have Cancer pierces my heart like an arrow and I get a little nervous.  But, Amy (my newest team member) takes me through the process like a champion and all is good, except I have to share a locker room with a couple of other men who are much older than me, so I keep my eyes down and focus on getting dress (lol).

Stomach still hurts from the Hormone shots.

August 27, 2019
THE DAY!!!  Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is back.  Thanks Chris C (childhood best friend and Starbucks Executive VP).  Well, actually, I'm excited about my forthcoming treatment (and of course Starbucks PSL); my phone is flooded with awesome, positive text messages from former/current players, friends and family.  The love is pouring in and my heart is taking it all in.

Stomach still hurts from the darn Hormone shots.

I get to the Dr, McCord's office, Wendy has me make some payments, Gail provide vivid instructions on what's about to happen, then Amy comes and gets me from the front office.  I proceed to change in the "old man" locker room and head to the room with all of the hi-tech machines.  The actual treatment last no longer than 20 minutes and doesn't hurt at all (as lady Antebellum is jamming from the room speakers), but just feels weird.  Amy helps me off the table, I change and meet Elisa in the waiting room and drive home.  

We go for our usual walk around Alpharetta/Milton areas and the walk is a little tougher but I powered through it.  No Cancer is going to slow me down.  Not going to happen.

MY HYPERBARIC OXYGEN CHAMBER ARRIVED - THANK YOU NIKKI, SAMIR AND OXY HEALTH.  YOU'RE THE BEST!

August 28, 2018
WOW!  Challenging morning.....first woke up to Sandy kicking the crap out of Sponge Bob and Patrick' butts on Cartoon land, then brushed my teeth, washed my face, and begin puking like a drunk high schooler.  May have been a combination of the radiation, Manu Ginobili retiring from my beloved Spurs and not getting enough sleep.  But, after that, went and had some of my "Kick Cancer Drink" and went for my am walk around Alpharetta/Milton.  The walk went extremely well, and made my body feel much better. Now, it's 7:35 am and it's time to shower and start my "kick butt" work day.  Lets Go Get It!