SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 | 9A
Us TOO Florence — My Prostate Cancer Journey (Part I)
By Henry Azevedo
Prostate Cancer Survivor
Special to Siuslaw News
M
This is the first “Behind the Headlines” story of the
multiple-part journey of Henry Azevedo and his
children. As readers will find out, Henry had aggres-
sive prostate cancer and tested positive for BRCA2
gene mutation. His daughters also tested positive
for the same mutation, which led to preventive
surgeries due to the very high risk for breast and
ovarian cancers. His son is just now undergoing
genetic testing to see if he has the same mutation.
y elevated risk for a
journey with prostate
cancer was likely present at
birth. I will get to that later.
At age 61, I went in for a
routine physical in early 2012. My
lab work indicated that my PSA was
3.9, barely below the 4.0 that is top
of the “normal” range. I didn’t have
a clue what that meant and appar-
ently neither did my primary care
doctor. My next physical was about
18 months later (9/24/2013) with a
new doctor in Eugene. A few days
later, I got a call from the doctor in-
dicating my PSA was 12.34. Because
of that nearly 8.5 jump in my PSA
in 18 months, he felt that I definitely
had prostate cancer. He referred me
to urologists at Oregon Urology In-
stitute (OUI) who would be able to
make a definite diagnosis.
I met Dr. Kollmorgen, who im-
mediately began a series of prelimi-
nary tests including the dreaded fin-
ger maneuver — digital rectal exam
— and urine samples. The urine
sample found traces of blood. On
10/25/2013, Kollmorgen biop-
sied my prostate, which involved
taking eight needle samples of
tissue. The result was a Gleason
Score of 8 (4+4), which basically
meant that I had an aggressive
form of prostate cancer.
Based on these results and in
consultation with Kollmorgen, he
immediately scheduled surgery on
11/20/2013 to have my prostate re-
moved. Following surgery, the bad
news from the pathologist was that
I had positive margins, meaning
the cancer had moved outside the
prostate gland and attached itself
to adjoining tissue. The good news
was that no cancer was found in my
lymph nodes.
On 2/14/2014, two small gold
pins (fiducials) were placed in the
area of my prostate bed. These pins
provided markers for the radiation
technicians to guide the radiation to
the specific area needing it, sparing
nearby tissue from damage.
For the radiation, I rode the
“Friends of Florence” bus from Ma-
pleton to Eugene for six weeks Mon-
day through Friday. The bus was a
great help. I met a few men who
rode with me and we became
good friends. Sharing our com-
mon experience was very helpful.
In addition to the radiation, I
received a Lupron shot to lower
my testosterone and an Xgeva
shot to maintain bone health.
This Lupron shot is repeated in
six-month intervals, the Xgeva
in two-month intervals. After
a few months my PSA began to
rise. This was not good news
following both surgery and ra-
diation.
On 6/14/2015, I noticed some
blood in my urine. By the next
morning I found that although
I had a strong urge to urinate
nothing would come out. I was to-
tally blocked. And then the pain be-
came unbearable. I called the OUI
and they suggested I go to the hos-
pital in Eugene.
By the time my wife drove me to
the hospital in Eugene the pain was
excruciating. The hospital staff tried
inserting five different catheters
during the course of about six hours
to no avail. I had earlier been given
an intravenous drip with pain medi-
cine. The pain persisted and I asked
for morphine. They said the medi-
cation I was receiving was stronger
than morphine.
Finally, a member of the OUI staff
arrived and she managed to insert a
reaming device and a catheter. The
relief was immediate, and I went
home with the catheter for about a
week.
Shortly thereafter, Kollmorgen
performed a cystourethroscopy w/
dilation to determine what was go-
ing on with my bladder. I told him
I was curious why this was happen-
ing now, months after my surgery.
He explained that during the heal-
ing process scar tissue is formed.
As veins do much better with soft
tissue, they are more susceptible
to rupture when they grow over
the scar tissue. He cleaned the area
up and told me if this continued,
I would need to spend time in the
hyperbaric oxygen chamber to oxy-
genate the area and provide a better
environment for the veins to grow.
No recurrence after 4 years.
Now, back to that rising PSA!
SVFR – Mutual benefits from having firefighters work for you
Cpt. Pete “Boa” Warren
Special to Siuslaw News
ome all without, come
all within, you’ll not
see nothing like the mighty
Quinn,” was blaring over
my car speakers as Manfred
Mann’s “The Mighty Quinn”
played on the radio the other
day.
I had just left Fred Mey-
er when those lyrics caught
my fancy, while attempting
to sing along. I couldn’t help
but think of some of our fire-
fighters who’ve worked or
“C
who are still working where’d
I just left.
A pair of them are the
mighty Quinn brothers.
While not identical — you’d
have a difficult time seeing
any resemblance — both
took the Firefighter Acad-
emy together and became
active volunteers a few years
back.
Younger brother David re-
sides up north and responds
out of Station 4. He’s recently
completed most of the train-
ing for his Engineer/Pumper
Operator certification. This
year, he was finally able to
outdo his brother on the
agility testing. This was no
easy task either, as Don is
fast through the course.
Not to be outdone, Fire-
fighter/EMT Don is a resi-
dent at the Main Station. He’s
been residing in-house for
over two years. Due to being
at the station, he’s one of our
top responders. Recently, he
upgraded his certification to
Firefighter 2. Utilizing the
skills he has learned allowed
him to change professions
and he’s now working at
PeaceHealth.
Both brothers worked
or are still working at Fred
Meyer here in Florence.
By giving time off and
allowing many of their con-
stituents to volunteer with
the department, we are a
stronger and healthier com-
munity for both the business
and/or customer who may
directly benefit from having
trained individuals on hand.
How has that helped a
store like Fred Meyer?
One patron owes their re-
newed quality of life to an
on-hand employee. In a re-
cent incident, EMT
Firefighter
Sky
Cedar-Leaf quick-
ly responded to a
person in distress.
Sky recognized the
problem and rami-
fications. With his
early
treatment,
there was a very
successful
out-
come.
Another
em-
ployee is newly
certified EMT Fire-
fighter Tommy Van
Winkle, who you’ll
usually find in the
In September, Siuslaw Valley Firefighters participated in the Portland Climb for the
Electronics section
Cure. Among them was Don Quinn, Kyle Orozco, Conway Pebley, Riley Hayes and Colton
of the store. So, if Griswold.
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sion’s price stops you in your Lane and Siuslaw Valley
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nel will be helping with CPR.
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