Tom Green, MD: Reflections of a Urologist with Metastatic Prostate Cancer Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A physician’s view of illness, treatment, and life after diagnosis—37 years as a practicing physician, 20 years as a patient while still practicing.

Who am I:

Tom Green a retired Urologist after 37 years in private patient care in Seattle. When I retired, I was an associated clinical professor at University of Washington. I did not work for UW, but instructed residents when they came to my hospital. I started medical school in the Philippines and completed the last 3 years at Rutgers in New Jersey. I completed my 6 year Internship and Residency at Oregon Health Sciences University.

I’m also a husband. I’ve been a widower. I’m a father to two daughters and a stepdaughter. I’m a brother.

I am very active in life. I play tennis, occasionally get back on a surfboard, play classical and blues piano and fool around on the guitar and Ukulele playing 70’s rock and roll with friends. I love good food and wine. I am an optimistic extrovert. My family still thinks it is quite funny when my eyes well up with tears while watching a Dove commercial. It is impossible for me to watch even half of Field Of Dreams without tears running down my cheeks. I am stimulated by getting together with family, friends and meeting new people.

Why Am I Here:

I also have widely metastatic prostate cancer. It is currently in remission; with a high likelihood it will eventually take my life.

I would like to give you a first-hand look at my life-threatening cancer, how I have dealt with it both as a physician and as a patient. I am not writing to give advice as to how others should manage their care. I only want to give insight as to how I look at the disease, my life as a patient and as a doctor.

I spent 20 years treating men with prostate cancer before my own diagnosis. I continued to practice for 17 years after my initial surgery and later radiation therapy. I am now retired for 8 years.

I was also a widower with 2 young children 25 years ago, having taken care of my first wife through seven years of illness while I was practicing urology. That experience shaped how I see caregiving, and I can offer the perspective of someone who’s lived it as a husband and a father.

How am I doing?

Currently I am doing quite well, but I do know what it is like to be very ill. Over the past 20 years I have undergone radical surgery, 2 courses of radiation therapy, chemotherapy and I am currently on hormone therapy. I also know that I am most likely not cured and will face increasingly difficult decisions in the future.

Over time, I’ll add to my story with personal reflections—some from my medical life, some from being a patient, and some simply from my thoughts on life.