[2006] Hey Guys...anyone having prostate problems?/Merged

[Jestjoan]

I hope you get to go home today, too. There's no place like home......

I hope you have a very speedy recovery, Alan.

Joan

 

[bogey21]

I didn't realize the post-op from surgery was as bad as you describe it. About 5 years ago when I had a minor recurrence of my cancer about 5 years after radiation treatment I opted for Cryo-Surgery which essentially destroys the prostate by freezing it. No cutting. They just punched a couple of holes between my scrotum and anus and went in there. I also had the Foley catheter, but absolutely no pain, no inconvenience other than the catheter, and no screwing up any other stuff in the area. Maybe Cryo deserves more consideration as a primary treatment.

George

 

[rickandcindy23]

Alan, I hope you are home today, sitting on your couch. Home is so nice after major surgery. When I had my hysterectomy, they stapled my very long incision. They had me ready to go home two days later, and then I lost my breakfast that morning, and they kept me another two days! I was up and walking the halls for hours every day, so I figured I should be home and not there. But the throwing up, well they were just scared of it. They put me on a bland diet, which fixed it, but I would rather have gone home and eaten that same canned fruit, chicken soup and crackers.

Moral to this story--if you throw up, don't tell them. :rofl:

Of course, it turned out that I was allergic to percocet (sp?), so they had to give me vicodin. I guess that was a good thing, telling them I had thrown up. I also had a rash all over from that stuff. I shoulda known. Who'd a thunk?

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sprung.

I'm home on pass from the National Cancer Institute -- go back in Tuesday night so they can stick me with needles for bloodwork 5AM Wednesday in advance of doing a cystogram -- taking pictures of the bladder from the inside (a process I don't like thinking about -- I hear sedation is involved, thankfully).

My operation took 6 hours instead of the scheduled 3 because organs & tissues just getting at the focal site of the operation were all stuck together with adhesions -- don't know why, they just were. Plus, the surgeon said there was inflammation they weren't counting on finding. The doctors & their computer-directed robot handled everything OK, but it took twice as long as they had counted on.

They also had to revise my bladder more than they expected they'd need to, but now they're spraining their arms patting themselves on the back over the great job they did -- no (internal) leakage, no problems other than needing to leave the Foley catheter in a day or so longer.

The way they know there's no internal leakage is that they kept on lab-testing the stuff collected via a surgical drainage tube they left in my abdomen specially for the purpose. If the tests had shown traces of urine, that would have meant leaks. Fortunately, no leaks. And now the drainage tube is out. All is well.

No nausea. (That's something.) Not much pain, although plenty of tenderness & I'm definitely moving slow, letting The Chief Of Staff pamper me as much as she's willing. I'm taking Tylenol -- the regular drug store kind.

It is a humbling experience to be right there on the NIH Medical & Surgical Oncology ward where all the patients except me are dealing with various Big Casino forms of cancer, & there I am with just my wimpy, no-symptom early-stage case of a very common cancer with straightforward treatment. My 1st hospital roommate at the National Cancer Center was a guy 26 who'd had 6 cancer operations in 6 years -- melanoma that had spread to his intestines.

The 2nd guy, about 44, also had spreading melanoma. He'd been in before & was in this time for strictly experimental immuno-therapy done nowhere else but the National Cancer Institute -- that after a bunch of prior operations & chemotherapy treatments. I overheard him telling somebody he needs to think up more explanations for his various large scars -- he told people the 1 on his leg was from a shark bite. Both guys were dealing with pain issues from cancer.

So I am counting my blessings. The only thing that even got me into NIH was the strong interest the Urologic Oncology people there have in advancing the use of MRI imagery in the diagnosis & treatment of prostate cancer. Otherwise, I would have never been able to get into the National Cancer Institute.

While I was in the Clinical Center, I spent some time on the bedside computer provided for patients. I noticed that they have a new program for people suffering from undiagnosed diseases -- rare mystery ailments that the local doctors can't figure out. Not all applicants are accepted, but for those who are it's a unique & potentially valuable resource. Click here for information about that. I told my friend in California about it, so maybe he'll follow up with whatever he's got that his local doctors & the Mayo Clinic doctors can't exactly figure out -- haven't been able to after a couple of years of trying, anyway.

Every day is an answered prayer. I am filled to overflowing with gratitude & respect for all the doctors & nurses who have helped me.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[rapmarks]

Not to highjack your thread

I am so mad right now, and maybe i am silly to be angry.
I have been treated for multifocal invasive cancer and will be treated for several years.
a "friend" sent me a forward yesterday , one that when checked on Scopes was false. she knows of my cancer but sent me a warning that cooking in a microwave causes cancer, using saran wrap causes cancer, drinking out of plastic waterbottles causes cancer, etc. It was reportedly from Johns Hopkins and was false. i informed her that is was hurtful to me to tell me i caused my cancer and it was also untrue. And if it were true, it is too late for me and only lay a guilt trip on me.. She replied by giving me crap after crap about not using a microwave, distill my own water and put in aluminum container, on and on. so now not only did I cause my own cancer, but I have probably given it to my whole family by using a microwave, etc. She says she is only looking out for me.
Am i wrong to be upset by this.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am so mad right now, and maybe i am silly to be angry.
I have been treated for multifocal invasive cancer and will be treated for several years.
a "friend" sent me a forward yesterday , one that when checked on Scopes was false. she knows of my cancer but sent me a warning that cooking in a microwave causes cancer, using saran wrap causes cancer, drinking out of plastic waterbottles causes cancer, etc. It was reportedly from Johns Hopkins and was false. i informed her that is was hurtful to me to tell me i caused my cancer and it was also untrue. And if it were true, it is too late for me and only lay a guilt trip on me.. She replied by giving me crap after crap about not using a microwave, distill my own water and put in aluminum container, on and on. so now not only did I cause my own cancer, but I have probably given it to my whole family by using a microwave, etc. She says she is only looking out for me.
Am i wrong to be upset by this.

Some people don't know what to say. They are so tongue-tied when someone they know and care about is suffering, so they feel they must find a cause. For some of those people, seeing a friend facing such a hurdle is just too hard to understand. I know this sounds like I am making excuses for your friend, but she may be needing to find a cause, partly to feel that she is keeping her family safe from this same fate. Who do you blame, if you cannot blame saran wrap and microwaves? God is good, right? So why would God allow these bad things to happen? It has to be the saran wrap.

 

[easyrider]

I am so mad right now, and maybe i am silly to be angry.
I have been treated for multifocal invasive cancer and will be treated for several years.
a "friend" sent me a forward yesterday , one that when checked on Scopes was false. she knows of my cancer but sent me a warning that cooking in a microwave causes cancer, using saran wrap causes cancer, drinking out of plastic waterbottles causes cancer, etc. It was reportedly from Johns Hopkins and was false. i informed her that is was hurtful to me to tell me i caused my cancer and it was also untrue. And if it were true, it is too late for me and only lay a guilt trip on me.. She replied by giving me crap after crap about not using a microwave, distill my own water and put in aluminum container, on and on. so now not only did I cause my own cancer, but I have probably given it to my whole family by using a microwave, etc. She says she is only looking out for me.
Am i wrong to be upset by this.

Friends like this need to be told to shut up as soon as they start spouting off and maybe directions on where to go.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Even When Anger Is Appropriate, It Might Hurt You More Than it Hurts Your "Friend."

Am i wrong to be upset by this.

Of course not. But the way it works, too often it leaves you boiling mad & disturbed while it affects your nutso friend the way rain showers affect ducks.

Of course it's not your fault you've got cancer. Cancer happens. We all do what we can do to reduce our exposure to the risks, but we don't need to get wrapped around the axle over all the trendy cancer scares.

Shux, some of the vitamin supplements people were advised to take to ward off cancer are now said to be of not much help, if any, in that regard. The field of knowledge is changing rapidly. It's hard to separate the solid information from the mumbo-jumbo.

Cancer is so scary that it's understandable how some folks can go off the deep end about microwaves & saran wrap, etc. Reaching out to friends is 1 thing, but laying guilt trips on them is something else again.

I believe in helping people when I can & in appropriate situations (& when it's not too much trouble). I also believe in MYOB, which points me in a different direction. Once I've said something to somebody, it's impossible to un-say it, so I've got to guard against spouting off inappropriately or prematurely or when I don't know whereof I speak. It could be that your "friend" doesn't know what she doesn't know.

I am now re-examining that MYOB stuff. My friend who got me into the National Cancer Institute knew that I was all set for conventional surgery after receiving diagnosis & treatment recommendations locally plus a confirming second opinion from the urology wizards at Johns Hopkins. He would have been well within MYOB bounds to just let matters stand where they were. But out of his friendship for me over 30 years or so, & out of his concern that I was really missing out on an extremely promising option at the National Cancer Institute, he did not butt out. He actually got me my initial appointment with the Cancer Institute doctor who treated my friend last year when my friend had the same thing I have. The Chief Of Staff & I were away at a timeshare for a pre-surgery vacation at the time (Woodstone At Massanutten -- had a great time). My friend left a phone message telling me what he had done & urging me to follow up.

With 1 week to go before conventional surgery -- on the same day that I had my pre-surgery physical & EKG & blood tests & chest X-ray, after I had already banked a unit of my own blood for transfusion during conventional surgery -- I kept the appointment with my friend's doctor & the rest is history. I canceled my scheduled conventional surgery & signed on with the National Cancer Institute -- as laid out previously right here on TUG-BBS.

I am pretty sure that if I had continued on with my scheduled conventional surgery, my friend would not have called up to give me a ration of baloney over deciding to go that way instead of going robotic. He might have thought I was making a mistake, but he's not the kind of friend who would make me feel bad about it.

As it turns out, however, I am extremely grateful to my friend for extending himself to the lengths he took to get me into NIH. I am convinced that, for me, this was absolutely the best choice. It's not that I was lined up for bad treatment before & in the nick of time I got lined up with good treatment. It's that I was already lined up for superior treatment & at the last minute I got to go with something even better. (It's interesting to speculate, however, how things would have turned out during conventional surgery when the surgeons encountered all that adhesion, etc., that extended & complicated my robotic surgery.)

I suspect your "friend" is eaten up with her own fears about getting cancer & thus behaves toward you in the way she does as a way of acting out her own terrors. If you can forgive her -- can let her off the hook without even letting her know -- maybe you both will feel better. Failing that, maybe you can quit having anything to do with her without feeling it necessary to spell it all out for her. I'd hate for your feelings about this to add to the burden of what you're already struggling with.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Highjack, Shmyjack.

Not to highjack your thread

Shux, I highjack TUG-BBS discussion topics at every opportunity.

By me, that's 1 of the most endearing & entertaining attributes of TUG-BBS.

I realize, however, that highjacking discussion topics is not everybody's cup of tea, but I expect I'll keep on doing it anyway until I get in major serious trouble over it from the TUG Grand Pro.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Brrrrr. It's Getting Chilly In Here.

Maybe Cryo deserves more consideration as a primary treatment.

I think so. I asked my private urologist about it. He does conventional surgery, so I wouldn't expect him to be highly positive about cryogenic treatment.

In cryogenic treatment, he pointed out that there is risk on the 1 hand of causing freeze injury to the urethra if care is taken to freeze all the surrounding prostate tissue, & on the other hand that if care is taken to protect the urethra from freezing there is risk of not freezing all the surrounding prostate tissue.

Likewise, there is risk of serious freeze injury to the rectum if care is taken to freeze all the adjoining prostate tissue, & likewise risk of leaving some prostate tissue unfrozen if care is taken to safeguard the rectum from freezing.

Even so, in the hands of an experienced expert, I surely would think that cryogenic treatment could offer good results in treating prostate cancer.

Here's hoping the technique is perfected.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Miss Marty]

Welcome Home Alan

I'm home on pass from the National Cancer Institute -- go back in Tuesday

Best Wishes for a Speedy Recovery...

 

[Jaybee]

Alan, please don't stop whatever it is that you're doing, hijacking threads, elaborating, celebrating, venting, and giving credit where it's due, you have a beautiful way of expressing yourself, and I think that the information, and sharing on Tug is greatly enhanced by your contributions. I guess it isn't necessary to add that I am a big fan of yours.
Jean

 

[Charlie D.]

Alan,

You are crossing this bridge before some of us and I have appreciated your updates. After a gal bladder operation they said if I could urinate on my own I wouldn’t need a catheter. Fortunately I didn’t need one. A catheter does not look like it would be any fun. Did they do that while you were out? How painful was it when they removed it? I think a lot of us are using your experience to add to our own knowledge base if this should be put in our path later on in life. Thank you for the updates!!

Charlie D.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Mr. Foley's Famous Catheter.

Alan,

You are crossing this bridge before some of us and I have appreciated your updates. After a gal bladder operation they said if I could urinate on my own I wouldn’t need a catheter. Fortunately I didn’t need one. A catheter does not look like it would be any fun. Did they do that while you were out? How painful was it when they removed it? I think a lot of us are using your experience to add to our own knowledge base if this should be put in our path later on in life. Thank you for the updates!!

Charlie D.

Dumb as it sounds -- and is -- the prospect of having a plastic tube stuck up my dingus while the urethra & bladder are healing was one of the most negative mental pictures I had going into this whole prostate surgery thing, even before I decided which treatment option to take.

My late father had TURP ("roto-rooter") operations twice -- done by the urologist who was going to perform my conventional open surgery before I canceled -- & I can still see mental pictures of the Old Man hooked up to his bag as he was healing from those procedures. And now I'm 1 of the old guys walking around hooked up to a bag. So it goes.

I went into the operation hooked up to an arm I-V & came out hooked up to that plus the Foley catheter & an abdominal surgical drain. They pulled out the drain before they turned me loose Thursday morning -- I was dreading that, figuring it would hurt bad, but it was OK. I'm still hooked up to the Foley catheter -- have to carry my bag around just like the Old Man.

They fixed me up with a smaller bag that straps onto my lower leg & showed me how to change to the leg bag for daytime & reconnect the overnight bag at bedtime.

Now I'm dreading how bad it'll be when they remove the Foley catheter. Ditto getting the cystogram. I'm really hoping significant sedation will be involved. If not, well lots of guys have gone through something like this & have survived so there's no reason I can't grit my teeth & get through it too. (I am a compliant patient, but a squeamish patient & something of a sissy about the sight of blood, etc., & I always look the other way when they're doing blood samples, giving shots, etc.).

I was hurting for sure when I got back to my hospital room in the cancer ward -- 3 Northwest at the NIH Clinical Center. They gave me a jolt of morphine & later some percoset, which took the edge off bigtime.

The worst discomfort, right after getting out of recovery, came from the sensation of having a brick stuck inside my bladder -- the overwhelming sensation of needing to get up & go pee right now ! Of course, that was just post-operative pressure. I couldn't exactly get up & go anywhere at the time, being wobbly in the knees & all from anesthesia hangover. And for sure I didn't need to go pee because I was all hooked up to this dandy bag. Fortunately, they gave me a prescription drug that relieves bladder spasms & I was OK after that. The last dose I had of that was Thursday morning right before I checked out of 3NW. I'm OK now, but the sensation of being hooked up is real & I will happily submit to whatever it takes to get disconnected, then on to getting restored to as much of normal function as possible.

Regarding "normal function" & the lack thereof, apparently I'm going to be at my worst regarding dysfunction right now, then improve over 18-24 months following surgery. In any case, I'm feeling little anxiety over that -- expecting good results & willing to see how it goes (no pun intended) living minus prostate. My doctor said he was able to leave the critical nerves & tissues pretty much intact, so with healing & over time I'm expecting a good outcome. We'll see.

BTW, I have no big surgical incisions -- just 5 small abdominal holes where the probes & instruments were inserted so the robot could go to work. One of the consent forms I signed gave permission to take video pictures of the whole procedure. I'm hoping my operation won't end up on YouTube.

I wisecracked to some of my friends that I'd be wearing Spiderman Depends or Batman Depends till Thanksgiving, then hopefully I will be good to go without by Christmas. One old college friend, a former roommate in Animal House, sent me a couple of Depends decorated with some oversize Spiderman stickers. I'm thinking of showing those to the doctors & nurses at 3MW when I go back.

The book by E. Fuller Torrey MD that JudyH recommended is great. Dr. Torrey had conventional open surgery done by a partner in practice of the urologist who was going to do mine before I canceled & went with the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Torrey, I believe, is the guy who said that about the time he got used to the Foley catheter, it was time to take it out. Here's hoping it works that way for me, too.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[rapmarks]

speaking of catheters -picture this

every patient who has had major surgery where you cannot get out of bed for awhile will have a catheter.
Everytime there is a tornado watch or warning (the stronger one), every patient must be evacuated to the center core of the hallway.

I was post surgery after the Lake Delton flood (Wisconsin Dells).
Two tornado watches in one night each lasting for 2 to 2 and a half hours.

All patients brought out of their rooms, hooked up to so many gizmos it was unbelieveable, sitting on chairs around the nurses station. People waiting for patients about to be brought up from the recovery room. This was the univ of Wisconsin Hospital, a very large surgery ward.

catheter bags everywhere, iv lines, oxygen tanks, drains, pain pumps.

I laugh about it now, but it was awful.

When they brought me back to my room and hooked me up to all kinds of things, they forgot to plug in my bed.
I couldn't get the bed to go down, and i couldn't reach the nurse call button.
I kept sliding down in the bed til I was in the bottom half with my legs hanging out. I had had abdominal surgery and couldn't do things like sit up yet.
I never slept the whole time I was there, 5 nights, and this was no different.
When the nurse came in for the checks a couple of hours later, she said she thought I was awfully short and she plugged in the bed



I am still ticked at my friend - telling me Johns Hopkins has proved that Buffy St Marie's cancer was caused by drinking out of a water bottle left in a car is supposed to be helpful? I am doomed!!!

 

[JudyH]

This thread is amazing, so supportive, informative, and full of love.

Best to everyone.

 

[JimJ]

...Now I'm dreading how bad it'll be when they remove the Foley catheter...

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

There is nothing to dread. It takes about 2 seconds and you shouldn't feel a thing.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sprung A Leak & Other (Minor) Post-Operative Woes.

The reason I slept so comfortably last night is that I evidently forgot while asleep that I was all hooked up to my temporary external plumbing arrangement & so I rolled over into my habitual position for slumber regardless. In so doing, I pulled apart a plastic tube connection -- not where it connects with me, but where the 1st connection downstream of me attaches to the rest of the rig. The resulting leakage was not disastrous, but necessitated bigtime major serious clean-up, which the Chief Of Staff took care of without 1 word of complaint. I hope to make it up to her before long & I intend to be more careful.

Meanwhile, I'm improving daily in comfort & in mobility around the house, though I'm still pretty much doing the Nursing Home Shuffle as my main means of locomotion.

When the Clinical Center sent me home on pass, they made sure I had plenty of pills for various purposes -- pain, fever, circulation, etc. The medicines did not include tolterodine, even though they were giving me something like that while I was in the hospital ever since they hooked me up to the catheter. I wasn't in major distress, but I was experiencing enough discomfort yesterday to call the Paging Operator & ask to get in touch with the Urologic Fellow On Call. Within 10 minutes the doctor called back, & when I explained the problem he phoned in a prescription to our local pharmacy. The Chief Of Staff picked up the pills & I was able to take 1 within an hour of calling.

I have been discouraging friends & neighbors from coming over to visit while I'm all hooked up this way, in that I'm suppsed to get unhooked in just a few more days. But when our grandson came over yesterday for a rousing game of Monopoly Junior, I was able to dress acceptably by strapping on my leg-mounted bag. Today a Senior Citz. friend is coming by for coffee, & others have said they'd like to come as well. It would be unkind & unappreciative not to bend a little on my No Visitors policy.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[bogey21]

Now I'm dreading how bad it'll be when they remove the Foley catheter.

There is nothing to it. Where the rubber meets the road is the test following the catheter removal to make sure you can pee naturally. No pain, no strain, but mentally there is the worry that they will have to put the damn thing back in.

Guys, the more I read of Allen's journey, the more I think some of you should at least look at Cryo (destroying the prostate with negative 140 degree temperature). Compare my experience with Cryo to Allen's tale.

My Cryo was performed at Crittenden Hospital, in Rochester, MI (just North of Detroit). I drove from Fort Worth, TX to Rochester in two days, spending a night in St Louis. I rented a room in a nearby Motel 6; post Cryo I spent 2 nights in the hospital (I think it would have been only one had I not been alone); after five days of Motel 6, the MacDonalds next door and the Kinkos about a mile away (for internet access) they removed my catheter; within 2 hours I was driving myself to St Louis; spent the night; next morning I drove to Hot Springs, AR for the Arkansas Derby (horse race). Note: Doctors did not know about or approve any of this.

My only discomfort was getting in and out of the car and climbing the flight of stairs at the racetrack to make my bets. I was too proud to ask friends to do it for me.

Undestand that I am not saying that Cryo is for everyone. On the other hand I don't think it should be dismissed out of hand. I just think it should be one of the options considered. Three things are certain regarding my Cryo. First, it has been over 5 years since my Cryo and all is well. Second, all my organs in the area of the prostate work just fine (it did take about a year for peeing to be 100% normal). Third, I had a much easier time of it than Allen has had with surgery.

GEORGE

 

[JimJ]

After they take the catheter out, ask to keep the leg bag. Fill it with a few ounces of ginger ale, strap on your leg, and then go visit some former bosses or colleagues, neighbors, etc. that you don't particularly like.

While sitting down talking to them, let the bag leak. Apologize profusely and the quickly leave.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sounds Like A Creative New Timeshare Tour Strategy.

After they take the catheter out, ask to keep the leg bag. Fill it with a few ounces of ginger ale, strap on your leg, and then go visit some former bosses or colleagues, neighbors, etc. that you don't particularly like.

While sitting down talking to them, let the bag leak. Apologize profusely and the quickly leave.

Great idea !

Maybe I can adapt that scheme in an advantageous way in advance of going on timeshare tours for freebies.

Wouldn't that be something ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

YouTube Video Showing How The Da Vinci Surgical Robot Works.

Click here.

It shows how the apparatus works via origami rather than actual surgery -- although there's plenty of actual Da Vinci robotic surgery you can see on YouTube also if you care to search for it. (I don't -- too squeamish.)

I just assumed Da Vinci robotic surgery was just for prostate operations.

Wrong.

It's good also for heart valve replacement, heart bypass operations, hysterectomy, & I don't know what all.

Seems to me it would be specially good for heart surgery. Unlike with open heart surgery, the doctors wouldn't have to saw open the patient's rib cage if they used the Da Vinci surgical robot instead.

Amazing stuff.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Internet Resource For Prostate Cancer Information.

Click here for Phoenix5.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Officially Discharged Today From Hospital. So Far, So Good.

The whole cystogram & disconnection process that I was semi-dreading is over & done & wasn't even all that bad. Shux, even if it had been awful (it wasn't) it would have been worth it just to get disconnected from the Foley catheter & get rid of that embarrassing bag. Plus, I'm short on sleep because I never could get in a comfortable snoozing position as long as I was hooked up.

I showed up at 3 North West at 10AM -- right on time for my scheduled 2PM cystogram. They put me in a room on the unit & told me the schedule had been changed to 1PM. Then they upped the schedule again & 2 orderlies showed up right at 11AM to wheel me down to the operating room -- No. 3, the 1 with all the digital surgical X-ray equipment installed.

Cystogram amounted to pouring some X-ray opaque dye in through the Foley tube so that, via X-ray, the doctors could see whether all the solution stayed in the bladder (good) or whether any leaked out through the places where surgical repair was done (bad).

My doctor administered the procedure, dressed head to toe in what looked like a space suit, draped with an ankle-length lead apron & neck-wrapped with a lead scarf for good measure.

He & another doctor & an operating room nurse positioned me flat on my back on the X-ray gizmo & they went to work. After a few minutes the main doctor pronounced himself satisfied with the results of his handiwork. "All healed," he said. "You did great." Outstanding! That was extremely good to hear from my no-nonsense top doc.

They removed the Foley tube & sent me back to 3NW, where a nurse practitioner renewed some take-home prescriptions & a ward nurse handed me 1 dose of an antibiotic (to ward off bladder infection after cystogram).

I was out of there & back home by 3PM. Orders are to take it easy another couple of weeks, then after that do whatever I want (within reason). I'm on regular foods, no painkillers, & no more tolteradine.

I'm basically relearning potty training, now that the internal structures affecting how it works were radically redone, & I am optimistic that I'll get the hang of it before long. Shux, I mostly already do -- just wearing Depends (for now) to be on the safe side. (If my friends point their fingers & laugh because of that, that's OK -- it's worth it to have the cancer gone.)

This entire experience has reinforced my attitude of gratitude, & has given me a whole new outlook of respect & admiration for the medical profession.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

1st Time Out & About By Myself Since The Surgery.

Went to a meeting with friends this morning, then picked up just a few things at Super Giant on the way home.

No problems, no misadventures, nice being out.

That was the 1st time I've driven the car or gone anywhere but home & to the hospital since 2 weeks ago.

It's great having all the hard part over & done.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​