I saw my urologist last p.m. He confirmed what I already suspected, that the cancer is localized to the prostate and it will have to come out.
Good news. Bad news. But news.
Now the ball is in my court. He was solicitous and concerned. He answered my questions truthfully. He assured me that he wouldn't feel "two-timed" if I snuck around and saw other doctors behind his back. In fact, he encouraged me to make appointments and to get other opinions.
I've been given names of doctors at New York Hospital-Presbyterian, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Mount Sinai in New York and at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
Some of them use the robot, others do not, preferring instead to do it the old fashioned way, through a 3" incision.
My guy at home in NJ has done 600 removals in his career. He does them at a non-teaching hospital in New Brunswick, NJ (St. Peters). His rationale is that the operation is so delicate he doesn't want to have surrender any portion of it to resident surgeons, i.e. "rank amateurs." I liked that.
There's a good 10-15% chance that post-removal I'll still have to have some sort of follow-up therapy, probably radiation. Hey! That leaves a good 85-90% chance that I WON'T.
I'll be incontinent for awhile. A month, maybe two. As for "male potency" (don't you love the euphemisms we come up with for "hard ons"?), well, it'll be about as good as it is now within 6 months. I can wait 6 months. It's already been years.
Ordinarily I'd be on the phone this morning, rounding up appointments, arranging for time off, coordinating everything. But the weather is crappy, and I need a good scary movie... "Ultimate Destination" would do.
I'll deal with cancer next week. Promise.
p.s. But be assured that I know this ... I am loved. A lot. And that is going to make all the difference in the world.
8 comments:
"Now the ball is in my court"
...uh...so to speak?
How nice that the staging part is behind you now. You deserve a small break before you plunge into the next part of the process.
Oh, Bev. Honestly. :-)
Thanks, Mike. Sometimes I feel like "everything has to happen, right now" when, in fact, it doesn't. I'm allowing myself time to process this one. And to allow the information to sink in before I pull the trigger on anything.
Well, what didja expect from me?
But to be serious, the one thing that you have learned over your years of sobriety is not to jump into things without investigating your options and making an informed decision.
As they say in Australia, good on ya!
Good Thinking is to make a well-informed decision and deal with real life. We don't need no steenkin' boogymen lousing things up.
We in the Korean fellowship will be sending all sorts of good thoughts and prayers in your direction. We have all flavours of spirituality here: Christians, Buddhists, agnostics and even a few followers of shamanism, so you should be well-covered. ;-)
Heaps of Hugs and Loads of Love,
~ Sil in Corea
Thanks, ~Sil. That should just about do it!
Love and prayer are the best medicines, no matter what ails ya.
Ron, I highly recommend that you get a second opinion at Mt. Sinai. I had my mastectomy there last year, and I've never encountered a more caring group of people from the nursing staff to the doctors. Sending good thoughts your way,
Elaine
Thanks, Elaine. Moral support... well, I don't have to tell you.
As soon as we hear "cancer", all the rules of the game seem to change, don't they?
And I am looking at Mt. Sinai. Dr. David B. Samadi, in particular.
I'll keep you posted.
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