O-Dark-Thirty

I suppose my readers (both of you) might be wondering my status. Four weeks after the surgery my insides seem to have settled down. It only hurts once in a while when I go to the bathroom, which is a tremendous improvement. I experience greater urgency than I once did, but that's a known side effect of the surgery. I still have some occasional flashes of pain, but that's hard to quantify. I can pee so much better, though. I wonder how guys in the past managed to muddle through. Without surgery would I have been doomed to a slow trickle of relief? Imagine being a mountain man back in the 1800s or something and having to stand under a tree for fifteen minutes or more trying to empty your bladder. I bet there were some bears and cougars that found a good meal or two that way. How about the hormone therapy? Yeah, I don't know. It seems that most of the time the pain in my bones is less than it was. Overall, my pain level is down. Aside from that, I don't feel like I am impr...

  Recovery from the TURP surgery is ongoing. Most of the pain is gone. The symptoms that forced the surgery are relieved (pun intended). Still, there are times I feel the soreness, so if you are three weeks after the surgery, don't be too surprised. Sometimes I sit down at the wrong angle and I feel a deep pain within my lower body. That's to be expected. We had some serious plumbing work done, after all. I am now allowed to lift more than ten pounds. Fabulous. I no longer need to sit around the house and feel utterly useless as we continue to prepare for the move back to Texas. However, I still find that my stamina is drained quickly. I don't think that is because of surgery, but a by-product of the cancer. The ADT (Androgen Deprivation Therapy) is now in full swing, right? I don't know if I can tell. For three days after the Lupron (?) shot I hurt. I mean, down to the bone, inside the body aching pain type of hurt. That pain disappeared. I still feel pain in my muscle...

  We've sold our beautiful, once-forever home and will be on the road to a new house in Texas within the month. My heart breaks that we must do this. I wanted years here. What I did get was two winters, two springs, almost two summers and one fall. Figures. Autumn is my favorite time of year here in Michigan. Still, I'll try to be thankful for what I did have. Too bad Covid hit when we got here. We have not been able to get to know the wonderful people here at the Lake. Just now, we're seeing how fabulous they are. Three ladies from the neighborhood are helping Darling pack up and one lovely lady brought us dinner. Pork chops, potatoes and salad. Oh, my. So this morning I received the shot that goes with my new oncology medicine. I don't know if this is the treatment that MD Anderson will concur with, but it's what we have right now. The PA gave me a shot in my belly fat. He said it would hurt. He told the absolute truth. It still hurts, hours later. MD Anderson acc...

  I have a doctor appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. It will be a week or so after we've moved in to the new house back in Texas. Assuming all goes well with the move, of course. In the meantime, I'm taking exactly the treatment I swore I wouldn't take as the first step to beating this cancer. We do what we must. The moving saga continues, but that isn't for this blog post. Let's just focus here on the medicine and the trials and tribulations associated with getting good medical treatment in the USA. I'm recovering well from the surgery. At least I think I am. It's hard to avoid moving boxes and items around here, especially as we prepare to move. I'm still tired all the time. The current treatment doesn't seem to do much to mitigate that. I don't think I'm hurting as much as I did, but maybe I just don't recall. There might be some memory issues, too! I do have a bothersome rash on my side now, but that isn't relate...

  So let's get up to date. Darling go the medicine situation ironed out. DrC indeed submitted the prescription, neglecting to tell us it was at the pharmacy conveniently located in his private partnership. After finding another Dr, DrC transferred the prescription to our preferred pharmacy - you know, the one they had my put into the five page set of forms you fill out to be treated by their partnership. Our pharmacy said they couldn't fill it because it was filled at the private partnership. Had them cancel that one, resubmit it and - oh, wait - our pharmacy doesn't stock the medicine required.  Okay, another local pharmacy does have it, as long as we can get generic... Upshot, I took the first pill last night. We're moving forward with changing to a local oncologist. In the meantime, my favorite urologist had a twenty minute chat with the both of us concerning this treatment. The pills will block the receptors of the cancer cells and then next Wednesday or Thursday I ...

Had a blood test today and my PSA is down to 80.7. So far these appointments have been with the local GR branch of oncology. I shall not name names. However, after the visit with the doctor assigned to me, Darling and I felt ... disappointed. He did give me a number, at least. If I did not get treatment with this cancer, then I have six months to a year left. So let's talk treatment. Which he did. He refused to discuss any alternatives, but proceeded to tell me that Androgen Deprivation Therapy (originally identified as viable in 1941) was the way to go. He did hook me when he said ADT would eliminate my almost-constant pain, and within a few days. He did tell me about a patient who hurt so bad he couldn't roll over. A few hours after treatment he was in the shower and shaving. I can give you the first part of the therapy today, he said, as long as insurance approves it. Okay, we say. The shot will have to come, uhm, maybe Thursday, he says. Okay, we say. I have to admit I was ...

There is a diffuse pain inside me that I cannot isolate. I awoke about four and couldn't get back to sleep. Perhaps I've slept too much lately. Perhaps I'm thinking too much lately.  Perhaps I'm overthinking this. Darling asked me if I'd given up or was still fighting. I haven't given up. Death is the ticket price to an everlasting paradise beyond this physical realm, the place I've dwelt since I was born. My body ties me to this plane of existence. Moving on is inevitable and we all face it. I do long to be with God at some point. I don't want to die yet. Right now I don't know what to do to combat the cancer. I'm eating better (I think). I'm doing my research on treatments. I've scheduled my next doctor appointment so that I can work on a plan. Beyond even that, Darling bought a house back in Pearland, TX and we will leave this house in this tiny slice of Michigan paradise and return to the humid, hot Houston basin. Closer to MD Anderso...

  Day three of recovery is much improved. I'm still in pain, which I hate, but I have a new pain routine. My favorite doctor prescribed a codeine pain pill for this entire after-surgery bit, so I take one at 9AM and another at 9PM. That's half as often as I'm allowed, but it does give me more than an hour of continuous sleep. Treasured, blessed, lengthy sleep. Still, through the night, I'm getting up almost every hour. At this point it might be more habit than necessity. Or they reshaped my bladder to be the size of a walnut. Day four of recovery is remarkably similar. I'm tired, trying to heal, I suppose. I still have a hard time sleeping for long intervals, but I managed about ninety minutes at one stretch. That was right after the Narco at 9PM. Peeing still hurts, like ground glass twisting inside me. I hate it, but it seems less intense now. The pain meds cause constipation, which makes it uncomfortable to sit for long periods of time. Of course, the TURP makes ...

  First night home. I get up to pee every 15-30 minutes. Maybe having the catheter in for a few days would have been a better idea. It didn't work for me, but your mileage may vary... By morning, I'm exhausted. However, my urine is much less bloody. Oh, I forgot to mention that during the night I passed a blood clot - the size of a watermelon seed. That's less than the size of a dime that the hospital instructions say to worry about. It hurt like passing a watermelon... I laze about all day, sometimes on the couch, sometimes on the bed, occasionally sitting. It sort of hurts to sit. Come to think of it, it just sort of hurts. Hey I found something in the literature as I researched for this blog post! One of the side effects of a TURP:  Need for re-treatment. Some men require follow-up treatment after TURP because symptoms don't improve or they return over time. Sometimes, re-treatment is needed because TURP causes narrowing (stricture) of the urethra or the bladder neck...

  Ouch. Just ouch. For sensitive people, you should skip some posts. I don't know how many. Here's the brochure information: Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is a surgery used to treat urinary problems that are caused by an enlarged prostate. TURP typically relieves symptoms quickly. Most men experience a significantly stronger urine flow within a few days. Follow-up treatment to ease symptoms is sometimes needed, particularly after several years have passed. The surgery went well for me, technically. I think I lost it a little when it was all over and my bladder and butt were yelling at me to "EVACUATE!"  That was supposed to be a little funny but it probably wasn't. With a catheter, you don't worry about going pee. It all moves on its own through a plastic tube into a plastic container.  The poo problem was a little more real. The hospital kept me overnight since I bled a lot. Maybe because of disorientation, too. Hardest night ever, except I d...

  So this post will be brief. The first doctor on my team said "We aren't even sure you have cancer" though we already had my >100 PSA, my enlarged prostate and a CT scan showing metastasis. The other two doctors were not so brutal, but it seems they concur. Each check box must be checked as we progress. It's taking a long time to check the boxes. The biopsy went smoothly. They didn't knock me out, but they gave me something to relax. To me, it seemed the procedure took only a few minutes. To poor Darling, not wrapped in my soothing time warp, the process took three-quarters of an hour. Whatever they used, I recovered quickly and we were home before noon, where I slept for a few hours. I have a massive headache, but there it is. Darling is exhausted. Tomorrow, my friends, will be worse. The TURP (more commonly known as a roto-rooter procedure) is more complex. We'll leave the house at 0430 to arrive at 0530. The procedure starts at 0730 and should last a fe...