Re: Steve...so far

[Guest guest]

Good write up. The part about passing gas brought back memories with

me too. Strange sensation there. Hope it all turns out ok for you.

[Guest guest]

A PSA taken shortly after surgery would be meaningless except that it SHOULD be declining. The best hoped for outcome will be unmeasurable PSA three months out and thereafter.

Louis. . .

Steve...so far

This is probably boring for those who have been through it, but maybe there's something here of help to those about to go through surgery.I'm 46, my PSA was never very high (3.4 was my first evaluation, then--except for a 3.7 peak, it's been DECLINING; my last score was 2.4!). Stage T1c, Gleason 3+3 (prior to surgery). Two different pre-surgical biopsies, one with 2 positive out of 20, the next with 2 positive out of 14, and a bit more volume of cancer detected.I was initially scheduled for surgery on 10/08/07, but my lower back blew out walking 2 miles. I had back surgery 11/5/07. I rescheduled my prostate surgery, with Dr. Ash Tewari (NY Presbyterian, Cornell Center) for January 10th...and THAT had to be postponed until January 14th, 2008!Well, I'm back from the hospital. Surgery Monday, January 14th, and they had me walking the halls Monday night. More walking Tuesday, and they

let me go home Tuesday afternoon. Had to get through rush-hour traffic of course, but it didn't seem too bad...I set new and important goals for myself in the hospital. I needed to FART. By early afternoon Tuesday, I had. This is a good thing, alert the media! By farting, I enabled myself to move on to the next step...solid (though mild, and light) FOOD!Had solid food Tuesday night...good thing, too, as I was getting sick of Jell-O and chicken broth.Wednesday, I walked over 5 miles, into and out of town. Thursday, I walked over 6 miles. Friday, 9+ miles! Today, Saturday, I only walked 7.5 miles. I think I may have lost 4 pounds...(the right way...not through surgery!)But, so far, so good! I see the doctor again on Tuesday for a check-up, and to have the catheter removed (not looking forward to that particular experience). But, so far, he tells me that he believes that he got all

the cancer, and that none of it had spread. He estimates my chance at a "full" recovery as very, very high. He was able to spare "almost all" (I believe he said) of one of the nerves, and "most" of the other--he said there was a "bulge" in my prostate, which he felt was cancerous, that lead him to be a little more aggressive on that side. But overall, he felt the cancer was contained (encapsulated) .I'll report more as I know it.Strangely enough, I had started to worry (irrationally) that "what if I'm jumping the gun? What if the declining PSA *MEANS* something? What if I'm the guy that has that non-aggressive form of prostate cancer? What if, at 46, I should have just WAITED? Well, Tewari's talk of the "bulge" sort of let me know that I did the right thing. I'm hoping that Tuesday's news doesn't change my attitude, but we shall see. Your mileage, of course, may

vary.--Steve

[Guest guest]

That last PSA (below 2.5) was before surgery. I'll see what the next

PSA is in 3 months, I guess...

--Steve

>

> A PSA taken shortly after surgery would be meaningless except that

it SHOULD be declining. The best hoped for outcome will be

unmeasurable PSA three months out and thereafter.

>

> Louis. . .

[Guest guest]

I went to Dr. Tewari's office today, to have that catheter out, and

find out my results.

I will say, I got a bit nervous when the nurse-practitioner kept

telling me to lean my hand against the examination table--how tight

was I going to have to " hold on " when she removed the catheter,

anyhow? But she deflated it (well, let the water out that was filling

the internal balloon), told me to take a deep breath, and gently,

firmly, and fairly quickly pulled the thing out.

First, I should say, she lubricated it for an inch or so at the

available end with lidocaine. I'm sure that helped in ways I will

never know.

It felt a little uncomfortabkle when she pulled it. Not as bad as

when the drain was removed from my side (because, mainly, the tube is

shorter). It did make one of the most disgusting noises you will ever

hear. Now I know what a chainsaw feels like.

So far...knock on wood..I've been continent! Even when she pulled the

catheter out, I felt like I would go...but didn't.

So, a few times today, I've been able to urinate normally. Well,

fairly normally. There's a slightly different " feel " to the muscles,

either real or imagined. I've walked 5-1/2 miles, sneezed, coughed,

and even aughed a little. So far...I've remained dry. Of course, I

could wind up going through 15 pairs of absorbent underpants tomorrow,

as I receive my come-uppance...

Numberwise, things were excellent: Lymph nodes and seminal vesicles

were totally clear. The prostate margins are clear. I had cancer in

both lobes, no more than 5% involvement over all. Gleason score

remained 3+3=6.

I'm healing well, the damned " Steri-Strips " are stull stuck to my

abdomen, so I have to patiently wait for them to fall off. I've been

walking up to 9 miles every day (typically between 6 and 9), so I'm

doing well there. My weight leaving the hospital was the same as my

weight entering the hospital, and I'm now 5 lbs lighter. The N/P said

that it was probably " water weight " from all the IV's, but...I still

feel pretty good, overall.

I had some abdominal pain, but she says to expect that for a while;

any pain down there will focus in on the area where I had the

surgery. Except for the two 800mg Ibuprofen/day that I'm prescribed,

I haven't needed to take any other pain meds.

And today, I think (I'm not really sure) I had a slight tumescence.

I'm probably wrong about that, but it gives me hope. I do have to say

though, that things are a little " black and blue " down there (twigs

*and* berries). Well, they've been through hell; they get to take it

easy for a while, anyhow.

For some strange reason, though, my wife doesn't believe me when I

tell her that the n/p said she (she = my wife, not the

nurse/practitioner) should rub lotion on it to help it heal better.

Guys...back me up here.

--Steve

>

> This is probably boring for those who have been through it, but

> maybe there's something here of help to those about to go through

> surgery....