Welcome


Welcome.

When I wrote that banner above, I was just days into this adventure. I'm a pretty analytical guy, and the simple act of writing every day helped me wrap my head around the fact that I had just introduced the word "cancer" into my vocabulary, and it helped me rationalize my treatment options. It also helped keep friends and family informed on my status.

Those daily updates tapered off to weekly updates and eventually to monthly updates (which I continue to do on the 11th of every month, the anniversary date of being told I have cancer).

I've kept this blog going because I remember how helpful it was for me to hear first-hand experiences of other prostate cancer patients. I wanted to return the favor by sharing my own journey in order to educate others and increase prostate cancer awareness.

But I wanted it to be a truthful sharing of details, so you will quickly see that I didn't sugar-coat much of anything. That means that you'll find some pretty graphic descriptions of the male anatomy and biological functions in this blog.

Finally, if you're reading this as a fellow prostate cancer patient, please understand that I am not a medical professional, and you should not construe any of the content of this blog as medical advice. Each case is unique, so please solicit the advice of your own medical team.

I wish you all the best as you go through your own journey.

-- Dan

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Month 32 - Robotic Surgery

Those more astute readers of this blog may have noticed that I've added a new page, "Life After Radical Prostatectomy - 30 Months Later," to give a quick overall update of where I'm at.

Check out the link to the right under the "Pages" section.

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Here's an interesting article about robotic surgery in general, its success, and its complications:

Robotic Surgery

The article is a bit alarmist, highlighting one really bad case, considering the thousands of perfectly good outcomes from a robotic surgery each year.  Still, it is good to see that perspective.

For me, one of the main and obvious take-aways from the article is that the surgeon's experience level using the robot matters.  But then again, I already knew that when I drove myself nuts trying to find the best, most experienced surgeon possible.

If you're having surgery at a teaching hospital, you may want to consider asking if there will be any "student drivers" at the robot's wheel and, if so, for what parts of the surgery.  Because once you're in anesthesia la-la-land, you won't have a clue as to who's doing what to your body.

Bottom line: research, research, research. 

And don't be afraid to question your doctor about his experience level.  If he or she hesitates when answering, or seems offended by the question, it's time to look for another surgeon.  Which surgeon would you choose?  The one who says:

"I've performed 743 radical prostatectomies in the last 6 years, with the last one on last Thursday, and I have a 1.6% complication rate."

Or the one who says:

"Well, um, I really don't keep count, but I'm checked out on the robot and I know what I'm doing."

It's your body.  It's your life.  You have every right to ask those questions before "hiring" your surgeon.

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