Day 51 - Y2K Rerun

Think back 11 years ago to December 31, 1999 and how everyone was stockpiling things in anticipation of the world coming to a halt as we knew it because computers around the world would crash, wreaking havoc upon all civilization…  My shopping cart at Kroger this morning looked a bit like that of one of those panicky Y2K-ers.

I stocked up on all of the essentials in anticipation of my being housebound for two to three weeks.  All of the items were nonperishable (paper towels, Kleenex, laundry detergent, etc.) or canned goods.  I’ll hold off on buying fresh foods till Monday morning.  Now, if I need someone to run to the grocery store for me, it will only be for a few fresh things—loaf of bread, bunch of bananas, etc.

*             *             *

About 4:00 PM yesterday afternoon, I called Dr. Cincy’s office to confirm the surgery preps one last time, and I asked if Dr. Cincy could call me at his convenience sometime between then and when he stuck a knife in me next week.  The last time we talked, I felt as though we left the lymph node removal discussion open, so I wanted to make sure that he and I were on the same page (remove them).

At 9:00 AM this morning, my home phone rang and it was Dr. Cincy calling from his home to answer my questions and review what was going to be done during the operation.  Yes, I selected the right surgeon.

*             *             *

We had remarkably warm weather here today—in the mid 60’s!!  On New Year’s Eve!  I cleaned the salt and dirt out of the garage from the snow that melted off my vehicles, and I ran one of them through the car wash.  Of course, an hour later, it’s getting rained on.  Oh well.  At least all the salt and road grime are off it.

I decided to make a dry run to the hospital this afternoon just to be sure that I knew the tricks of how to get there, much like an expectant father rehearses before the delivery.  Don’t expect a birth announcement, however…  “Dan delivered a 45g tumor at 3:45 PM…”

*             *             *

Finally, it will be a quiet New Year’s Eve here, and that’s the norm for me.  I’m not much of a reveler when it comes to ringing in a New Year.  Turn on the television about 5 minutes before the big moment, watch the ball drop in Times Square, and call it a night.  Woo-hoo!  J

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011! 

Happy New Year!

Day 50 - Green Light



All systems ”Go.”  The CT scan, X-ray, and physical all came out fine, so I’ve been given the green light to go ahead with the surgery next week.

You would have thought coming out of the doctor’s office after the physical, that I would have been relieved and upbeat.  I wasn’t expecting the, “Oh, s**t, this is really happening…  SOON!” reaction.  It was as though someone instantly turned up the anxiety knob.  My life is about to be irreversibly changed forever.  Oh crap.

I try to remember the key four-letter word in that last paragraph: Life.  I’m doing this to extend my life as long as possible, but the reality of all of the changes that will be coming make keeping that perspective a challenge.

That said, as the surgery grows closer, I am being optimistic about the outcome, but I’m also being pragmatic about it as well.

To me, the surgery is only the first step in becoming cancer-free.  Just because the prostate is yanked out doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be cancer free.  The same thing applies to any lymph nodes that may be taken during the surgery.  The only thing the surgery will tell us is how far the cancer has gone, and we’ll have to wait a week or so to get the pathology results back on the prostate and lymph nodes before we even know that answer.

Even if the pathology comes back negative for positive margins (meaning no cancer cells at the incision point), or if the lymph nodes are negative, I’ll still have another step to take before knowing that I’m cancer-free.  That’s waiting the 8-12 weeks for the post-surgery PSA test.

So while I’m confident the mechanical part of the surgery will go as planned without complications, you probably won’t see me popping champagne corks or doing a little celebratory jig until sometime in April.

*             *             *

You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t commented much about my sleeping pattern lately.  That’s because it’s actually been quite good.  Except for one weird thing.

On those nights when I do wake up in the middle of the night, nine times out of ten (check my spreadsheet!), it’s between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM (mostly between 1:00 AM and 1:30 AM).    Weird, huh?  I think so.

It doesn’t seem to be tied to running to the bathroom or what time I go to bed; nor can I think of any external influence that’s causing it—furnace kicking in, neighbor coming home, train passing through town three blocks away, etc.  It’s not every night that it happens, but when it does, it’s usually at that time.  In fact, two nights I rolled over and looked at the clock and it was 1:09 AM.  Both times.  (Cue the “Twilight Zone” theme…)

The good news is that I can fall back asleep in short order after looking at the clock and saying, “One o’clock again…”

Just a meaningless observation…

Day 49 - More Running

The appointment I had this morning was with my local urologist, but his office here in town was booked this week, so I had to drive the 50 minutes to see him in his Cincinnati office. 

We chatted about the differing views that the surgeons had regarding the lymph nodes and he agreed with Dr. Cincy—take ‘em out and make sure there’s no cancer in them.  (I didn’t tell him which doctor recommended what.)

We also talked about some intermittent discomfort I’ve been having in my back near the left kidney (the one that produced the kidney stone almost six years ago).  He ordered an x-ray and CT scan just to take a look and see.  If there is any sign of a kidney stone, they would want to deal with that before doing the surgery.

He asked if I could do the scan this afternoon, and I said, “Yep.  This is at the top of my priority list right now.”  However, I was looking forward to playing in Cincinnati this afternoon.  He scheduled the scan back here at the hospital at home, so that meant driving the 50 minutes back to get the scan.

Fortunately, the Radiology department at the hospital wasn’t busy, and I was in and out of there in less than half an hour.  The CT scan technician hinted that he didn’t see anything, but the radiologist would review the scans and have the results tomorrow.

After the scan, I returned home for lunch.  As I sat there, munching on my spinach and spring greens salad (turning over a new dietary leaf!), I thought, I’m going to go out and play.  Back in the car and back to Cincinnati to do the things that I planned on doing before the CT scan got in the way.

So now I’m back home to a pile of stuff that I’ll tackle in the morning before my final pre-surgery physical tomorrow afternoon.