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

Monday, November 22, 2010

Day 12 - Routine

I’m not sure what happened last night, but I was back to tossing and turning for some reason.  I looked at the clock: 1:33 AM.  Then again: 3:40 AM.  Hopefully there won’t be a repeat tonight.
Today was a great day at work.  I was very focused for the first time in a long time.  The thoughts of cancer remain ever-present, but now they’re not predominating every moment as they were a week ago.
I did, however, take some time over lunch to hop onto our health insurance provider’s website to check to see if the surgeons being recommended to me are part of our plan.  They are.  That’s always a good thing.
I tried contacting the surgeon who operated on our VP (the coworker I spoke with on Friday) but only got the squealing of a fax modem.  I’ll have to find his right phone number and try again. 
Last Friday, I was speaking to a different coworker and learned that his father had had prostate cancer and underwent a robotic radical prostatectomy several years earlier.  He offered to ask his father who his surgeon was, and I found out today that it was the same surgeon that my urologist recommended.  The outcome was successful.  My coworker’s father offered to talk to me about it if I want, and I will probably take him up on his offer soon.
I need to prepare a list of questions for the surgeon (and my coworker’s father), just as I did for the visit to the urologist.  For me, it really helps to have them written down because I’ll likely forget one or two if the conversation goes off on a tangent.
Another reason today was such a great day was the weather.  It’s a balmy 70 degrees at 7:30 PM which is highly unusually for this time of year.  Rather than drive home for lunch, I walked the mile to my house, enjoying the warm southerly breeze along the way.
Right after work, I drove to Jungle Jim’s Market in Cincinnati to pick up some landjägers (German salami sticks) for Thanksgiving with my sister and her family.  (Didn’t you know… There were a couple of Germans that came over on the Mayflower in 1620!!)  It’s kind of a family tradition for the holidays…
Well, time to pay the next medical bill that arrived in the mail today…
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