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, March 11, 2013

Month 28 - Surprises

So this month I had two surprises related to my surgery and its outcome...

The first came in the mail.

Remember that my surgery was on 4 January 2011...  This week I received a bill for the anesthesiologist, which I thought was odd.  I dug through my financial records and found that I paid them back in March of 2011, so I called my insurance provider to see if they had any insight.

It appears that I had more than one person assisting and this was the bill for the second person (that apparently had gotten mired up in some administrative red tape).  I also called the anesthesiologist's office, and they're digging into what happened, too.

Lesson learned:  Keep good records of all your health insurance transactions and be ready to question anything.

The second surprise...  Well, it requires my standard "Biology Ahead" warning:

BIOLOGY AHEAD


With only one nerve bundle remaining, my return to full sexual function has been slow.  Still, it's been steadily getting better over the last two years. 
 
This week, I achieved what I would consider to be a full erection good enough for penetrative sex.  And that was without any chemical assistance--no Cialis or Viagara!
 
Once does not a trend make, but it was encouraging to see that the progress continues.  Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
 
So that's about it for this update.  Best of luck to one of my readers as he nears his treatment option decision point.  I'm sure he'll select what's best for him and his circumstances after doing his research.

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