Pre-op

Today is Saturday, the day after Christmas, and there's a rare December thunderstorm booming outside.

On Wednesday I had my pre-op physical at Northwestern. They took my vitals and listened to my chest. They took 6 vials of blood for a ton of tests. They shot an X-ray of my chest.

Apparently I passed the audition. Things are still a Go for Monday. And, a bit of a relief, it turns out I'm supposed to show up at the hospital at 7AM that morning. That's a lot better than the 5:30AM I was expecting.

Happy holidays!

The Calendar

By my original schedule, I expected to be well into the post-surgery recovery phase by today's date.

I was on the calendar with my preferred surgeon, Dr William Catalona at Northwestern Memorial in Chicago, for December 10th. He is the most experienced surgeon for the surgery I require. Not surprisingly, my insurance company wanted me to stay local.

I went back and forth on this with the insurance company for the first two weeks in December, which caused me to miss my original surgery date. Fortunately, I prevailed on appeal, and I'm now back on the calendar with Dr Catalona for next Monday 28 December.

I'll catch a ride up there with three of my daughters on Sunday afternoon, since I need to report to the hospital bright and early(!) at 5:30AM Monday. My daughters will be there to check on me on Monday before they head home again. I expect to catch a ride home myself on Wednesday evening, two days after surgery. Recovery should take an additional 3 to 4 weeks. I plan to be off my day job at the U of I until January 19th.

The quick background on my situation is that I have prostate cancer, but it was caught early, by a blood test (guys, get your PSA checked if you're over 40). A biopsy confirmed it, but there is no indication that it has had a chance to spread yet, as attested by the CT scan and Bone scan that I had right after I was diagnosed. The goal is a surgical cure that removes all affected tissue.

I'll post updates here periodically.

Good News, Bad News

The good news is that my family and friends have rallied together to support a common cause. The bad news is that their common cause is me.

The good news is that my disease was caught early, through routine testing. The bad news is that the disease was there to be found.

The good news is that I'm on the calendar with perhaps the best surgeon *in the world* for this procedure. The bad news is that I need his services.

The good news is that I get a month off of work. The bad news is that I'll need a month off of work to recover.

The good news is that I'm young and healthy; I should have little trouble with the surgery, and side effects are likely to be minimized as a result. The bad news is that I'm young and healthy, and I'd rather the cancer waited another 40 or so years to arrive.

The good news is that the prognosis before surgery is very good, and the goal of treatment is a cure. The bad news is that I have an active imagination that doesn't always work for the forces of good.

The good news is that, with luck, I get to put this behind me as an end-of-2015 thing. The bad news is that this year was going great before I hit this detour.

The good news is that my family and friends have rallied together to support me. I thank you all.