First I don;t really know how to navigate these threads, so I ask you all to share this note.
First a thank you to moderators and posters who have been guides and supporters since my DX in July 08. With a son in Iraq at the time and his own family worries, right or wrong I felt my relatives did not need to worry about my condition.
I returned for my first post op visit at Memorial Sloan Kettering and it was made clear that I would see the uro nurse to get the catheter removed and check the wounds. As an obese patient the "minimal" holes were not so minimal as they had a crumbly Casodex embued prostate to take out of a larger than usual whole, stiched back up with Titanium sta[les which they clipped today.
Unexpectedly Dr, Guillonneau who was in the building stopped in and was totally pleased with my progress nine dys after surgery. I was forewarned that the path report might not be ready, so I said "gUESS there is no pathology report to discuss." He smiled and said, "I have the report, but nothing to discuss."
He handed me several pages of pathology reports from Dr. Reuter and explained there was no sign that any cells escaped the prostate, no cancer on the margins and the one lymph node taken out was clean. He explained that 13 months of quarterly Zolodex and daily Casodex made "Gleason readings impossible and meaningless." Re incontinence they gave me three bottles of water and tld me to hang around the building, and within 20 minutes I was "leaking" and actually went to the bathroom and with no straining had a fairly painless pee. Seven hours later the one extra duty pad was only a bit damp. As for ED, "Don't expect much. Hormone therapy often takes a year to wear off and does lots of damage even when we saved the nerves." He wants me on the Caverject once a week and 1/4 Viagara six days a week and full pill once aweel. The nurse constantly fights insurance companies and said "We get supported by Viagara, we get research money from Pfizer, we got loads of samples and discounts for patients, and yet we can't prove to most companies the advantage of Cialis, Levitra, Viagra or one over the other. We have used Viagra the most with few side effects so we use it. Everyone is different but it keeps the blood vessels open and is more likely to help you in the long run."
As a once normal macho male with an ego bigger than the Goodyear Blimp it is tough to admit this, but I will never, ever forgot the relief my wife and I experienced when Dr G said he was encouraged that i would be "clean" for many years. In the scheme of things--and guys--this is just me....the issues of leaky pee and Mr Woody are waaaaay down my list of truly critical concerns.
So...took a cushy car service into Manhattan this morning...and road the rickity subway back to a generous friend's brownstone in Brooklyn this afternoon.....hopefully back to NM in a few days.......Most of you have been down this road....many of you still have unresolved issues....but no matter what this is a powerful friendship we;ve evolved and in this case, you and James et al have eased the ride.
Mbshine
AGE 62
DX 7/08
psa HAD GONE FROM 1.7 TO 4.3 IN THREE YEARS...DIGITAL AND ULTRA SOUND EXAM SHOWED NO ENLARGEMENT.
BIOPSY SHOWED 2 OF 12 CORES POSITIVE.
TWO TUMORS SHOWED GLEASON 4+3 AND 3+4
NO INDICATION OF ESCAPE FROM CAPSULE OR METASTASIS
STARTED CONSULTATIONS AT SLOAN KETTERING 8/09
DR GUILLONNEAU SAID NO SURGERY UNLESS MASSIVE WEIGHT LOSS.
AT DX 333 LBS, SLEEP APNEA, AND HIGH BP
BARIATRIC SURGERY RECOMMENDED.
LAP BAND SURGERY IN EL PASO, TX 1/23/09
10/1/09 276 LBS, TRIGLYC AND CHOL NORMAL, NO SIGNS OF SLEEP APNEA, ONE BP RX REMOVED AND OTHERS CUT DOSAGE IN HALF;
STARTED QUARTERLY ZOLODEX BY TAOS,NM UROLOGIST, WHO TRAINED AT MSKCC, INJECTIONS AND CASODEX 50MG DAILY 9/08
davinci done 10/19/09
Jackson pratt drain removed surgery plus 1 day.
Catheter out 9th day
One heavy duty pad first day without catheter.
PATH MSKCC DR REUTER
GLEASONS CAN NOT BE DETERMINED, HORMONES DRIED PROSTATE
NO SIGN OF ANY CANCER ESCAPING PROSTATE, OR AT MARGIN
NO SIGN OF ANY CANCER IN ONE LYMPH NODE REMOVED
PROGNOSIS EXCELLENT. PSA IN ONEMONTH
THEN SIX MONTHS
THEN ONCE A YEAR OR MORE
ONE VISIT PER YEAR FOR LIFE.