Straight from the Brachytherapy trenches today

Greetings all,

Did not one to be one of those guys that just disappeared after he sucked a bunch of valuable info from y'all. After several months of thought, research, agony, angst, resignation, elation, analysis, consideration, concern and new marriage.....I decided on BT at Chicago Prostate with Dr. Brian Moran and my procedure was completed this morning. All of my interactions to date with the Dr. and all of the staff at this place have been exceptional. I'm really not a big fan of a lot of the medical community based on many experiences in multiple arenas, especially in the administrative realm, but this place is hands down the best experience I can remember. They were organized, attentive, patient, caring and humorous. Calls were returned and scheduled appointments were punctual. Most of my health care experiences are with big Chicago institutions so I'm not sure if it's a result of the discrepancy in pay between city and suburban staffing (this center is in Westmont, about 15 miles west of Chicago). I suspect, however, it has much more to do with the type of operation run by Dr. Moran. He's seems like a dynamo that is involved in most aspects of the practice. From what I've read, his original inspiration comes from having testicular cancer at 17. Maybe it takes something like that for a professional to be driven to run their business without all the BS. Anyhow, I'm starting to sound like a paid shill for the clinic but I can assure you I'm not.

Here's today's timetable:
-Arrive with wife 8AM. Immediately ushered in to change clothes and sign docs. Nurse begins taking temp and BP and answers any questions she can.
-8:30AM move to pre op IV prep and Moran comes in and patiently answers all of mine and wife's list of questions. He's already done 3 complete procedures this AM before me. They say he's done more BT's than anyone in the country, and I believe it. Anesthesiologist enters and describes his procedure and answers questions.
-9AM Into the operating room for complete sedation and procedure. 82 Titanium encased Palladium pellets. Half life of 17 days.
-10:15 AM awake and lucid with loving wife and no pain. (No local anesthetic was given). Taken by extremely thorough Russian radiologist for CT and XRay. She shows me amazing shots of the 82 seeds and counts them all to play it safe. Moran checks in and says all went perfectly and answers any more questions and describes follow up and meds. Also adds that I can swim, ride my bike and be in close contact with my grand kids and pregnant daughter in law in a much shorter time frame than originally anticipated. We were originally assuming it would be the iodine seeds that have a much longer half life (60 days).
-Noon eating lunch at a local diner with the wife and then clothes and grocery shopping on a lovely Chicago Indian Summer afternoon.
-Home to a relaxing evening with an outdoor fire, delicious dinner and a movie on the couch. Peeing a lot. Nothing incredibly urgent, just frequent. No other side effects. Wife sees no signs of the 20 needles that were stuck in my perineum and I feel no irritation or pain what so ever.

I don't want to get cocky (LOL) but this was really a far less painful procedure than my vasectomy or even most dental visits. I know very well that I'm in for years of monitoring and possible side effects down the road but all I can report is how I feel now and hope the future is kind to me and mine.

Peace
Jay (Klaats) in Chicago

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Hey Klaats:

I'm glad things went so well and I wish you all the best.  I'm almost a year out now and everything still works like it should...I trust your SE's will be as boring as mine!  Please either stick around or drop in from time to time and let us know how you are doing.

All the best,

Tudpock

Thanks for such an informative post. While I'm just beginning my journey, I'm leaning towards BT and appreciate your post and perspective. All the best to you!

Glad it still going so well for you.

This is great news. I am glad that thigs are going so very well for you. Do keep us posted. Info like this is so very important for the newbes looking for info and different choices of treatment. Thanks for helping the board.

Jeff T