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Decided on surgery.

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Posted 5/17/2012 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
After analyzing, over-analyzing, and beating it to death, I've decided to go with open surgery. It's scheduled for June 28th, so I'll take any prayers anyone is willing to give.

Charles
Posted 5/17/2012 1:45 AM (GMT 0)
I'm very willing!
You have my prayers starting now.
Congrats on arriving at a decision, I know for me it made a huge difference in my mental health.
Jeff
Posted 5/17/2012 2:04 AM (GMT 0)
Charles,

Prayers and best wishes to you.

Kathy
Posted 5/17/2012 2:37 AM (GMT 0)
Charles,

Congratulations on making the big, agonizing decision. We've all been there.

open surgery ain't that bad, so try not to stress out about it too much. The catheter is a drag, but you'll live through it.

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend reading the really useful list before surgery. It's really useful, and you'll learn helpful hints your doctor won't think to tell you about. Really.

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=1717641

Good luck with the surgery, and give us a holler when you're on "the other side."

Jonathan
Posted 5/17/2012 3:04 AM (GMT 0)
Glad you made a decision. That's the important part.

It's worked for a lot of guys so I am sure you'll do just fine.

You're on my prayer list,
Andrew
Posted 5/17/2012 3:49 AM (GMT 0)
There, that wasn't that hard was it ? Now that you have made the decision, never look back. You may hear someone say I chose seeds,or I chose proton therapy, etc. Doesn't matter anymore. You have chosen surgery

You have about a month to get ready. Maybe drop a few pounds, exercise, and get your body in the best shape you can. It wil make recovery a ot easier.

Looking froward to hearing from you after your organ donation

Goodlife
Posted 5/17/2012 3:58 AM (GMT 0)
      prayers and good wishes to you..... I am 3 weeks out from surgery and all kool .... you will be cutting down trees before you know it ..... god bless
Posted 5/17/2012 4:27 AM (GMT 0)
Charles --- good on you for making this courageous decision. You'll be delighted and amazed how well it all goes.

And, with all due respect to Jazzman, I loved the catheter. Oh sure, it was a bother, but I loved being able to drink like a fish, and then sleep all night! Matter of fact, first time I'd been able to sleep for 8/10 hours without having to get up in years.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless
Posted 5/17/2012 4:32 AM (GMT 0)
Best wishes Charles, I had open surgery a bit over 2 years ago and am glad I went that way. Take your time during recovery and don't push it.





Oh and Sheldon, I thought I was the only one that loved that snake. For much the same reasons, 8-9 straight hours of sleep . . . . . Wonderful!!!
Posted 5/17/2012 5:01 AM (GMT 0)
Charles -- I bet you are at peace now having made the decision. I remember after going back and forth between seeds and surgery and agonizing over it ... once I finally made the decision - I was at peace about it. Good Luck and prayers coming your way - especially on the 28th.
Posted 5/17/2012 11:47 AM (GMT 0)
I am just recovering from my surgery, it was last Thursday. it is going well, Slower then i would like but progressing. Cathater comes out on Monday. my prayers are with you.
Posted 5/17/2012 12:21 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for the well wishes. I'm not sure what's wrong this morning. I thought that once I made my decision, my mood swings would settle down, but I'm feeling really edgy and depressed this morning. That's turning out to be the hardest part for me. I'm not used to these mood swings.

Charles
Posted 5/17/2012 12:25 PM (GMT 0)
Charles,
Prayers coming your way for a successful surgery, quick recovery and best outcome after surgery.
Posted 5/17/2012 1:07 PM (GMT 0)
I do think people usually feel better after making their decision. It worries me that you are "edgy and depressed".

Funny when I was trying to make my decision, my wife said let's flip a coin. I said that that's no way to decide a serious matter. She said well, if it come up "X" either you'll say say "Oh good that's what I wanted." or you'll say "Darn, I was hoping for the other choice", then you'll know what you should do. Just be sure this is what you want to do. You have time and there are no do-overs.

Best of luck to you. A year from now it will all be a memory.
Posted 5/17/2012 1:09 PM (GMT 0)
Charles, not surprising, at least to me, that you've still got mood swings. You've been on a whipsaw and in my case I was pretty whipped until my last conversation with the surgeon, perhaps a week before the surgery. That conversation settled me down and I went off to be pruned as happy as if I was going to a ball game. (For full disclosure, I'm not much of a sports fan --- never could understand why people would care that my paid players from somewhere else are better than your paid players who are also from somewhere else and not your home town/city --- so 'happy' here is a bit conditional on circumstances.)

I think you'll find as the date for surgery gets closer, your mood swings will have increasingly less amplitude.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless
Posted 5/17/2012 1:58 PM (GMT 0)
Charles, I certainly join the others in wishing you good luck.  But...do I recall that you are the man with a low PSA, had a saturation biopsy that showed only 1 sample with less than 5% cancer and a Gleason 6?  If so, did you take the time to have your slides read by an expert to make sure you really have cancer?  Or did you consider the excellent suggestion made by one of our former moderators that you wait a few months and then have another saturatin biopsy to see what shows up?

I really don't mean to rain on your parade but there are no do-overs here.  And sorry if I offend anyone by not sounding supportive.  The decision really isn't made until you go under the anesthesia and due diligence is very, very important.

Tudpock (Jim)

Posted 5/17/2012 2:05 PM (GMT 0)
Glad you arrived at a decision. Now, spend the time waiting in exercising and gaining some strength, endurance and toning, if you don't already do so on a regular basis. Maybe lose a few pounds, and if available- make love as often as possible, make sure you have all your 'support staff' up to date and aware of their role in this deal. There's several threads here to help you and them to prepare for that day and to cope with anything afterwards, so look around. One is at the top of the page, as a sticky, about things I wish I knew--- make use of it. Oh, by the way, the wife was just telling me a couple nights ago that my open incision had faded, and all she could see was the place where they had put in the seepage pump, and it was almost gone, also. Oh, remind us a day or two before you go in, so we can be waiting for your return.
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