back from vacation and brother's doctor visit today

I am finally back from our trip to see the grand kids in Florida. Spent time on the beach, Legoland, swimming, at the bar, over eating, etc. All together a fun time.

The only bad time was on the flight home yesterday when we got trapped in the American Airlines computer failure. Had a 4 hour delay at DFW with several thousand angry airline passengers. We were luck that our plane was already at the gate with a flight crew on board at the time of the outage so were able to continue after the system came back up.

The only other tragedy was my wife's cellphone. She forgot it was in her shorts pocket when she ran into the surf with our 10 year old grand son (they were playing catch with a football). Poor cell phone was on at the time and hasn't worked since. Guess I now will be "forced" to upgrade both our cell phones to the iPhones I've been wanting to buy. So tragic. :)

On the PC front: today I took my brother to see the Brachy specialist. My brother had a bit of an attitude when we got there (he's tried of seeing doctors) and the first thing he said to the doctor was, "Are we going to do this or not?" All my brother wanted to hear was that they were going to do the seeds. Apparently, while I was on vacation he'd made up his mind that this is the way to go and didn't want to hear any more about it.

The doc did an ultra sound and the prostate wasn't too large and saw no reason why the Brachy wouldn't work just fine. So The doc and I just got down to the scheduling and after care planning. The implant will be May 16 and the doc thinks he might have to send Bill home with a catheter for a day or two but expected that would be the worst of the after care problems.

My brother was very pleased with the doctor and declared, "I like him." So next time I write about my brother it will be to let you know how the procedure went.

What a big relief to have that all decided! i am so glad that he is on board with the treatment plan and likes his doc. Doesn't get much better than that......in this situation. I can actually think of some things that are better but they are kind of the menu so to speak

Good luck!
Chuck

Resident of Highland, Indiana just outside of Chicago, IL.
July 2011 local PSA lab reading 6.41 (from 4.1 in 2009). Mayo Clinic PSA Sept. 2011 was 5.7.
Local urologist DRE revealed significant BPH, but no lumps.
PCa Dx Aug. 2011 at age of 61.
Biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma in 3 of 20 cores (one 5%, two 20%). T2C.
Gleason score 3+3=6.
CT of abdomen, bone scan both negative.
DaVinci prostatectomy 11/1/11 at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), nerve sparing, age 62.
My surgeon was Dr. Matthew Tollefson, who I highly recommend.
Final pathology shows tumor confined to prostate.
5 lymph nodes, seminal vesicles, extraprostatic soft tissue all negative.
1.0 x 0.6 x 0.6 cm mass involving right posterior inferior,
right posterior apex & left mid posterior prostate.
Right posterior apex margin involved by tumor over a 0.2 cm length, doctor says this is insignificant.
Prostate 98.3 grams, tumor 2 grams. Prostate size 5.0 x 4.7 x 4.5 cm.
Abdominal drain removed the morning after surgery.
Catheter out in 7 days. No incontinence, occasional minor dripping.
Post-op exams 2/13/12, 9/10/12, PSA <0.1. PSA tests now annual.
Semi-firm erections now happening 14 months post-op & slowly getting a bit stronger.

David - we were in Bradenton (Tampa Bay) and stayed for awhile in St. Pete's beach. Then my wife and I did a day trip out to Legoland Florida.

I haven't bought a cellphone in 10 years - a little sticker shock here this morning on the price and monthly fees. Still, need it for "work," yeah that's it - I must get a iPhone because I need it for my job.

At this point with my brother we're down to what treatment is doable in his case. We've seen so many doctors that keep saying, "Go see the Brachy guy," that it was a relief to actually talk to the "Brachy Guy." We're now at the, "darn the torpedoes" stage and are on full throttle towards the implant. For now I am just going with my brother's confidence in his choice and the doctor we found. This doc only does brachy and you just get the feeling that this guy knows his stuff (plus when I asked for referrals three Uros and a couple of nurses pointed to this guy as the local expert). He was also very good with my brother - willing to take the time to communicate and showed that he cared about the outcome.

Well, sadly, time to rejoin the working world.

Andrew

Hey Andrew Intheshop
At the last GFMPH at my house Water Guy Terry dropped his cell phone into the toilet. It did not turn on. I put it in a bag of rice and left it on the heat register overnight to dry it out. Sure enough, the next day it worked! And he was able to use it on his return flight.

Now for the rest of the story.... We are big rice eaters and have different types for different meals. A few months ago I found an unlabelled bag in the rice cupboard, threw it in the rice cooker and ate it for two days. You guessed it. It was the rice from the toilet. Bleech!!!

Now for the rest, of the rest, of the story. At GFMPH I gingerly brought up the subject with Water Guy and asked if the phone fell in before, or after, he used it. He told me "Before". Just as I was sighing with relief one of the guys said: "But that was after 18 other guys had used it!"
Bleech!!! Bleeech!!!

It was white, not brown, rice.
Jeff

Today I am off to a workshop with my marquetry club and plan to take pictures with my new toy.

 

I use the camera on my iphone5 more than  any other camera .

ed