Rendezvous with Destiny

Hi Bill.........I split whatever walking distance I was doing into two sessions; one in the morning, and then one in the early to mid-afternoon. if it was 2 miles, I go 1 + 1, and so forth as I added my distance. Too much at once, and you start to undue the benfits in my opinion, at least this soon after surgery.

Plus, ya gotta have time for those naps!!

Keep getting better.

Arnie

Just received my pathology report today and the news was as good as I could expect - Gleason 6 (no change); gland involvement by carcinoma < 2%; tumor in peripheral zone on BOTH sides; no capsular, extracapsular extension, lymph node, or seminal vesical involvement; and no positive margins.

Last week I was using 8-10 pads/day and this week I'm down to 4-6, so there's good progress on that front as well. Afternoons and evenings are the worst, but I guess the muscle is getting a little tired. When I lay down for a while it kind of reboots and doesn't drip as much. Hopefully, the trend will continue!

I'm walking 1.25 miles twice a day at a 3.5 mph pace and am feeling fine. I figure I'll start trying to push the exercise just a little bit more, but I'll do it gradually.

Bill, this is the first time I read of your journey.  Congratulations on success and I hope you are doing better! 

Aimzee

The incontinence has slowly been improving on a weekly basis. But something a little new occurred this week . I've been doing some strength training on my wife's Total Gym for about a week and a half and have had no problems. My workouts have been the Total Gym and 1.5 miles on the treadmill in the mornings and evenings. I've also been able to do crunchies, but have stayed away from any lower ab exercises. This last Wed, I decided to go to karate. Pretty normal class. Not too strenuous and I cut back on some of the training, especially anything dealing with the lower abs. Then Thu morning another 1.5 miles on the treadmill and the Total Gym. Then Thu evening, uncontrollable shaking and a fever. Lasted all through Fri. Temp reached 102.8 degrees F at one point on Fri. Aspirin helped keep in under control until it broke Fri night. Then this morning, Sat, I noticed blood in my urine. Luckily it's starting to get more clear now. Until today, I was down to a couple pads a day, but I've had to change a couple of times already. I guess the muscles are still tired. I've been doing nothing but relaxing all day today.

I had called my Uro on Fri and they were questioning me about any pain or strange smell while urinating, being concerned about a urinary tract infection. I hadn't noticed any then. But it looks like I've found an exercise threshold and will pare back on for a while before starting up again a little bit more slowly.

Bill

My upside outlook Sat was a little premature. Apparently, the aspirin was still working at the time of my post. The blood in the urine continued through today, as did the fever. I went to my family Dr. and he prescribed Cipro. His thoughts, concurred by the Uro, is that I may have irritated the urinary tract from the over-exercise; probably opened some blood vessels up.

So, I'll stop with the exercise until everything clears up and then give it a go again.

I'm amazed by the folks who tell of going to the gym, 5 miles a day, yard work, etc. shortly after surgery. My doctor was absolute - walk at a reasonable rate all you want, but Nothing Else for two months. It was also in one of the very small print things I was supposed to read and understand for myself, or at least it says that over my signature to get discharged.

Once home, I could not have done any of those things anyway, but...

My suspicion is that because there aren't any gaping scars or evident parts chopped off, the mind wants to believe the trauma is over when we go home. Couldn't be any farther from the truth.

Got the drain put in this last Monday after a considerable coordination effort. It's a catheter hooked to a bag that's attached to my leg. Sound familiar? This time it's draining what's called a lymphocele, which is a sac of lymph fluid. The lymphocele was large enough (6.6 x 5.4 cm) to displace my bladder (probably the reason for the increased incontinence). From what I've read a lymphocele is often the result of a surgical complication or swelling occurring post-op. I'm sure mine is the latter, considering the timing of the symptoms and my increased activity. It's essentially leakage from a lymph vessel; probably the one that was biopsied. But just as the Dr. at Interventional Radiology said, I saw pretty quick results - no more fever, no more pelvic pain, no blood in the urine, and I felt much better (less the discomfort from the drain). I still, however, have the increased incontinence (back up to about 5 pads per day). I have to leave the drain in until I get three consecutive days of less than 20ml (of bright yellow fluid mixed with pus, which apparently caused the fever).

The drain is stiched into my lower left abdomen. I have to care for the wound and flush the catheter daily. I have yet to forget that it's there. There's also a little white tube sticking out that helps to anchor the stiches. Sometimes that pokes me. It was definitely an unpleasant experience getting it put in. No sedative, just a local that didn't seem to numb everything sufficiently. They must have expected that since they restrained my left arm, which was a good thing because there were a number of occaissions where I was really pulling on it.

I read in one of our threads a while back that the current treatments for PCa seemed so primitive. A lot of this stuff seems pretty primitive. Where's the little hand held Star Trek diagnosis/healing device when you need one?

 

Drums

Drums said...
A lot of this stuff seems pretty primitive. Where's the little hand held Star Trek diagnosis/healing device when you need one?

I'm working on it and I've got the exploded hot dogs to prove it.
Jeff

Just wanted to add a quick note of interest. As soon as I restarted my Kegels last Sunday, it seemed like my sphincter rebooted and remembered where it was prior to this whole lymphocele episode. My incontinence went back to about where it had been and my pad usage dropped down to 3 per day from the 5-6 pads per day when I had the lymphocele. Kinda weird.

That is great to hear Drums. Hope they keep rolling on in for you.

Michael

Drums,
Great news on the PSA. Keep 'em coming!