We also live in Cary. My husband had surgery and radiation in 2009 at UNC, Chapel Hill. His surgeon and urologist was Dr. Wallen. We were extremely pleased with him. His radiologist was Dr. Chen, who...
Beth, As far as getting someone to occasionally spell you at night, ask hospice. My friend was caring for her husband who was under hospice care at home and she had to be away. She mentioned it to...
I am also a SHIIP volunteer in NC. I want to comment on one post where the person said he does not have a Part D plan. This is a risky strategy, because if you need to add Part D at a later date, you...
My husband has a similar story. He had DaVinci in 2010, followed by radiation. In April he tripped while walking and broke his shoulder. When the orthopedist saw his x-ray he said he guessed that my...
You will need to check with Medicare to see if the VA drug plan is considered creditable coverage. If not, I suggest enrolling in the least expensive Part D plan (since I think you said you don't...
We had the same thing at UNC 6 years ago when my husband had surgery. We saw the doctor for follow-up PSAs in a medical building that was about 10 miles from the hospital, yet we had to pay an...
Medicare doesn't cover travel outside the US. Some of the medicare supplement plans (which you don't have) cover limited out of the country travel. I also buy travel insurance from Geoblue for each...
At UNC Chapel Hill when my husband's radiation was completed, he hit a large gong which was located between the check-in desk and the waiting room....
I thought I just posted a reply, but don't see it. Dr. Wallen did my husband's surgery in 2010 and we were very pleased. He has lots of experience, has a good personality and spent as much time as we...
Bohemond - something doesn't sound right. I live in NC and input Xtandi 40 mg, 120/month and Zytiga, 250 MG, 120/month and selected 3 random drug plans. For each of them those drugs were tier 5...
Just a warning about drug coverage.....make sure you input the drugs you are on, or know that you may be on, into the medicare.gov site when selecting an advantage plan or a drug plan. Although plans...
My husband had DaVinci 5 years ago at UNC Chapel Hill. His surgeon was Dr. Eric Wallen. We couldn't have been more pleased. My husband had AR after surgery and he used Dr. Ronald Chen, also at UNC,...
There are at least two ways to find out what plans are available in your geography: 1) go to medicare.gov; click on "find a medicare and drug plan". You will be asked for your zip code and age, etc....
My advice would be to get the most comprehensive coverage through original medicare and a supplement Plan F. The potential issue with medicare advantage is that you have to stay in the network (with...
Every state has a program called SHIP (Senior Health Information Program), run by the Dept of Insurance. All of the counselors are volunteers. If you have any questions about medicare, medicare...
My husband's numbers were similar to your husband's; we are just 4 years ahead of you. After ART, my husband's surgeon and RO alternated visits. (They were at the same hospital.) So at 3 months he...
My husband had surgery 4 1/2 years ago, so I don't remember all of the details of what I bought ahead of time, and I'm sure the guys on the forum will help you out. What I do remember is that we used...
David, A friend's husband was just diagnosed with osteophytes. I read a link on it and sounded to me a lot like your leg pain. I copied this brief paragraph, but there is a lot more on-line to be...
I suggest you contact your state's SHIP (Senior Health Information Program) program. (I am a volunteer in NC.) SHIP is a free service for seniors where we will guide you through the medicare decision...
My husband was high risk in 2010 and he was treated at UNC, Chapel Hill. He used Dr. Wallen for surgery and Dr. Chen for adjuvent radiation. We were very pleased with both doctors and the...
I'm a wife and a lurker, but I wanted to help answer your question. If you go to medicare.gov and click on something like "finding a plan D" on the right side, you can put in the drugs you take and...
My husband had prostate cancer, and although I can't address genetic testing for prostate cancer, I did have it for breast cancer. I used Myriad Labs. They will check with your insurance company...
Dr. Eric Wallen, UNC Chapel Hill. We just made sure that he would be doing the surgery and not a resident. We were very happy with him....
My husband developed psoriasis about 30 years before prostate cancer. The interesting thing is that after his DaVinci surgery in March his psoriasis got much better. He mentioned it to his surgeon...
My husband's next PSA(the first post radiation) is the end of October and we are both anxious about it already. I guess its something we have to learn to live with for a long time to come. Low...
My husband will be finishing with his radiation (after surgery) in a week and a half. He is due to have his 6 month PSA a couple of weeks after that, but we are thinking of moving it up as we want to...
My husband had a problem with heartburn post surgery. His doctor suggested Pepcid and Tums. The heartburn eventually went away, but I don't remember how long it took - maybe a week or so....
My husband's oncologist suggested early in the morning to avoid delays that occur later in the day. He has an 8:30 appt. It takes us 35 minutes to get there, but we leave about 7:00, get to the...
My husband just completed treatment #14, out of 37 and today is having a burning feeling in the area of the rectum. Have any of you had that and if so, what can be done to relieve it. We see the...
My husband will have to have radiation for a positive margin also and I wondered how they know where to target the radiation in the prostate bed. We haven't met with the radiologist yet. Are you...
We received the hard copy of Harvey's post op path report today and it says his prostate weighed 72.1 grams. I am sure at the time of the biopsy in December it weighed 32 grams and we were told it...
We got my husband's pathology results today and it appears that the cancer was not contained in the prostate as the doctor had expected. We haven't seen the pathology report yet; just a phone call,...
Heard back from the doctor. He said heartburn is common after surgery, especially since he has been sleeping a lot lying down and not eating much. The doc said they gave him pepcid in the hospital...
Did anyone experience heartburn days after surgery? My husband had surgery 3 days ago, has hardly eaten anything since then and is suffering from terrible heartburn, which is unusual for him. I'm...
My husband had daVinci surgery Tuesday and we came home from the hospital today. When the surgeon came to see me after the surgery I am sure he said Harvey should do Kegels with the catheter in. Did...
Thank you to everyone for all of your ideas. Alice...
Another silly question...is the bag attached to the thigh or to the ankle? Thanks again. Alice...
I read on this forum that some men recommended wearing sweatpants while you have the catheter, as they are baggy and comfortable. Also, they recommended the kind with the zipper on the leg for easy...
Sorry I didn't include my husband's stats: Age 60 No history of PCa in family Treated for prostatitis since 2007 PSA 4.5 Biopsy 12/09: 8/12 had cancer 5% - 50% Gleason 6 daVinci scheduled for 3/9/10...
I have been reading these posts for the last two months, however this is my first post. My husband will be having daVinci surgery in two weeks. Is there anything you suggest I/we do before the...