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Monthly Archives: June 2011
PSA Update: 06/28/2011
I have GREAT NEWS to report! The PSA results are in, and they are: 0.1 ng/ml
And this is exactly what doc Chan had told me to expect. Since reality can be different than the dream state I currently reside, I was waiting for some awful scenario to make itself known. But instead I got this wonderful news that the surgery was a complete success. Yay!
Here is the stuff that caused me great consternation: the IF’s.
- IF the surgery successfully removed ALL of the cancer-laden prostate
- IF the cancer had not spread to a distant organ
- IF the blood test came back negative for PSA
- IF I was now “cancer free”
then and only then would I have a PSA in the nearly undetectable arena of zero-point-something instead of the upward trending #’s I was accustomed to seeing.
So, here I am happily typing away this entry and letting you know that the numbers of 0.1 ng/ml substantiate Dr. Chan’s claim of “I got it all”. Meaning the cancer is gone. Meaning…..all I need to do now is get myself healed up. And it is true, I can finally relax and get on with life. Get back to living and doing that thing I do.
Thanks for your interest and positive thoughts, they helped!
A Failure to Communicate
Famous Quotation: “What we have here, is a failure to communicate” Can you guess where that line came from? Anyone? Beuller?? Leave your comments below.
This “failure to communicate” on this site is very one-sided. It’s all me spewing verbiage about how things are going in my life and all that. Well, I am not one to apologize for the way things are; so let’s get this started.
May 20th, just 27 days ago, my physical being changed. Got a faulty part removed. The doc said to do it, and he did it. Easy. Right? Nope. Perhaps the extraction was easy (for him), and I guess since all I did was sleep through the entire procedure, the operation was pretty easy for me too. But I am here to tell you, robot assisted laparoscopic removal or not, healing might be the toughest part!
Oh sure, doc said to “the first week, aspire to nothing” (don’t do a thing) and live “a sedentary lifestyle”. Light activities, no lifting, and don’t cough either! The key here is to let the parts and pieces fall back into place and re-connect the way they were before they were surgically violated. Be a good patient and just focus on healing.`
And I gotta tell you, I am a really good patient! You want sedentary? I got that. You want my aspirations to be zero? I can do that too. Didn’t cough or sneeze or lift a finger (thank you Renee!), no not at all. The surgery felt like a punch in the gut, and it was simple to stay “sedentary” that first week.
The second week was easier. The pain was significantly less. I was given a green light for walking. Even VERY LIGHT (less than ten pounds) lifting was authorized. So I walked. Miles at a time, I walked. Since my bladder is still learning how to do its job again, my only constraint was: where is the next toilet? First trip out was around the block, next time it was three and a half miles, next trip about a mile, next trip seven and a quarter miles, and the latest trip was about two miles. Yes, I am good at walking!
Week three was more of the same. Just tried to eat and drink anything that would help me get strong. And sleep too. And I walked some more.
Now I am working on week number four; post surgery. Day 27. More walking and now I am working angled push-ups (using the countertop) into my day and really easy leg-ups. I don’t think I’ll be doing much more until the next visit to the doctor…..which is in twelve days.
And this is what it has all come down to. June 28th is find-out-how-surgery-went Day. One week prior to 6/28 I let the vampires have a go at my veins to draw some blood, then have it checked for PSA numbers.
PSA is Prostate Specific Antigen. If you have a prostate (and are more than 16 years old), you have evidence of it pulsing inside your veins with every beat of your heart in the form of PSA numbers. Detectable amounts are always there, unless you DON’T have a prostate. Like me. And when the PSA levels are measured on June 21st and the results are communicated to me on June 28th, they should be REALLY LOW. If they are, the recent surgical procedure can be deemed a clinical success. Only then will the balloons and confetti fly, champagne with lots of toasting, and speeches and dinners, vacations, etc….all that. Good news like this should come with a parade. Or at least a party!!
If not. It would be a bad sign. The reality is, if PSA numbers are remotely similar to what they were prior to the surgery, the cancer may have spread to another area. Even though the prostate has been removed, the misbehaving cellular activity from the originating cells may continue from their new home (in a kidney or liver or ??). And there we go with the “watchful waiting” and possibly more “treatments”. Ugh.
This may be why I have been a little quiet lately. I’ve been a little distracted…..so that needs to change. I think I’ll just start looking forward to a party!
Break out the comfy shoes!
When I woke up today and checked the weather, the Weather Guesser said it was going to be nice. So I ran a System Check on my body and found it to be fully functional and ready for just about anything (Dr’s blessing is on anything active without heavy lifting. No running. Please walk; often). And shoes? Oh yeah, I’ve got those. So I felt good, the weather was going to be nice, and the shoes are ready. What to do, what to do?
You KNOW I got those shoes laced up and went for a walk, right?!
Departure time: 11:40
First stop, the Post Office. I’ve had this bill to mail for at least a week but it just sat waiting for me to do something about it. So I did something about it and dropped it at the Post Office.
Next stop, StarBucks. It was right across the street from the Post Office so why not? I missed my morning coffee and the lack-of-caffeine-headache was settling in for a spell. As it attempted to gain a foothold, I was going to do my best to beat it into submission. And my effort worked! The coffee was good enough to bring relief, and I was on my way to the next spot on the map.
Where to? Hmm, the paint store was not on the list but as you walk by a place, it takes a while to get from one end of the parking lot to the other, and I’ll be danged if I didn’t think of a project requiring some paint before I concluded my jaunt across the parking lot. Enter the store, talk to the guy, blend it, buy it, and off I go to the next place.
That’s when I got to my actual destination: Windmill Nursery. This was the place I wanted to go, but didn’t think I would actually get there. It is quite a way down the street and I couldn’t be certain I would feel up to the challenge. They have the best plants and ideas for planting plants there….and I just love the place. I found a green Lace Leaf Japanese Maple to buy next time I feel rich. It is perfectly formed and nicely large but priced to stay at the store. If I find an ad with a discount for Japanese Maples for these guys, it will be mine!
And then I hoofed it home.
Arrival time: 2:10
Good thing I had some comfortable shoes waiting for me in the garage, this would be a real test for anything less.
I’ll figure out the mileage and post the update shortly.
And here is the distance covered: 7.26 miles.
17 Days
I have been in post-surgery full-on recovery mode for seventeen days. Surgery was May 20th and taking it easy with light exercise and lots of “watching the grass grow” is the new normal for me. And I usually eat with “health” in mind (fruits and veggies along with loads of fiber) and my eating habits have only slightly changed to incorporate “probiotics” into my system via a drink called Kefir.
Kefir is this so-called drinkable yogurt manufactured by a company named LifeWay, and it is delicious! I think the flavor I am working on right now is Lowfat Pomegranate. The theory of drinking this stuff is all about balancing a person’s intestinal “flora”; or the good bacteria naturally residing inside the intestines. When a person is given powerful antibiotics to ward off post-surgical infection this flora is killed off. And it really needs to get back in there! The old saying “time heals all wounds” comes into play here and the flora will grow back without any interference or outside assistance. But, when you know a thing and have an opportunity to fix what’s broken, why not fix that thing? So I drink Kefir.
Here’s a little blurb from the site at LifeWay: “A good remedy for digestive problems such as colitis and IBS, and is particularly helpful in reestablishing necessary intestinal microflora that may have been destroyed by antibiotic or other medical treatment.”
As a little aside: I ran into these guys from LifeWay a few years back when looking for a new stock for my portfolio. They trade on the NASDAQ as LWAY and did me proud for about a year and a half garnering a 25% pop. Delicious products and a stock brokers dream too….who knew?!
So, 17 days later…what is going on? I pee a lot. But you know what? I pee in a toilet! Why is that news? Because after a radical prostatectomy incontinence is normal. As a matter of fact, I have to go right now. Back in a minute. {a short time later} OK, I’m back. So incontinence, or the inability to control the flow/leakage of urine, was a huge fright for me. I didn’t want to be THAT guy…..you know, the old guy at the grocery store wearing the really big clown pants, smelling as if he just left a park bench, and buying a box of Depends. I did NOT want to be that guy….for obvious reasons. And I am not. Thenk Yew!
And what else is going on? I miss my wife being home (she stayed home from work during the first week) and really wish I could sleep during the day. Maybe if I didn’t have my morning coffee I could pull that off. But I do love my coffee! Probably won’t be napping anytime soon.
Success! Long walk attained
if you recall all the way back ONE DAY, your hero (me) had tried to get out for a walk. It was going to be a long walk and since it would be my first walk, I was going to take however long it took. Well, that effort was thwarted by science, and I vowed to fight again another day. And that day happened to be today.
I walked for 70 minutes and went to Raley’s, our local supermarket. How far did I go? 4 miles. How long did it take? 70 minutes.
I won’t get any awards for speed or distance, but I was quite happy with the effort.
The Plan
One of my riding cohorts, a friend from way back in High School, asked about the plan to get myself back to health, what is my diversion (this bLog is my diversion!), and what about the bike? I am happy to report, I do have a plan. I want to begin that plan. Must begin that plan.
Here is the “plan” for recovery:
- May 31 – remove catheter, re-learn bladder control, light exercise/walking, no heavy lifting
- June 07 – commence driving, continue exercise with lifting restrictions
- June 20 – PSA test
- June 28 – visit Dr Chan for review – permission to ride my bike
IF everything goes as planned, I will be riding again by month end (June 28). Endorphins await!
Oh sure, there is more to it than what I have written here. Good sleep, eat loads of veggies and not much meat, drink plenty of fluids, and try to follow doctor’s orders. Other than that, I’m just taking it easy and allowing my body to heal….and that takes time.
The View from my chair
Jessie surveys her kingdom
I’m sitting out on the back patio watching my cat do what it is she does. And it struck me; we have a nice looking backyard!
UPDATE: 11:25 am. Rain. It is June 1st and raining. Hard!
Weird weather.
#2 UPDATE: 3:25 pm. Lightning, thunder, and more rain. It is pouring!
Long walk; thwarted.
I got cleared yesterday for “normal” activities. No heavy lifting or hard efforts, no bicycle riding, and I still can’t drive. But I could go about my business and finally move around without that crazy bag attached at the bladder. YAY!
So the plan today was to walk. The PLAN was to walk for about an hour then come home to rest up for another walk a little later in the day. Oh, how WRONG could I be??
I slipped on my walking shoes for the first time since May 19th, and they felt goooood. Adjust the tongue, tighten the laces, and I am SO outta here. The door closes behind me and it is one foot in front of the other….for about 20 yards. That’s when I noticed a little hitch in my get-along.
“Ah, it’ll work itself out” I think. And it does. Or does it?
Clouds are piled high in the sky and I’m thinking the weather-guessers are going to earn their pay for today’s forecast. Rain in the afternoon might actually come true. Good for them.
The road stretches out in front of me and I am well on my way past the first ten minutes of walking. Man, this feels great! I’m off work, getting healthy, and going for a walk. It couldn’t get better than this, could it?
Nope, it gets worse….almost immediately.
I’m taking an antibiotic called Cipro. That’s short for Ciprofloxacin. In spite of it being an awesome, top-of-the-chart antibiotic, it has a myriad of side effects. As far as I am concerned the worst of the side effects is: diarrhea. Ugh. Miserable.
So I’m walking like a man recently freed from prison, stepping out like the cares of my world have been lifted, and I am seriously enjoying the outdoor life, and the stomach cramp hits me like a punch in the gut. Knowing it takes a few minutes to become all-encompassing, I look around and note I am exactly half-way from home. The walk has taken me twelve minutes to get where I am right now, and I have maybe five minutes before the dreaded Cipro side-effect reaches critical mass. 5 minutes before I crap my pants!
Now I am walking like a man with a mission. A guy with someplace to go. The pace has lifted. Each step is now a challenge to go bigger, go faster, and do not stop. I’m making great progress and now tighten up the backend for the finish. Almost home. Keys are in hand. Jacket is off.
And I made it….hooray! You didn’t actually think I was going to entertain you with a story about me crapping my pants, did you? Not this time!
Since the Cipro tablet of this morning was the final pill in the bottle, I am done with it and this serious side effect.
Oh sure, I’ll walk again sometime real soon. It will most certainly last about an hour and I will thoroughly enjoy it. Can’t wait.
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