Part 5 - My personal experiences with Prostate Cancer

People have all sorts of reactions when they learn they have cancer. I remember a discussion I had with a friend who had a very low stage breast cancer. She said that she often thought “why me?”  I don’t blame her for thinking this way, even though at the time I found that sentiment odd – one that I honestly never had. I was grateful to have a type of cancer that was treatable and very likely survivable. I know that life doesn’t work that way, but I thought if every family is touched by cancer, then I am the willing representative of our family with this type of cancer. 

A week or so before surgery we were invited to a preparatory meeting at Hartford Hospital. I was amazed at the number of men (and spouses) who were in the auditorium. It gave me a better idea why my surgery was not scheduled earlier - we were lined up like planes on a runway.

One thing from that meeting has always stuck with me. The nurse who was moderating the meeting said that “there may be some swelling after surgery. I leaned over and told my wife “that will probably be me”. Little did I know…..

Finally the day for surgery arrived, a few days before Thanksgiving. We checked in early, but had to wait until mid-afternoon because my surgeon faced a difficult surgery with a very large man before mine. When the time near, they gave me some very effective drugs. My doctor showed up to talk to me and I, very high and very nearsighted, asked him if he was the anesthesiologist. We had some laughs about that later.

What happened next was a little blurry. I was wheeled into the operating room, which I remember to be cold, so they gave me a blanket.  As they gave me my final meds, I saw the Da Vinci robot and asked if it had a nickname.  That was the last thing I remembered. After what seemed like a few seconds later, I woke up in my room.

My surgery actually took about 6 hours. My prostate was removed easily, but my surgeon found some suspicious cells outside my prostate bed. He had to do more than typical prostate surgery. These cells had to be biopsied, and they proved to be cancerous. My surgeon then had to remove a little more of my urethra than is usually done. During a follow-up meeting later I got my final answer to what stage I was – “2 ½”.