I was up and walking the day after spine surgery. They also had me walking a small set of stairs. Angie & I thought I would be spending a few days in a rehab center. The physical therapists were against it - they thought I was doing well enough to go home, plus we avoided the chance of infection.

I think that I received excellent care while in St Francis Hospital - from the doctors all the way down to the people that cleaned the room. I tried to thank anyone who did anything for me, and as a result I got a nickname - the "Rock Star Patient". I had the most serious surgery of the floor, and I complained the least.

Coming home was a little scary - the physical therapists showed us how to get in and out of bed, get in and out of chairs, etc. I didn't have much of an appetite after the surgery, and this continued for a few days at home.

I started having bladder spasms on the second day - these would wake me up from a dead sleep. We called my urologist, and they wanted me to come in for a bladder scan, which we resisted for a couple of days because I was so wiped out. We finally went to the office and the bladder scan showed that I was retaining urine. They put in a catheter.

I was nervous about the catheter because I had some bad experiences with a catheter in the emergency room. This was a piece of cake. I immediately felt better and started sleeping for 10 hours at a clip. I was also taking a daily nap - I was making up for months of sleep deprivation.    

July 26th was the date scheduled for my back surgery. There wasn't much time to prepare mentally - but I was ready. The past few months had been very painful. I had sharp pains in my hamstrings when I tried to get out of a chair. Sitting on a toilet seat was like sitting on a bed of nails. I woke up several times  a night with numbness in my right leg. As scary as the surgery sounded, I could not go on much longer in the state I was in.

I had to meet with my urologist, my cardiologist, my general practitioner and get their approvals.
Angie drove me to St Francis Hospital early in the morning of the 26th. My daughter Lisa came down and stayed the whole day with Angie. My daughter Heather met them for lunch.

The level of support I got in the days leading up to the 26th was amazing - I think it helped me to gain strength to face the challenge - spine surgery is very serious. The surgery lasted over 5 hours. During the surgery they cleaned out a diseased vertebra, repaired a cracked vertebra, and fused everything together with 4 rods.

 

I do believe that I'm a certified hypochondriac. I can't tell you how many times a minor ache or pain led me to believe my prostate cancer had spread. This time, I was convinced it was a muscular issue because the pain was everywhere but the spine.

With spinal injuries, you can get nerve involvement. I've had pain in the butt, in my hamstring muscles, and numbness in my right leg when I'm sleeping. Some of this pain is pretty intense. My doctors prescribed a muscle relaxant as well as tamedol. I'm a little afraid of the tamedol as its an opiod, but there's been a few nights where I really needed something stronger than Tylenol. The good news is that these should all go away once my spine is repaired.

I met with a back specialist a few days ago, and was shocked to learn that the pain I've been experiencing is directly related to the prostate cancer that has metastasized in my spine. Dr. Kruger told me that my L3 vertebra has a significant amount of cancer, and my L4 is fractured. He strongly suggested back surgery and soon. I agreed to that - there really was no choice.

My surgery will occur on July 26th. Dr Kruger will use some sort of cement to repair the L4 vertebra, and screw a rod into about 5 vertebrae. I'm not sure how they'll handle the cancerous L3. This will be major surgery. The good news is that my doctors consider me a good candidate for the surgery,

I met with my prostate surgeon Dr Kesler the next day and he gave me another shot of Lupron. Since this hormone failed to stop the progression of my cancer, I will need additional hormones. So far there is no talk of chemo.

A few weeks after surgery I'll meet with my oncologist and he'll let me know what hormone(s) I'll need going forward. I will also meet with my old friend Dr. Boyd (he treated me 6 years ago), who will discuss the radiation treatments I'll receive.

I think I'm still in shock - I knew something was going on with my prostate cancer, but I was surprised how this all developed. I am remaining positive. As I said, they feel that I'm a good candidate, so they foresee me surviving for a decent amount of time. I really like all my doctors, and their nurse coordinators are the best. If you need cancer treatment, I think these things are important.    

Another disappointment has been my PSA tests since starting hormone treatment. The first one was around 4, which was a step in the right direction, since the previous one was 15. I took a second test prior to my doctor visit in mid July. I was expecting a PSA of near 0. I was shocked when it was 15!

I am not panicking but I am disappointed. I imagine that my doctor will mix up a new batch of hormones. New hormones may mean new side effects. But whatever it takes, I'll try to keep on moving forward. I'll post again after my doctor appointment.

I guess I may have been a bit premature in my optimism.

While it's true that I have worked hard and regained continence, I feel that those efforts led to a secondary problem. I was not working out regularly between January and April, and that affected my overall conditioning. I strained my back the first of May, reinjured it in June, and that led to yet another injury - Pyriformis Syndrome. This is caused by a strain of the Pyriformis muscle deep in the muscles of the butt. It's a small muscle, but it sure causes pain.

I have had a hard time sitting and getting up from a sitting position. Getting a good night's sleep has been a problem. It even hurts to cough, sneeze and laugh! I am currently getting some physical therapy which will take me through the end of July. The summer of 2017 has not been the best for me.

I guess the point is - no matter what stage of prostate cancer you're in, it's important to get exercise, as well as lots of quality sleep. I will work harder on these going forward.

It took a little longer than I anticipated, but I had my last physical therapy session two days ago. I  have regained  continence and can resume normal activities. I will continue to do Kegel exercises, but I'll be armed with the knowledge of how to do them correctly. I am sure that I'll have more encounters with prostate cancer down the road, but for now it feels good to feel normal again.