Hey everybody,
I owe you an update on what's going on with me as I think that I'm finally coming out of my "denial" phase... which is kind of funny because it didn't bloody well FEEL like denial... it felt more like "buried in work" and "just living life" and "oh yes, must get around to scheduling an appointment for a 2nd opinion" but it was, in actuality, me dicking around for 2 months without pursuing treatment... but then they DID say that prostate cancer is slow-growing.
So.
First of all, my prostate cancer is a Gleason 6 (which is on a scale from 1 to 10). The Urologist said that it was "garden variety", but that the best choice was in fact to have the prostate removed entirely.
The odds of recurrence, especially with me having it at such a young age, are high enough to make me agree with that assessment. Let's get it outta there.
Now.
Several weeks ago I was setting up a lunch with some college buddies and mentioned to one of them what I had going on. After the initial shock and expression of concern, he said "So you're going to get the Da Vinci surgery, right?"
Well, I hadn't been planning on it until that conversation.
The Da Vinci surgical "robot" is still relatively new on the scene and I had been kind of hesitant to even investigate that route. But this friend has been an architect in the medical profession going on 20 years and has watched the technology come along, and had a colleague who'd recently had that "robotic" surgery and was an evangelist for the method.
Here's a
page with a video about the surgery, featuring the doctor who I'll be meeting with this coming Tuesday, to discuss my case and possibly set up a date for the surgery.
Wish me luck, and feel free to ask me questions. I've started telling more of my friends and it's good to get it off my chest.
No tippytoes necessary!! srsly
...