Five weeks out . . .

and getting better. Yesterday marked the 5th week since my radical prostatecomy on Oct. 14th.


Time has passed kind of quickly, though boredom has crept in on occasion.  I sometimes feel like I've missed an entire season as the leaves are now off the trees and Thanksgiving is just a week away.


I feel much better, though there is still some discomfort while sitting upright for extended periods of time.  I'm sleeping a bit better at night, so I'm not nearly as tired through out the day, but I'm usually ready for bed by about 8pm. I'm not sleeping through the night yet.  I still wake up 3 or 4 times a night; get up to stretch my legs a bit, trip to the bathroom, and try to fall back to sleep.


I've been out walking for at least two miles a day for the last week, either around the neighborhood, or at St. Mary's park in Bridgeport along Long Island Sound.  It helps to get my legs back under me and lessen the muscle pain I've been experiencing, as well as some of the pelvic discomfort related to the surgery.


Tomorrow, I go for my first blood work since the surgery.  If all's right with the world, I'll have a PSA reading that is the vicinity of 0.05, down from my pre-surgical level of 63.  Next Tuesday, we'll be meeting with my surgeon for a six week follow-up appointment. We're looking for continued good news.

Almost four weeks post surgery . . .

Did I expect things to progress quickly?   Yes, perhaps only because everything until this point has been happening quickly.  Overall, I am feeling better. . . more mobile, stronger, and lighter having lost 24 pounds since surgery.  (I don't, however recommend, the process)


With my catheter out after 3 weeks instead of one week, my urinary recovery has been delayed and slowed a bit.  It's going to take me a bit more time before I am able to regain any kind of control . . .  which I am only beginning to see signs of.


I am still having some leg pains due to positioning during surgery, but it's beginning to level out and reduce, though it does flare up at times.


It's supposed to make it to nearly 70 degrees today, so a couple of long walks are in my plans. If I was able to drive, I'd head down to the Fairfield beaches or St. Mary's park and walk around down there.


I had a nice surprise yesterday with the visit by some of my "Trainiac" friends.  These "trainiacs" are some of my local friends who I first met when we moved to Connecticut four years ago during my daily commute into New York. Thanks so much to Sheila, Mark, Semi, Ben and Steve for stopping by, and for the basket of goodies and the gift certificate for a dinner out for Janet and I.  Your visit, gifts and friendship mean a great deal to both Janet and I.


Thanks also to my friends Mark & Tess Szamatulski, home brewing authors and shop owners of Maltose Express in Monroe, CT.   When I told Mark and Tess of my cancer and surgery, and the fact that I'll need to wait on my home brewing for a while as I cannot lift anything heavy for a number of months, they made a very generous offer.


Each year they do all-grain brewing demonstrations at their shop for their customers who may be interested in getting into the all-grain brewing process. Mark & Tess have offered to brew one of my recipes - my "Enrico's Holiday Hearth" holiday spiced English ale - instead of their planned ale recipe from their newly published third book. The 10 gallon batch they are going brew during the demonstration will be split into two 5 gallon batches. Five gallons available and be served at the brew shop during the holidays as one of their two samples they keep on tap. Tess and Mark have graciously offered to keg the second 5 gallons as a gift for me so that I have some fresh home brew around the house for the holidays.  A very thoughtful gift from some good friends.


If you're in the area and are interested in seeing the batch brewed, their shop Maltose Express is located in Monroe, CT.  The brewing demo will be done by their staff all-grain guru Dave Fitch and is scheduled to begin about 10am on Saturday, November 14th. Just go to http://www.maltose.com for directions and more information.  Just click on the EVENTS button for additional info.


As I said from the very beginning of this journey, I'm going to make it through thanks to my Christian Faith, family, friends and my sense of humor.  All of which remain totally intact.


- - - - - - - - - - 


As a small note, one of my goals with this blog was to help spread the word about prostate cancer and how important early detection can be.  I've received email messages from as many as 15 people - some friends, mostly strangers - letting me know that the telling of my experience(s) here has provided comfort, information and has served as a call to action for many to be checked during their next doctor's visit.  I appreciate the emails so very much, and I am so very happy that my diagnosis and the story I've shared may help others with an early diagnosis and to prepare others that may be facing treatment and surgery in the near future. My thanks and prayers are with you all.


Chris
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OK, here it goes . . . the pathology report.

Did I set this up right?

I got the phone call late Friday morning from Dr. Bertrand Guillonneau, my surgeon at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and he explained the results of the pathology report.

First off, the final Gleason scaling of my cancer is an 8 (grade 4).  This places my cancer in an aggressive category (8-10). At this grade level, the possibility of metastases is common.


The next part of the pathology report is the status of the surrounding lymph nodes that were removed during surgery. At the time of surgery, 20 lymph nodes in the area of my prostate were removed in order to get as much of the possibly affected tissue is removed.


The pathology report stated that 19 of the 20 nodes appeared to be "clear of cancer/metastasis", but that one lymph node showed signs of significant metastasis.  As I am to understand, this node was located very near where the prostate capsule breach had taken place and the high level of metastasis is probably due to this fact.


Dr. Guillonneau believes that even though there is some metastasis, that is has been limited only to what has been found at this point and that this report is very promising and that he is very confident in these results.


The next step will be the blood PSA results in another couple of weeks. If the PSA level has dropped from my pre-surgical level of 62.7 to a "non-detectible" level of 0.05 or better, then I will be facing a round of radiation therapy that would begin sometime In January and will take place over a period of weeks/months. If the PSA level is elevated at all, indicating metastatic disease, then I will go through testosterone-reducing therapy in addition to the radiation therapy.


So for now . . . once again, this is good news that there is little metastasis and that there seems to be little indication of any severe spread of the cancer even though I have an aggressive grade of cancer.   As a matter of fact, I'm taking this (cautiously) as very good news, and count myself as very fortunate and blessed.


Tuesday I should finally get my catheter removed - YEAH!  I will be headed (with Janet) into Sloan- Kettering to be tested to be sure that my sutures are no longer leaking and then have the catheter removed.  After all, it's only been 3 weeks with this thing (it was only supposed to be a week).


Thanks so much again for all your prayers, support and concern. My surgery was only the beginning of what I know is going to be a long road to recovery, and I feel blessed to have so many wonderful friends behind my family and I in support.  We'll update you again soon.

No news is . . .

just downright annoying (i think we've been here before).

We still haven't heard any news about the pathology lab report. I didn't expect to hear from the surgeon's office today as Wednesday is surgery day for the practice. What I did expect to happen today, also didn't happen.

Today was the second appointment to have my catheter removed. And disappointingly, when tested and x-rayed, there were signs of the sutures were still leaking. So for now I need to wait again to have it removed.  This time however it will mean a trip back to Sloan-Kettering instead of having it taken care of locally.

My local urologist, Dr, Jeremy Kaufman, is intelligent, informative, supportive and a really nice guy. But as he reiterated today, he wasn't my surgeon, and not having been part of the surgery and being totally aware of what transpired during my surgery, there is only a certain point to which he can make the call as to the correct time to remove the catheter.  Obviously, if the sutures are leaking, he really can't remove it yet.

So, it looks like there's an early trip back to Sloan-Kettering in New York, and an appointment with my surgeon and his staff next Tuesday.

Tomorrow is my wife Janet's birthday.  I had ordered a few things online for her (which have already arrived), but I truly wish I could do more. She really deserves it after all of this.

'Til next time. . .  cheers!

Two weeks post surgery . . .

Progressing, slowly. Overall I feel OK, but my appetite is still off (good thing for  my weight I guess).

Tomorrow I'm scheduled (again) to have the catheter removed after two weeks. I'm really hoping that the test that will be done will show that the sutures are no longer leaking and that the catheter can finally come out.

Outside of a low grade fever the last 2 or 3 days, which I'm attributing to a flare up of my diverticulitis, and my sleep patterns being totally out of whack, I feel OK physically.

How am I in my head? For the most part I'm doing good.  This has all happened so "fast" that in respects, it still hasn't sunk in that I have cancer.  I don't think I've taken the time to process it for myself.  I've been more concerned for my wife, our sons and my parents.

I've had my moments of feeling overwhelmed, but I'm so wrapped up in being more concerned about my family that it will be some time before it catches up with me. Maybe when that time comes, it won't bother me so much. I know that Janet is having a difficult time, as you might expect. After all, we've been together for nearly 30 years.

I was upstairs the other day and noticed a pile of tissues on the nightstand - she's been crying herself to sleep (I've been sleeping downstairs in a rented hospital bed since I came home). Janet had told me the other day that she had been feeling helpless, that there isn't much she feels she's been able to do to help me.  She's still working and has her classroom and teaching responsibilities. I'm not going to put any additional pressure on her, and there really isn't much she can do to help me get better other than to be there for me when she can.

For both of us, the one thing we are waiting for is the pathology report which is due today or tomorrow.  The results of which will give us the most telling news of everything that's been going on.  It will be the final "grading" of my cancer and give us more of an idea of where we go from here.  It's something I'm looking forward to hearing, but at the same time it's something I'm quite anxious about.

Missed the first milestone . . .

I had an appointment to have the Foley catheter removed this morning.  I still have it in place. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just a disappointment and a delay.

Prior to removing one's catheter after a urinary surgery where the urethra was cut, the Dr's. need to confirm that the sutures have taken and that the urethra is not leaking.  The x-ray with contrast  showed a slight leak at the sutures.

So, I need to wait as along as another week before I can the catheter removed.  Again, nothing serious - just a bit disappointing.

Last night was bad.

From about 12:30am, until about 5:30, I was just about in tears from the pain of surgical gas pressure. The gas pain and muscle cramps were so bad, I was only making it through it all by remember and doing a Lamaze style breathing.

The docs and nurses warn you about this before the surgery, after the surgery, and anyone who that has experienced this type of surgery will tell you similar stories. But, until you experience it (experience delivery of a baby) you have no idea how painful last night was.

I'm so exhausted, I almost feel delusional. Time to try and settle down for some sleep.