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I’m a 56 (closing in on 57 ) year-old guy. I went for my prostate cancer surgery yesterday at Oakville-Trafalgar Hospital..Thursday, October 25th…..opening day of the World Series. I arrived at the hospital fully prepared in terms of prep ( antibiotics, enema, Cialis etc.) at 6:30am with the operation scheduled for 8:00am. Getting ready, the anesthesiologist detected a concern in the x-rays. My urologist showed up and led me downstairs for a CT Scan which revealed that my thyroid is enlarged and pressing against the trachea. By approx. 11:00am it was determined that the surgery
would have to be canceled until I have the thyroid situation dealt with. They were worried that my airway might be at risk in the operation. While getting the CT Scan I was shaking a little either because I was getting scared or it was cold or both. Overall, while I was disappointed that the surgery didn’t take place ( to ‘get it over with’) I was pleased that they were able to catch the thyroid issue.

I checked out and went with my son and future daughter-in-law to Wholefoods and, having not eaten since Tuesday evening, devoured a great salmon sandwich with plenty of liquids to flush all the drugs and dye swimming around in my body.

I awoke the next day after an amazing non-stop sleep of about 7 hours…..normally I’m up 1-2 times through the night. So now I am regrouping and getting ready for the next phase of this adventure. I have a good throat/neck surgeon on board and I am just waiting to hear about a date for the thyroid surgery so I can re-set the prostate one.

I am on a medical leave from teaching high school so I am keeping busy just keeping the proverbial house in order. Now I face another challenge but I’m ready to face it. I’m just worried that the longer it takes the prostate issue certainly does not go away or presumably get better regardless of selenium
dosages. I’m confident and active – I’m working out every day ( hiking, stretching, biking, curling).
Having the surgery cancelled means more time with friends to celebrate life.

Stay tuned………

Posted by Mike

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Last March my mother was killed (along with another innocent bystander) in a bizarre & tragic roadside accident. Our family has been having a hard time dealing with this over the past 6 months obviously, in particular my father – who now lives alone. My sister & I and his friends are there for him, but it’s just not the same for him as you can imagine. And then the unthinkable happened…

My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

I have stopped trying to make sense of why so many terrible things have happened to our family in the past year, because it just leads to anger & frustration. The only thing I can do now focus on the positive of the situation at hand; “at least it’s not lung cancer or a brain tumor!”. And even though most people say “well it is one of the most curable forms of cancer” it’s still hard for me not to be pessimistic the way things have been going.

His urologist says it is 90% likely that removal of the gland will result in a cure and he will live another 30 years. I hope he’s right. On the bright my dad is in otherwise great health and great physical shape which should bode well for his recovery.

His surgery date is October 25th @ 8am. I’ll be sure to write again post-surgery to share how everyone is doing.
Posted by David

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……….This is our first guest post. It’s an older post from Amanda, whose own blog (see link below) inspired the creation of this blog.

Just when i thought i was wizened and hardened and impervious to all shocks, comes a phone call that just about brought me to my knees.

12:15 am…hubby is lying peacefully in bed, oblivious to the world, and i’m doing my usual late-night web surfing. at that late hour, the ringing of his cell phone was definitely enough to snap me out of complacency. i got up off of my duff and looked at the caller i.d….”unknown.” ok, probably just a wrong number, a drunk dial, or both.

as soon as i set the phone back down it rang again. i opened the phone, fully ready to let the poor person on the other end HAVE IT. when the unthinkable words come out of the receiver…

“hello?”

“yes, this is a nurse from kaiser…is [hubby] there?”

“well, no, he’s asleep, it IS a quarter past twelve here.” (we have recently been getting calls from the billing department of kaiser hawaii, and i thought that maybe it was someone who wasn’t aware of the time difference.)

“this is his wife,” i continued, “can i help you?”

and then the nurse spoke those words that have plagued my nightmares ever since the bone marrow transplant. “no, i need to speak with mr. shaffer, it’s an emergency situation.”

all of my “how-dare-you-call-us-this-late-at-night” bravado disappeared like a popped balloon. deflated, i took the phone back to the bedroom and fought the old feelings of panic and dread.

“how bad is it?” i whined.

“ma’am, i really can’t discuss this with you unless i have his permission…you are aware of HIPPA, aren’t you?”

(at this point i became convinced that this nurse is the biggest bitch this side of the atlantic.) woke hubby up and told him “oh-my-god-it’s-a-nurse-from-kaiser-and-she-says-it’s-an-emergency-and-she-won’t-tell-me-
what’s-wrong-i-don’t-know-why-we’ve-signed-so-many-fucking-release-forms–”
hubby snatched the phone, and after a whole lot of sleepy “yeahs,” “nos,” and “i don’t knows,” he snapped the phone shut and gave me the biggest eye roll EVER.

“my red cell counts were a little low, and the nurse called before she looked at my medical history. no worries, babe.”

that’s it?!? his red cell counts a little low?!? i know that many people would expect me to be outraged at the nurse who saw fit to call about a medical condition before she got the context…

…but THANK GOD that’s all she had to call us about. THANK GOD it is not back. THANK GOD he is still OK.

Posted by Amanda (originally posted on http://cancertalk.blogspot.com)

We are sad to say that Amanda lost her husband, Eric, to leukemia last year.  Our hearts go out to her. (Doug)

– See Amanda’s new blog at http://the-cat-lady.com

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