My Journey with Prostate Cancer

There were student nurses here today and so the one assigned to me helped my wash and clean ALL over. It was refreshing to be completely clean. Also getting the catheter cleaned and that whole are helps to cut down on the discomfort. Other than the pain having the catheter is a real pain, both figuratively and literally.   Doctor says at least one more night, because I am still draining quite a bit. He wants to take the drain out before I go home so here I wait. I feel pretty good, just really tired.

I  finished an "easy" Sudoku, it only took twice as long as usual! My brain is fuzzy. Doctor is pushing me to get up more and hoping I can go home tomorrow. I am still draining quite a bit out of the incision but he told me that is because I'm not up more so getting up and moving and staying up even when I'm not moving will help that to settle down so he can take the drain out and then I can go home. -- He said to me "hospitals are really dangerous places people come here to die. Eight or nine days is lethal. Get home as soon as you can."  So, I am trying to walk more and stay out of bed more.  Donna and I took a walk outside of the hospital to day. There I am with my bag.  My room is the top room on the right just above left shoulder. Behind me is a basketball court we found out that the only access is through the psych unit which is directly behind me. I know it looks like I'm in prison. 😃😂😄🤣 I am outside following Doctor's orders.

Our good friends Dave and Jan  Heitsman  visited today. It was nice to have visitors. Pastor Grant has been by, and I had message contact with Pastor Dauncy and Pastor Walter.  With Dave and Jan it was fun to have some  "Painful" laughter. I am also doing some paint by numbers on my phone. Just to pass the time. It was funny, my roommate and I have enjoyed visiting back and fourth a bit. I have a window but there is a curtain blocking her view. We discovered it is pinned in such a way that we can't open it so I took the bottom and threw it over the rod and that gave her a view out the window. The nurse came along and did not like what we had done, so when we were out of the room she pulled it back down. I asked what the problem is and she told me that many patience do not get along so they make it so the curtain could not be opened. I told her that was not the case with us so after she left I put it back. I think we have a little battle of the wills going on

I am allowed to eat normal food now but what the hospital gives is not great. When the Doctor was in I told him this and he asked what I wanted. I told him oatmeal and blueberries. He advised me to have my wife bring me whatever I wanted to eat. This would be fine. So I called Donna and she brought me oatmeal and blueberries that I could store in a common fridge in the unit and prepare in the microwave whenever I want it. This not only helps my stomach but just generally made me feel better. I still felt a little weepy but I guess this is just normal post surgery depression. It is just NOT like me, but then it is not everyday that I loose a prostate! During the day I get up about every hour and walk 10 minutes around the hallways. The Doctor told me to do more so have tried to up it to 10 minutes every half hour. The catheter is beginning to be really annoying. It causes a bit of pain or chaffing where it enters my body. Plus the drain out of my belly is still collecting about

I just had kind of a yucky day. I'm not really in much pain but I just feel really out of sorts and emotional so it was not a fun day I'm probably going to have to be here a couple more days at least because things aren't moving ahead as quickly as they want them to or as I want them to but they say everything is fine and recovering okay and it's not unusual to have an out of sorts day where it kind of goes neutral. Also I am off all pain meds so that is good. One of the nice things about being off the pain meds is that I don't have to be hooked up to a monitor so it's so much easier to get out of bed and walk around a bit.

Feeling GREAT this morning did laps around the hallways. First I was unsteady and needed a nurse to keep me upright but be evening I could walk fairly quickly by myself! Still draining. They want me to pass gas before I go home. Isn't that a lovely thought?

The anesthesiologist had warned me that I might experience some wild dreams when I was under I was just a little disappointed that nothing happened no special dreams to tell anybody about. I remember half waking up and looking at the clock in the recovery room and then going out again. I think this happened several times and one of those times. I looked at the clock on the wall and every time they woke me up it seemed like I had been out for hours but it was only two or three minutes. I think the anesthesiologist  was trying to give me a Popsicle or ice! I felt I went out again for a long time but then the nurse was calling my name, way in the distance and when I awoke I saw the clock again and it was less then 5 minutes from the previous look. I was kind of awake at this point but I don't remember much. The nurse asked me if I remembered the Popsicle and I said "I think so." I don't know why but this made her laugh. I still wonder if there ever was a Popsicle or i

The Chlorhexidine scrub went well. This is to disinfect skin. I had to wash all over in a specific sequence then let sit on my skin for a couple minutes before rinsing it off in a warm (not hot) shower. I will have to do this again before going to hospital. My skin feels really clean! Also sleeping on clean bedding and have clean, brand new PJs - thanks Donna for those 🥰! My last food was breakfast of oatmeal, peanut butter, and blue berries day before yesterday.  I feel hungry and have slight headache. I suppose this is from hunger and lack of sleep. Only taking in water and white grape juice. That ends at 7:30 am. With the cleanse, my insides feel pretty empty! Awake too early. Got on Facebook and noticed an east coast friend sent me a reminder that she is praying for me. That gives peace! Maybe I can sleep a bit more now. At the hospital I check in and they outfit me with a special gown that has attachments for a heated hose. I am told they want me to sit with this hot air fill

I started my day with my usual 3 mile walk. I got it down to 57 minutes. I also do a few other exercises to strengthen my core muscles. I feel healthy and strong. From all that I have read this should help me in my recovery. My aim is to be up tomorrow evening and go home on Thursday or Friday. That is the best case scenario! After the exercise I had to start the cleanse. The Cetro-mag was not as bad as many have described it. The taste is tolerable. I followed all the direction precisely and the only difference is that it worked a little more slowly then they said it would. Maybe that is because I started the liquid diet yesterday, one day early.  The hospital called and confirmed everything with me. I am supposed to arrive at 9:30 Jan 23, 2019. I suppose that means the actual surgery will be late morning. I am still comfortable with my decision and should probably stop reading stuff on the internet about this . It just is so hard to resist, 😊but the decision is made and I beli

Yesterday I decided to go "public" on Facebook with my upcoming prostate surgery. It made me a bit nervous to take that step. I don't know what I thought would happen but here are my thoughts about that. Having cancer is not something to be ashamed of and many people have to face this. I don't think there is anything I could have done to prevent this. I have lived a pretty healthy life eating right, being somewhere near a proper weight, and handling stress fairly well. I am not perfect but I have made an effort to live well. I think this is just the cards I was dealt and now we play this hand the best we can. I was pleased to see that many of my friends, even many whom I have not had any contact with in years, wrote kind words and assured me they are praying in my behalf. Thank you all for that. I also was warned by some that many would try to give me treatment advise. Thankfully that did not happen. I think I have good medical care and I have made my choice abo

I am satisfied that I have made the correct decisions and now I am just waiting. My exercise program is going well and I can tell my endurance is better. I did my two mile walk a little quicker then before and am able to do more of the other exercises than I could a few weeks ago. I have to discipline myself to not read too much on the internet! Although what I have read has encouraged me that the road I am on seems to bring the best long term result. I decided to share with my friends on Facebook today. Now there is no going back on that and the comments I have received are encouraging. That share also gave a link to this blog so those who want to read more about this journey, I am on, can. It is nice to have family, church family, and extended friendships all pulling for you. I know so many people and the care so many have is heart warming. The only thing I have to do today is stop taking my vitamin D. I don't know why, but those are the instructions to stop all meds an

The next meeting was to talk about my past history of operations and reaction to anesthetic. I have never had a negative experience with this as the Doctor said "you are in reasonably good health". I have only had 3 operations in my life. All were relatively minor. Tonsils out when I was 11. I think that was pretty easy. Then I had a benign lump removed off my back about 30 years ago. Again nothing special about that. And finally in 2014 I broke my ankle and for that surgery I had a spinal block. It also went smoothly with no real after problems with the meds. Again this Doctor went over my general health level and looked at my paper work. He also said that following this surgery I would have significant pain that can be minimized and controlled with drugs. I was given very clear instructions to take the pain meds and not try to be brave. He told me I would actually use less meds if I took them when I felt the slightest pain then if I allowed it to build up and then tried t

January 3, 2019 I had to be at the hospital at 8 am. I decided to avoid the parking cost of $8 and park my car at my in-laws about a 20 minute walk from the hospital. This would have been fine except it decided to be a typical winter day in January and rain. The rain combined with the early dark morning made the walk kind of uncomfortable. Then crossing through the park in the dark I took a wrong turn and stepped into a mud puddle that had ice under and I proceeded to slip and fall into a couple inches of water. So my feet and one leg were wet. I had prepared with dry socks so when I got to the hospital I cleaned the mud off my pants and put on dry socks. Actually I don't think anyone noticed me and everything was fine. The appointment with the admitting nurse involved a lot of health questions, height, weight, blood pressure, then instructions on preparing for surgery. I need to be drinking at least 8 glasses of water each day between now and then. Of course that should be don