Friday, May 11, 2007 - I get a call from Dr. Hatcher. He tells me I have moderately fast growing prostate cancer. I'm numb with the news. I call my wife Judy and she asks if I'm joking. I assure her I am not and that Dr. Hatcher will meet us at 6pm this evening. I drive home in a hypnotic state, unemotional.
We hug a lot and make plans to go. I've pretty much decided to go with a radical prostatectomy. We watch a couple of videos on the da vinci robotic surgery:
http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/products/da_vinci_video_overview.aspx
http://www.sharpmedialibrary.com/documentary_2005/Robert_and_Rita_HIGH.wmv
I've heard bad things about radiation, burns to the rectum, how salvage surgery afterwards is not easy nor effective.
We go and meet Dr. Hatcher. I'm reassured by his reputation, his Duke University and Massachussett's General Hospital residencies. Dr. Mounger says he is a fine surgeon. So do several others.
He tells me I have a Gleason score 7 (the lower the better) and stage 1B. Good news-it's only on one side. Bad news-looks like it's growing into the left nerve supply so it will likely have to come out. So much for nerve-sparing surgery. I have to have a chest x-ray and lab studies (alk phos, CBC) to rule out metastasis but no bone or PET scans for now. We discuss lots of numbers, percentages. He seems to focus more on incontinence and ED than death rates, assures me if we get it all I am essentially cured. I ask how many he's done - he's done over 2,000 radical prostatectomies, over 100 of the robotic ones. I ask him if it was him would he go to Vanderbilt or Hopkins. He says maybe a year ago but not now, they have the same outcomes. He said he saw two men in followup this week: the man who had the radical had taken 4-5 hydrocodone and the man with the robotic surgery had taken no pain pills at all. I have to spend the night in the hospital, there 2-3 days, home for 1-2 weeks with a foley catheter in, have to have a cystoscope (the news just keeps getting better and better). Says I'll be 99% in two weeks. Unfortunately supplemental testosterone is never again an option.
Fortunately Judy is a great support, has always stood by me and this is no exception.
We tell the kids. My son is scared, "I've already lost one parent to cancer." His mother was way too optimistic for her metastatic breast cancer so my attempts to reassure him fall on deaf ears.
My daughter asks if they gave me a certain number of years to live and I said no and mention total cure if they get it all. My aunt who is 90 cries and cannot speak. My brother tells me to hang in there and take supplements. Lots of support from friends, office staff. Diana offers to come back early from vacation and I tell her no, I'll need her later. "May you live in interesting times" is the old Chinese curse.
More later. Lane
