Tuesday, August 18, 2009

D-Day, the pathology report

Today I had the follow up appointment from surgery to get the staples and catheter out and to review the pathology report with the Dr and determine next steps.

first, staples and other came out fine, that was the easy part.
In the conversation with the surgeon, he's 99% sure he got 99% of the cancer out. Only one lymph node was positive and the belief is that there may be microcells contained within the pelvic cavity.

So, what next. Well, my surgeon works collaboratively with radiation oncologists and medical oncologists and my case will be discussed at the next 'tumor panel' meeting. The initial thoughts are maybe some radiation and hormone treatments. I'll know more in a couple of weeks which way the thinking is going.

4 weeks from today I'll get my PSA test taken to establish a new baseline and then it will be checked every 3 months afterwards for the first year.

Fighting cancer takes a lot out of you...I'm exhausted...but maybe that's just from the long day of travel back and forth.

Thanks again to everyone for your continued support, it's very much appreciated.

Oh, I can't sign off without asking two questions (feel free to post a comment/response)

1. Did Tiger Woods choke this past weekend?
2. Is Brett Favre nuts?

later

Friday, August 14, 2009

feeling strong

It's been 11 days since surgery and I'm feeling really, really good. I'm starting to spend more and more time at the desk, working yet still get plenty of rest and exercise.

Speaking of exercise, for the past 8 days I've walked 2+ miles each day and early on kind of shocked some of the neighbors at my early mobility. One byproduct of walking is weight loss which many of your know before surgery, I was a great candidate to lose 10+ lbs. Currently I've lost 11 lbs in 11 days and really feel good.

I'll be back 100% to work starting monday, still no travel yet but full speed helping my team.

I attribute my solid recovery to the many, many thoughts and prayers by everyone and on behalf of the Evans Family, we're extremely grateful.

Make sure you watch some of the PGA Championship this weekend, Tiger is off to a strong start and has won 2 events in a row coming into this major. He's an amazing athlete, our generation is pretty fortunate to be able to watch history in the making.

Make it a great weekend!

Monday, August 10, 2009

making progress

Hey everyone, quick update on my progress post-surgery. Things are going well, actually a little better than I anticipated. Since arriving home last week wednesday, I've made a point to walk every day since it's the best activity I can do.....hell it's the only thing they'll let me know :)

Friday-Sunday I've walked 2 miles each day and of course a little tired but that's to be expected.
The Dr. said fatigue would stick around for 2 weeks since I lost just shy of a unit of blood during surgery. The good news about that is the Dr. gave me the green light to eat as much red meat as I want for two weeks....it's been good so far.

If you know me, you know I'm itching to get back to work 100%, I'm not good about just sitting around 'resting'.

Hope you all are great and as always, I appreciate the positive thoughts and prayers, they've helped.

Make it a great week!

Friday, August 7, 2009

ouch

man it's not easy after surgery, so much bloating I feel like the Goodyear Blimp. Trying to 'get the plumbing' working afterwards is more of a challenge with more pain than I had anticipated, even with pain meds.
the goofy thing about pain meds is they are your friend enemy at the same, while they give you pain relief, they cause more pain because they bind you up.

Starting to make a little progress so that's a good thing. Had a 101 fever last night but back to normal today.

The past two days I've walked about 2 miles each and it serves two purposes, preventing blood clots and moving things through the 'plumbing'.

while I know the best thing for me to do is rest, it's really hard to fight the temptation to do something work related. But, that's where Kathy and my mom come in, they watch me like a hawk so I don't drift into my home office.

One byproduct of recuperation is the time to read, time to pick up the book again.

later

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

It's done

no more prostate, it's gone. As a refresher, we found a good team of doctors at Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center so sunday night Kathy and I drove up, had dinner, relaxed. Surgery on monday took a little over 2 hours and I didn't get a room until 6 hours later....so I was stuck in Post-op. oh well, things could have been worse.

Monday night was a bitch, no sleep because every 2 hours someone is coming into the room to take vital signs, draw blood, etc. Tuesday I was running on fumes, barely able to keep my eyes open so a quick nap here and there helped.

Tuesday night was much better pretty fair night of sleep but still playing catch up.
Wednesday, discharged and sent home. I was feeling pretty good this morning and figured I could get more sleep in my own home with less interruptions.

The drive home was bad, we were instructed to stop 3 times, get out and walk to avoid blood clots. The worst part were the potholes/rough roads...they tensed up my body something fierce.
Just took a walk with Bradley and that felt good but tiring.

I'm bushed, more posts coming.

Bob