This is the big week....

Yes, I'm getting nervous. It's a big surgery and a long recovery time. I've never been through something of this magnitude as far as my health is concerned. Major surgery on Thursday, no solid for starting on Tuesday. That's probably going to be the biggest challenge, no solid food for two days....I'll be going nuts. I can't thank you all enough for the messages and positive thoughts and prayers, I'll take all I can get :) Until next time...

Smooth sailing in pre-op, now the big choice

The Pre-op appointment went smooth as I expected, now comes the choice. Which type of urinary diversion surgery do I have? Continent Catheterizable Urinary diversion (internal pouch) or Urosotmy (external pouch) Honestly, it doesn't matter to me. Either way it will be 100% improvement from what I live with today. I had a chance to have lunch with a good friend, Jaime Zabala and what a great time. Jaime is awesome and it was super or catch up and see how his new job is going and it's great to hear he's very happy and enjoying his new role. That's awesome. The prep starts on Tuesday, no solid food Tuesday or Wednesday and a 'GoLyghtly' clean out on Wednesday afternoon, fun. I'll be working up until COB on Wednesday then it's under the knife very early on Thursday. A little nervous. Until next time

Pre-op on Jan. 3rd

Next step in the process is the Pre-op appointment on January 3rd @ 3:30pm. I'm going to have lunch with my buddy Jaime Zabala, really looking forward to catching up. In a blink of an eye after the Pre-op and I'll be in surgery. Nervous? Not yet. I have two surgeons who will be in the operating room, maybe 3 if I need some repair work on the pelvic bone. Still in Wisconsin with mom and dad spending some quality time. Bad news came this morning, my moms brother, my uncle Erv passed away last night in his sleep. He was having some heart problems but it still sucks. It's good to be with mom to comfort her. It was a balmy 37 degrees today, Monday's high temp will be 2 degrees. Until next time, be well.

Surprise Mom, I'm here!!!

If you ever get the chance to surprise your parents, do it! I planned a trip to come visit my mom knowing I would be arriving after her hip replacement surgery and in need of some help....physical and moral. So as I was about 10 minutes from her front door, I called and she picked up so we chatted about how she was doing, what the weather was like, etc. I kept the conversation going until I was walking in my parents house and hung up when I walked around the corner to see my mom. The tear duct floodgates did open....she was so surprised it was priceless. Here for 5 days and hope to create more lasting memories.

One full day at Duke Cancer Center

Today got an early start, I had an appointment with my surgeon, Dr. Andrew Peterson. What a great guy and awesome bedside manners. He thoroughly explained the surgery to me and the possible 'audible' that might be necessary if he finds further radiation damage. So we got the blood work done today as well as an X-ray of my pelvic area and also a lovely MRI of my pelvic area. Why? Because when we met in clinic, he applied pressure to my pelvic bone and it caused a high amount of pain. This led him to believe that he radiation may have damaged my pelvic bone. (And you thought this was going be easy...me neither). Arrive at 9:30am, depart at 5:15pm....with. 2:45 drive on each side. Let me pause here for a moment and remember Tom Stueber. Tom passed last night after a tough battle with Esophageal cancer. We've been helping their family as best we can and I ask that you keep the family in you prayers. Ohs, and my mom successfully made it through hip replacement surgery this morning, not bad for a 77 yr old. I'll have more to say about my surgery on the next post....stay tuned. Happy Holidays to you all.

Jimmy V Classic

ESPN is running the Jimmy V Classic which is a series of basket ball games to help raise awareness around Cancer Research which is first class!!!, 100% of the funds donated goes to Cancer Research and it has awesome backing by many athletes. The interview that touched me the most was the interview with Digger Phelps, former coach of the Notre Dame basketball team. He's faced Prostate Cancer and Bladder cancer and has battled them both valiantly. It's with looking to You Tube for the videos....heroes who won't let cancer get the best of them...just like me! A donation to the Jimmy V Foundation is a good thing. Thx

Next step, major surgery

Well, the radiation cystitis has cooked my bladder to the point where I have the capacity of less than a cup of coffee. So that means Choice 1 - live with it and find a bathroom every 30-60 minutes. Choice 2 - major surgery called Continent Urinary Diversion # 2 is my choice, after the recovery, my quality of life will be much better than it is today. Just another hurdle and mentally I'm ready. My local surgeon has my surgery date at March 14th which is too far out. The surgeon at Duke thinks he can get me in January 9th. In fact, he called my local surgeon who he's known for years to urge him to move up my date. Hopefully I'll hear from my local surgeon this week.