Yippee Skippee, I’m Cancer Free!!!
Dr. Vincent Laudone, the surgeon who performed my prostatectomy on October 22nd, called last night while I was surfing the web for early midterm election results. He wanted to know how I was doing and informed me of the post surgery pathology report on the excised tissue. First he asked for an update on my post-op physical condition.
I joked with Dr. Laudone, telling him that I had a creative way of coping with the healing that is going on internally and the physical challenge of having the catheter removed from my bladder. What’s happening is the nerve tissue that would tell a normal person that they have fully evacuated their bladder is translated in my case as a slow build up of burning pain. So the satisfaction I used to get after full evacuation is now an anticipation of a burning sensation which is my nervous system telling me it is still there, still in play, but does not know what to do with the sensations as though urinating is totally new to me. I liken my physical situation at this point, 11 days after surgery, as teaching my body how to cope with basic functions I learned when I was an infant in diapers. The pain is lessening with each passing day, but not as quickly as I would like.
I have no tolerance for opiate drugs so I had to come up with my own way of coping with the pain since leaving the hospital. I told Dr. Laudone, that being a creative type, I think up songs on my way to the bathroom, and named that performance artist ‘MC Leekee Pypes”, in honor of my newly drawn battle against incontinence. We had a chuckle over that, but then the conversation quickly turned serious when he told me the results of my pathology report.
Dr. Laudone told me that on a microscopic level, the cancer cells did not parse the wall of my prostate gland. In simple terms, when the prostate was removed, so was the cancer. What great news this was! This means no post-op chemo, no immediate anticipation that rogue cells would show up in unaffected parts of my body. This whole episode of prostate cancer was an early catch, and for those of you who haven’t heard this before, I have the NBC health and Fitness Week screening to thank.
Dr. Laudone and I talked about return to work, which is likely to be Thanksgiving week. I have internal healing which is still underway, then after a week of focusing on Kegel Exercising, I can get this incontinence thing under control.
All in all, my family, friends and colleagues, I am at a great mental state, knowing that the two cancers I learned about in July, are gone in November. It has been a long and scary and hopeful journey, made tolerable by the well wishes and love of all of you. I am thankful for those health professionals at Memorial Sloan Kettering, whose compassion and knowledge made each visit something to look forward to, as opposed to something to dread.
