Husbands Cancer

Well tomorrow is the surgery, prostate. I couldn't talk him into a second opinion although we did see a kidney specialist this morning. He showed us the cat scan and ultra sound pictures and explained the mass to us. He said it looked pretty suspicios and fairly solid. So they will do a cat scan day after the surgery, (thurs.) with contrast dye to get a better idea of just exactly what it is. Its about 41/2 centimeters, partially inside the kidney, partially out. I feel very confident in the urology surgeon doing tomorrows surgery and I liked the guy we met to day. Please keep my husband and family in your prayers. Thank-you

Cathy, you and your husband are in my prayers. Let's be confident! Keep us informed!
Erik

Erik, thank-you. The surgery went well today. His nodes looked clean and the cancer was contained to the left side of the prostate. They did have to take the left nerve bundle. He tolerated surgery well and didn't need any blood. Tomorrow they will do the ct scan of the kidney. Thank-you for your prayers. I'll keep you posted.

Cathy, how wonderful it is that the surgery is over and without any problems. GREAT! I will be watching for your posts with more news!
Best wishes,
Erik

Well he is doing well today. He walked a lot and is drinking and eating. They did the renal cat scan at about 11:00 and then came back at 1 and said needed to do some more. When he came back he said they went higher then the first time. I stayed all day and till 8pm hoping the doctor would come in and talk to us about the results, but no luck. I'm going to go in tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn so I don't miss him. Ed will probably come home tomorrow but I don't want to come home without answers because the uncertainty is really stressful. Thanks for all your support, its good to know someone who has been through something similar.

Hi Cathy! It bothers me that the doctor did not come out and talked to you after the surgery. It is the standard procedure and has to do lot with prof. ethics. I would bring that to his attention without any hesitation. Enough stress you already are going through and he is adding to it even more. Doctor's silence can be nerve wracking. In time like these it is imperative to have communicative doctor. At least we all have this forum to talk our pains out....
God bless! Erik

Erik, sorry for the misunderstanding. It was after the cat scan yesterday that the doctor did not talk to us. He was in surgery that apparently took very long. He came in early this morning and so did I. Unfortunatly the cat scan showed that Ed does have renal cell carcinoma on his right kidney. So now we start this rollercoaster all over again, only now the stakes are alittle higher. Radiation and chemo do not work on rcc so he will need another surgery in about 6 weeks. Even though I was pretty sure that was what the doc was going to tell us it still felt like the wind was knocked out of me when I actually heard him say those words. After getting Ed comfortable and staying with him awhile I had to leave and have a breakdown. So for most of the day I ranted, raved and cryed. Now I'm exhausted but feel strong enough to move ahead. The only good thing that happened today was Ed came home and he seems to be recuperationg from the prostatectomy very well. Thanks for all your support, I really appreciate it. Hope you are feeling well. Cathy

Well Cathy, lets take day by day! Each day brings it's own problems so the best way to cope with the pressures is to go step by step. I am very sorry to hear that your husband is facing more health challenges but you have to be strong and hope for the best. First step is done. That was the surgery. Second step is to recover from it. Third step is to take care of the newly found problem and so on. I read and talked to some men with advanced metastasic cancer and they, with all the available treatments, are living well even after 5 years from the diagnosed matastase. In your husband's case only one spot of cancer cells was find and that is "good". Get as much info as you can so the proper treatment and the most skilled doctor can take care of it!
Meanwhile, I am still on the Casodex and on this coming Tuesday I will get the first injection of Lupron. So far no side effects are noted. I will be posting all my experience as we go through the treatment.
Best regards, Erik