Friday
Drove over to COH this morning. Got there an hour and half earlier than my appointment, but they took me right in and removed my catheter and performed a flow test. The nurse practioner gave me a bottom line on the pathology report. Also, got meds for interesting drug test.
The nurse removed the urine bag and syringed about 100cc of water into my bladder. She asked me to tell her when I felt a strong need to urinate. She then removed the catheter - no pain, just a kind of eerie sensation. I stood up and peed. Was even able to stop and restart stream. Bladder emptied just fine. I proudly put on my "man pad" held in place by my briefs and pulled up my trousers. Now I just have to learn how to NOT pee. A catheter makes you very lazy in this regard. I think it would be better if they removed it after only a couple of days. Maybe not even use one at all.
The bottom line on the pathology report is no evidence of cancer spread outside the prostate. The prostate margins were clear and the removed lymph nodes showed no sign of disease. Not absolutely conclusive, but pretty close. The PSA test in a month will be more definitive. The PSA value should be below detectable limits if there has been no spread of cancer.
Now for the really weird part. When we went in for the initial consultations with the docs, we were told that they (COH) have been trying a new post-op protocol using Viagra. Their thinking is that since Viagra (and other similar ED drugs) increases blood flow to the areas just recently messed with, then maybe that would improve rate and quality of recovery. So, I now take a Viagra (actually Cialis) every day for the next 9 to 12 months. I can't tell if Gayle is excited or not.
Home now practicing not peeing.
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