Diagnosis

So after the biopsy’s I had to wait 8 days to go over them, and the doctor was wedging me in at 10:10 on August 1^st to let me know the results. Um, yeah, sleep was hard. So two days before the appointment the time was changed to 11:00, why? I knew they were busy, my wife on the otherhand said uh oh, he wants time to speak with you, and yes, she was right. At 11:00 on August 1^st I got the news that I had prostate cancer. That 6 of the 13 samples came back Gleason 3+3=6, grade 1.

I mentally went into a tunnel, my wife started asking the questions. She would be a better resource on what the doctor said, I thought I had done my research and I was going to demand robotic surgery to get it out so I could get on with my life. It was Thursday and we were scheduled to on a family vacation on Saturday. I told the doc, can we schedule next week, he said no, your rectum has to heal from the biopsy’s and the surgeon can’t meet with you until Tuesday August 13^th after vacation. So off we went. At no point during this have I been in denial. I knew I would get it eventually, but not at 47.

As I look back, I bet I’ve had it for at  least a year. Did I have a couple night sweats? Yes, but those were also the nights when the bourbon was delicious and I needed another, or the red wine was extra tasty and the wife and I were just having too much fun. After the appointment I started making the phone calls, my mother, my brothers, my close friends. I went to get lunch, did the Panera drive thru at Regency Square, got my food, and pulled into two or three empty parking spots as I’m making the phone calls, an old college roommate facetimed me, out of the blue, he was on a hike with his son, it was so bizarre. I did not have what it took to tell him at that time, my head was swirling.