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    My Prostate Cancer Adventure, and the Lessons Learned
    My Prostate Cancer Adventure, and the Lessons Learned
    My Prostate Cancer Adventure, and the Lessons Learned
    Ebook105 pages1 hour

    My Prostate Cancer Adventure, and the Lessons Learned

    By Craig Johnson

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    About this ebook

    An estimated 1 out of every 6 men will have to come to grips with prostate cancer, and while there is abundant clinical information about prostate cancer available, we dont hear much from the men who have actually been through prostatectomy surgery or what theyve experienced during recovery.

    In My Prostate Cancer Adventure and the Lessons Learned, I take the reader through my experiences from the time I first learned of my cancer, my thoughts of how to deal with it, and what I experienced during my recovery. I tell my story on a personal level. Im direct and to the point. So if youre looking for a politically correct discussion of the topic put this book back on the shelf and look elsewhere. I talk man to man about a mans problem. My goal in writing this book is to let guys know what they can expect if they choose to undergo prostatectomy surgery. Theres not a lot of drama in this book. You may have to forgive my French because I tell my story without a lot of embellishment mostly.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateJan 20, 2011
    ISBN9781450282079
    My Prostate Cancer Adventure, and the Lessons Learned

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      Book preview

      My Prostate Cancer Adventure, and the Lessons Learned - Craig Johnson

      Acknowledgments

      First and foremost, I thank my wife, Maria, my companion over the last three decades, for her help in getting me through my recovery.

      I also thank Brad Stern for his enthusiastic encouragement and support in making my recovery experiences available to other men contemplating prostate surgery.

      And, lastly, many thanks to Susan Stern Bryson for her efforts in making my writing readable. I find it whimsically ironic that I required a woman’s insight and humor to bring home my points about what is essentially a male problem.

      Contents

      Acknowledgments

      PREFACE

      Introduction

      The Adventure Begins

      What Can You Say About PSA?

      Riding the Nail Gun

      Seeing Red

      And the Winner Is …

      The Gleason Score

      Did You Hear The One About …?

      Urologist, Myologist, Ourologist

      So What Do I Do Now?

      Don’t Be Such a Wimp

      Chances Are One Out of Six

      Thank You, But No Thank You

      Meeting the Robot Surgeon

      Goin’ for It

      The Big Day

      The Morning After

      Pluses and Minuses

      The Foley’s Dark Side: Clogs and Blockages

      Silent But (Feels) Deadly

      The Wonderful Rubber Ring

      More Fun with Foley: Cleanliness Is Happiness

      Hangin’ with Your Foley

      Hands-Free Technology

      Walking with Foley

      Switching Urine Bags: Simple, But Not To Be Taken Lightly

      Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

      Permission to Wet Your Pants: Granted

      A Certain Air about You?

      Kegel Exercises

      Out On My Own Again

      A Man of Many Colors

      I’m a Big Boy Now!

      Wrest Easy

      To Push or Not to Push

      Challenging Times: The Sneak Leak

      It’s Clench Time!

      Going Commando

      Number Two on my List of Concerns: Low Resi-Doodoo

      Medication—a Mixed Blessing

      The BIG Question

      Take Your Medicine—If You Can

      The New Quarterly Review

      In Closing

      Appendix A: Low-Residue Diet

      Appendix B: Craig Johnson’s Recovery Time Line

      PREFACE

      On November 5, 2009, I underwent radical prostatectomy surgery in order to free myself from living with prostate cancer. Essentially everything in this book is based directly on my personal experiences before and after my prostatectomy. If you are planning to undergo another type of cancer treatment, your postoperative experiences may be very different from mine, and much of what I have to say about my recovery in the second half of this book may not apply to you.

      When I was told that I had prostate cancer, my first thought was to find out what my options were. I didn't ask Why me? or begin wringing my hands about bad luck or attempt to apportion blame. None of those things would stop my cancer. Worrying only invites misery and often delays taking action, providing time for the cancer to grow and spread. I found myself in a bad situation, and I set out to deal with it.

      In the first part of the book, I talk about how I came to the decision to undergo radical prostatectomy, and I describe my thoughts on the subject. My decision was based on my personal understanding of the therapies and treatments available at the time. Your decision should be based on your own careful consideration of the therapies available to you.

      I am not a doctor, nor have I had medical training of any sort. Under no circumstances should the reader presume that I have expertise pertaining to any of the therapies I discuss in this book. I relied heavily on my urologist’s suggestions and guidance. He gave me the basic information I needed to begin researching my condition and to reach a decision on how to deal with it.

      I spent a lot of time searching the Internet and investigating the possibilities open to me. In addition, I searched out men who have had prostate cancer. I found that the men who have weathered this storm were eager to talk about their experiences when they realized that I was asking for myself. After all was said and done, I decided to go with a relatively new approach to prostate surgery: robotic prostatectomy.

      Although I believe that my decision was the right one for me, this book is not an endorsement for robotic prostatectomy or any particular surgical procedure or therapy. My chief purpose in writing this book is to give the men who are considering radical prostatectomy a look at what they might expect during their own recoveries. The important thing to remember when dealing with cancer is that regardless of what you decide to do, your decision will come with consequences that will remain with you for the rest of your life. And so it is up to YOU to make the best choice that you can.

      I urge the reader to consider the reasoning I present in this book as a sort of devil’s advocate argument. Be critical of what I say and discuss your ideas with your doctor. By questioning everything I say in this book, you may gain a better understanding of the facts involved in your own situation.

      Best of luck.

      Craig Johnson

      Introduction

      The first thing the reader must know is that I am not a doctor. I have zero medical training. My only qualification for writing this book is that I have been through the experience of making the decisions that lead to selecting prostate surgery, as well as my experiences during postsurgical recovery.

      I underwent a radical prostatectomy on November 5, 2009. The operation employed the use of a surgical robot guided by an experienced surgeon who was trained and certified to perform prostate surgery using the device.

      About a week into my recovery, I was lying in bed, still a bit sore from the surgery, and it occurred to me that the next time I go through this I’ll have an easier time of it. I’ll know what to expect.

      Then it occurred to me that I was all out of prostates!

      And so I thought it would be a good idea to write my experiences down for the benefit of the guys who are considering prostatectomy surgery. This book is based solely on my own experiences. It is by no means a comprehensive list of recovery conditions or contingencies, but it might serve as a checklist of issues that you, your doctor, and others close to you can use to help you to come to a decision about how best to deal with your situation.

      You may also want to keep this book handy during your own recovery as a kind of scorecard to compare your recovery with mine. (I did pretty well, but I hope you do better.) None of what’s written here is rocket science. It’s actually a lot of common sense, and it is likely that your doctor has already addressed much of what you’ll read here. The difference between what the doctor tells

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