A Further Short Update on Dan

Dan has had his treatment and we are now out the other side.

It went well, despite one or two little set backs, such as the machine breaking down just as Dan was all prepped and ready to go, so he had to wait a further two hours; then a "part" fell off the machine during use, and they had to keep him under longer whilst they repaired it.  Such is life.

I am very glad we booked an extra night in London at the small "hospital hotel" just a block away, as he wasn't well enough to go home on Saturday night, and they kept him in until the next morning.  

Since being home he has kept me running around so much that I have very little time for chat; and we seem to have a constant stream of visitors or the phone is always going.  If anyone would like to know what being a "quietly submissive wife" is like, I am gaining experience by the second.  I am rapidly getting to the "Take ten deep breaths before you answer" stage! 

All joking aside, Dan is just being Dan, and like all men hates being under par and having to rest and stay put. Thank heavens for mobile phones, downstreaming, and tablets (of the hi tech variety). And newspapers!  I've never bought so many.  

Dan has had no pain whatsoever from the High Intensity Focused Ultrasound treatment.  But the catheter is, and shall remain, a pain both for him and for me.  For him because it is at best uncomfortable, and at worst downright painful, as well as being an utter nuisance; and for me because he is constantly moaning about it and says he wishes he knew enough about anatomy to improve the design of the things.  Smile ladies!

I'd like to thank everyone once again for all the support and kind emails we have received.  If I didn't manage to answer all your comments last time, let me say how much I appreciated them and all the good wishes and prayers you sent us.

I do plan to get back to normal blogging, but I am a bit inundated at the moment, and I think it could be next week before I am able to draw breath in the normal way.

So bye for now, and see you later Alligators!

An Update on Dan

First of all I want to say a great big thank you to all my friends who have emailed me recently.  Your support makes me teary and you have no idea how it helps to hear from you.

I think I am doing most of the worrying on Dan's behalf as the date of his operation draws nigh.

He went to the London hospital and had all his pre-assessments last Friday.  The usual things - bloods, ECG, blood pressure and cholesterol etc.  

The operation/procedure will take place at 7.30am on 22nd March.  The hospital are putting us up in a hotel overnight, which is a good thing.

He is having the High Frequency Ultrasound we had hoped he would be able to have, which is some sort of a relief, as apparently it has the least side effects of all the prostate cancer treatments.  He will be kept in hospital for 24 hours and has to have a catheter for around ten days as he will be very swollen and have difficulties otherwise.  

The operation is done through the perineum.  They are operating on the right side only.  The cancer is "intermediate".  They are leaving the left side alone as the cancer there is only approx 2mm, but they will monitor it twice a year.

The benefits of the HiFu treatment are that if it isn't completely successful the first time it can be repeated twice more, and he could also have any traditional treatment or operation - so more options. But I pray that this will obliterate the cancer completely.  I desperately want my husband back to normal and cancer free.

I am being a miserably old morose grumpy bear at the moment, for which I am sorry.  I'm finding it difficult to drag my spirits any higher than my kneecaps.  But I have, for the first time in ages spent a half hour reading blogs and I am determined to try to shake myself and get back my sense of humour.  It's just that I wish it were me not Dan having to go through all of this.

All prayers will be very gratefully received, and I will, of course, keep you all in the loop when Dan has his op.

One more thing you could do here to help me take my mind off the worry wagon is to ask me any questions you may like to ask.  I am well aware I am late to this event, and that I haven't done much "asking" myself, but it would be good if anyone had anything to ask me, no matter how silly, and would cheer me up even more.

Hugs!