September 2009.
Once I had completed my biopsy, my urologist, Dr. R. Singh made a follow-up appointment to be told of the results and Oh, by the way, bring your wife with you! That alone scared the H out of me, thinking he already knew the results and wanted her there for my support on what I assumed would be the telling of my death sentence.
So ten days later, we walk, hand in hand into his office to be told I had aggresive prostate cancer.
YES, there is was, that most dreadfull word: CANCER.
I have CANCER!
Dr. Singh ordered a bone scan plus a CT scan for me, to help decide on our next move.
We didn't talk much on the drive home but we certainly both had tearful eyes, in fact Debbie cried and sobbed a lot during the next days. She had done a round of breast cancer a couple of years ago, including surgery and never, ever cried through that but somehow she felt this was going to be much more serious.
Both scan results were negative and in a follow-up meeting with Dr. Singh, he recommended surgery as soon as possible. I agreed that this was likely the best, next course of action but I did feel I needed to hear that from someone with another opinion. I had heard good reports from friends that a Dr.J.Chin from London might just be able to offer that second opinion and to my surprise, Dr. Singh agreed and made it possible for me to meet with him.
By now, time is moving on and it's already Mid-September. My appointment in London was scheduled for late December but a few days later, we get a call that it was now moved up and changed to late October. Dr. Chin took a lot of time explaining to Debbie and I what was going on in my body with charts and his own drawings and when all was done, we agreed to open surgery and he agreed to do it. Robotic was not an option because of my high Gleason Score of #8 and advanced stage of 3TA. Surgery is to be early in the New Year.
But first . . . . . . I'm to go on Hormone Treatment, consisting of a daily Casodex pill for 30 days and a Lupron (the chemical castration one) injection that will totally mess up my body for the next 90 days plus. Hot flashes, no libito, fatigue weight gain plus muscle and bone density loss are to be some of the side effects and YES, I got them all. This to stop the growth of the cancer until a surgery time became available and this will happen on January 20th. !!!
January 12, 2010.
A week prior, we went to London's University Hospital for several tests to determen my health status and make sure I would be a suitable patient. On the big day, best friend Tommy Chesher drove us (including our daughter Chantale) from Sarnia to the London hospital. Debbie and Chantale were going to stay in a lodge, just for members of patient families for the next three days, a place they both enjoyed.
