Ta da - Ladies and Gentlemen, the results are in!

2 minute read time.
I have always known that my bloke was one in a million, but it seems that was a little underestimation! Turns out, given today's results that he is one in a billion. Let me explain ...... After sitting in the waiting room in the hospital with interview stomach of what seemed like an eternity we were called through. We thought we were seeing the specialist uro-oncology nurse from the department so we were somewhat surprised to see both her and the consultant in the room. (Gulp!) They tell us they have the histology results back and that it is, as they expected, an aggressive invasive cancer. Then they tell us that is is rare ..... not just rare, but ridiculously rare. There have only been 40 cases ever reported in the world of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the bladder, and only six of them have been in men. What they do know is that it is unresponsive to chemotherapy, so that is not an option, so chopping it, A's bladder and his prostate out is his best course of action. We then discuss the vagaries of the surgery - from hours in theatre to how many tubes A will have in him when he comes out etc I think the Consultant thinks it is funny I have bought my notebook in with over 30 questions and am scribbling them down frantically as he answers, a bit like a Urology version of Mastermind! And then at the end we get to the key question, "So what's the prognosis?" And he said THEY DON"T KNOW. No, really. Not a clue as to what the future holds with this as there are just too few people ever to have suffered from it and only six of them men, two of whom died from other causes (thrombosis and renal failure) before the outcome became apparent. This is the Universe throwing me a curve ball. How can I worry about the worst case scenario if I have no idea what it is?!?! Very funny when you think about it. I think it has proved quite liberating for us both. The idea that the future and what it holds is totally unwritten ......... we will fight and the future will be as it may. We have a smidge under 4 weeks til surgery. D Day is 13th August (luckily not a Friday) and in the meantime we have to throw as much protein at A as we can muster ..... and he needs to get fitter. This puts him in tip top shape for the surgery. We got lucky with the date too, we are already going to the theatre on the Friday night the weekend before and a classical outdoor proms & fireworks on the Saturday. We have decided the icing on the cake for the last pre-op weekend will be to move our engagement party forward and have that on the Sunday - so three big days of celebrating (bring it on!) Last night we went to see Bruno at the cinema. Honestly I laughed so much my sides hurt but was also so shocked by much of it that I sat with my hand over my face for at least half. Not something to watch if you have delicate sensibilities that's for sure, but A and I giggled like kids all the way through. Fabulous! ;-) Hope the rest of you all having a good weekend, despite the rain. T x
Anonymous
  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi T,

    I had a radical cystoprostatectomy back in March this year.  I was scared witless about the op but didn't like the other option which involved daisy pushing up stuff so I turned up at the appointed time at the hospital.  It was Friday 13th, gulp.  I had just under 3 weeks between the end of chemo and the op.

    On the positive side, all the nasty bits get taken away and hopefully all the cancer too.

    I was advised to do the high protein thing and exercise too.  The surgeon said that it promotes faster healing after the op. I was given a diet sheet by the hospital, I guess A has one too. I also got some Hi Protein drink stuff Nutrisport ()+ Protein.  The banana flavour was quite nice.  I got it from our local health food store.  I bought the small size bottles which gave me a chance to try a few more flavours.

    As for exercise, I tried to walk at least a mile each day, despite the chemo making me feel very lethargic.  Just before the op I had got up to about 5-6 miles per day and felt pretty good.  I'm sure this and the protein drink and diet did wonders for me.

    Don't worry about the tubes after the op.  A is going to look like a drunken plumbers worst mistake.  My tubes came out pretty regularly and didn't cause me any problems.

    Hopefully A will come through all this with flying colours and wave goodbye to Cancer in the process.  If you need any info please feel free to contact me (PM is best probably).

    Meantime, all the best.

    Cheers,  Mike