Hi there,
To cut an incredibly long drawn out painful story short, my partner had an MRI scan at our local hospital in July 21. We went to see the consultant in August 21 and he was diagnosed with T2/T3a prostate cancer. He was then referred to another hospital for surgery using the robot assisted technique (RALP). We then went to see the RALP surgeon at the end of September 21 and he talked us through the operation and said that he hadn't actually seen the MRI scan report from our local hospital. Fast forward to the end of November 21 and he had a phone call from the surgeon to say that he's just seen the MRI scans and that the tumour is a lot bigger than they first thought. We've seen a letter from the surgeon to my partner's GP and it now says that it's T3b bi-lateral and 14mm. I've had to try and decipher all the Dr speak on my own and I've asked the hospital was the diagnosis wrong when we were told in August that it was T2/T3a because if the surgeon has said it's a lot bigger than he first thought then surely it must've been T3b bi-lateral back in July 21? They won't answer my questions so I am still in the dark.
He's now taking hormone tablets, Biculatamide 50mg, to try and stop the cancer spreading. The surgeon did say the NM Full body scan that he had done in Oct 21 showed that the cancer hadn't spread to his bones.
He went for his pre-op assessment yesterday because he's finally been given an operation date on 22 December 21. He's had the tests and they took his Blood Pressure 4 times. It was 170/100. He's also been testing it at home and it was 151/102 this morning.
We've finally managed to get an appt with his GP for next Tuesday because if he can't get his BP down then the operation will be cancelled. Is there even a tablet out there that can bring his BP down in 8 days so he can have the operation?
I cannot even begin to write in detail about the horrific journey we've been on trying to sort out appts, with cancellation letters received days after the date of the appt, letters sent out dated 27.10.21 for an appt at 10.45am on 27.10.21 so he didn't get the letter until 4 days later, appt letters sent to the wrong address, the hospital not being able to contact him because they had the wrong phone number, so much so that I'm now on anti-depressants and diazepam.
Not sure what I expect from writing this really, but just wondered if anyone had been through this or anything similar and how did it all pan out.
Thank you for reading this and any advice would be gratefully received. Be honest as I can't feel any worse than I do at the moment.
(I do realise that we are in a pandemic and that the NHS is on it's knees and really struggling but I'm at a loss as to what to do. I also realise there a lot of people who are more ill than my partner).
