Scan Results

On Monday afternoon I heard back from my Urologist, Dr. Sarram. He had just finished reviewing the CT scans and x-ray and he confirmed that the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes (I believe in my abdomen). He also mentioned that the x-ray showed a spot on my left lung and they want to do a CT scan of my lungs. Since he is the Urologist, he referred me to Dr. Reznick, an Oncologist. I called Reznick's office and they are in the process of getting my records and getting insurance approval for the CT Scan and a Bone Scan. They anticipate it will take at least a week for me to get the insurance approval, have the opportunity to schedule the scans and take them. After they get the completed scans and my medical history, I will have a consultation with Reznick and discuss the diagnosis and treatment options. Unfortunately, I do not have any answers to most of the questions I am being asked and anticipate the initial appointment with Reznick will fill in many of the gaps.

Dr. Sarram told me, after the initial surgery, there was the potential of a hernia if I physically overdid it. Although I felt I took it easy, once the swelling went down, there was a very painful, hard area just under the incision and the only literature I could find was consistent with the signs of a hernia. I asked the Dr. yesterday and he said it was not a hernia, it is the Healing Ridge. According to the Dr, this is where he made the incision and since it's in such a hard area to heal, where he added extra stitches for protection. He said it will be firm for a few weeks and then it will soften and go away. Although I am glad it's not as bad as I though, it would have been nice if the Dr., prior to or just after the surgery, would have told me what to expect over the next few weeks. If he has to answer these same questions with everyone that has that procedure, maybe creating a little handout or sending an email the day after surgery would help his patients and alleviate the need for him to have this conversation again. In the future, I think I might ask some more questions and was a little unprepared for this one as it came on so quickly. With the exception of the Healing Ridge, I feel better than I have in a while.

I am scheduled to fly to Las Vegas on Friday to meet up with Chris, Brian, Vince, Dennis and Jeremy. Someone said it's been over 10 years since the last time we got together and I am looking forward to it. Heather and David will also be in Vegas on Sunday as David has a conference next week and we are going to have dinner on Sunday night. Mike and Cindy are flying into Vegas on Sunday night and I will try to see them, if possible. I asked the Dr. if this trip is okay in terms of timing and any problems and he said it was okay to go.

So, now I wait to schedule the CT scan and Bone scan and everything will happen after that. I will update as soon as I know more.

Sam