Funny.  I’m struggling to come up with anything of real interest that happened in the last week.

Friday my head got all stopped up again, but I think it was from the explosion of pollen in the area.  Nearly every fruit-bearing tree is in full bloom, lawns are being mowed, and trees are popping leaves.  My allergies just didn’t like it at all, I’m guessing.

Saturday rained a good chunk of the day so I spent the day indoors working on my spreadsheet for work.  Yes, I’m not keen on working at home on the weekend, but sometimes I can get more done in four hours at home with no interruptions than I can in eight hours at work with all the distractions.

Sunday broke temperature records here–we hit 85 degrees.  I had opened the windows and I think Saturday’s rain knocked down some of the pollen. 

I tossed and turned Sunday night because it was a balmy 74 degrees when I went to bed.  The comforter was peeled off and I seriously debated turning on the air conditioning.  I left my window wide open and brought in a fan instead.  That helped cool things down a little.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday–all pretty routine days at work.

I did see the optometrist on Friday and he gave my eyes a clean bill of health.  No signs of glaucoma, cataracts, or optic nerve damage.  It was the last that I was worried about from taking the Cialis.  He was okay with me resuming it, but after his comments about “catastrophic vision loss,” should something happen, I’m not so sure I want to take the risk.  He had never seen or heard of someone who went through that, so the likelihood is “infinitessimally small.”  But when you only have one set of eyes and the damage is irreversible…  Gives one something to think about.

The incontinence over the weekend and early this week was minimal.  In fact, I went the whole weekend without guards except for about 6 hours Saturday evening.  I had a giant pollen-induced sneeze that caused me to leak enough to warrant changing clothes and put a guard in place. 

But Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were all decent days.  Let’s hope the trend continues.

Sorry for the later-than-usual posting… It was so nice, I drove to Cincinnati for dinner and a little shopping.

A while ago, a friend at work told me how he liked to work on jigsaw puzzles. I had an old puzzle that was of a topographic map of Yosemite National Park–no easy task to complete with all the contour lines and similar colors.

When he returned it, he gave me one of his puzzles to do. It was a brilliantly colored image of birds in a tropical rain forest. I started on the puzzle about 5 weeks ago, getting the border in place and some of the inner pieces put together.

Sunday evening, I decided to tackle the puzzle in earnest while I was doing a load of laundry after dinner. The next thing I know, it was 11:00 PM and I was only about 40% done. I returned to the puzzle Monday night after dinner and kept at it. When it was nearly 11:00 PM again, I only had 30-40 pieces to go, so I kept at it. I finished it shortly after midnight.

I’ll have to admit that the last time I did a jigsaw puzzle was the Yosemite Puzzle when I was living in San Diego in the late 1980’s. It was fun, frustrating, annoying, and a great diversion from work, the Internet, and television. Plus, you actually get to see what you accomplish each time you sit at the table.

My spring cleaning bug has continued, at least on the inside. I really need to get outside and do some work around the yard. The weather has been a bit whacky thought–warm, cold, sunny, rainy, windy. This weekend is supposed to be in the low 80’s already.

I’ll have to admit that I’ve been a rather withdrawn and reflective mood as of late. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the approaching five-year anniversary of my mom’s death; or some of the challenges at work; or just trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I don’t know. Puzzling, eh?

BIOLOGY AHEAD

Success. 

You already know I’m a spreadsheet geek, so it wouldn’t be a surprise that I created a monster spreadsheet about two years ago to manage the program I’m in charge of at work.  Well, our new leadership wanted to see our numbers presented in a different way, so that caused me about 25 – 30 hours worth of work restructuring the spreadsheet to meet the new requirements.  (Told you it was a monster!) 

Anyhow, by Friday morning, I had completed it and it tied off dollar-for-dollar with the old spreadsheet.  I let out a not-so-quiet “Woo-hoo!!!” when I finished the validation.  At the end of the day, I wound up at the local watering hole celebrating with two of our financial analysts.  I’m now an official honorary Finance geek.  But an old one.  Their combined ages was still less than my age.  Ugh.

For some reason, over the last few days I’ve had a spring cleaning bug.  Unfortunately, the more I cleaned, the bigger the mess I had.  That’s not how it’s supposed to work.

It started on Saturday with me searching for something in my file cabinet.  The next thing you know, it looked like a paper explosion hit my home office.  I had crap everywhere.  Old bills, reports, notes from grad school–you name it, it was there.

I fired up the shredder and got rid of a lot of it, and reorganized what was left.  I still had a stack to shred on Wednesday night.

Saturday, I also got out and messed around with a little photography for the first time in a long time.  It was sunny, but colder than I expected, so I didn’t stay out too long.

Sunday was tax day.  I had started them in late January/early February when I was still on leave, but sat on them until now (in part, because the IRS wasn’t accepting itemized returns until after mid-February.)  I’m glad to have that monkey off my back.

Healthwise, I’m doing okay.  The head cold I had as all but gone away.  I still have a little tickle in my throat that will cause me to cough now and again (and the associated equal but opposite reaction down below).  Others who had the same cold said it took about two weeks for it to fully clear.

The incontinence continues to improve.  Not as fast as I’d like, but it’s getting better, slowly but surely.  In fact, I spent Sunday around the house doing taxes and some other odds and ends, and I did it without wearing an absorbant pad all day long.  I found myself moving just a little more carefully to make sure that nothing happened, and it didn’t.  Monday at work, I probably could have gotten away without the pads; Tuesday, probably not.  I can still get through the night without them.

And speaking of getting through the night… The multiple runs to the bathroom throught he middle of the night have all but stopped (except when I’m stupid and drink too much too close to bedtime).  That makes me a much more pleasant person during the day when compared to the sleep-deprived version of me.

Next week I finally have my appointment with the optometrist to check my eyes.  You may recall that I stopped taking the Cialis because listed side effects were blurred or complete loss of vision.  I’m not sure if he’ll be able to tie the two together or not–or if it’s just the fact that I spend 25-30 hours looking at one spreadsheet!

So that’s been the last week.

Dang.  I almost forgot to post something this week!  Sheesh.

So the head cold that I told you about last week kicked in full-force.  I missed work on Friday and spend the entire day in bed.  Saturday and half of Sunday, too.  I’ve had worse, but I’ll have to admit that the post-surgery side effects made this one a little different.  Nearly everytime I coughed, sneezed, or blew my nose, I had an equal but opposite reaction at the other end.  Not fun.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday weren’t too bad at work.  Each day was a little better.  I think letting my body have all that rest over the weekend was a good thing–it put the cold behind me for the most part.

The weather here had been great up until yesterday–a balmy 74 degrees.  Then the storm came through and it was 32 and snowing this morning on the way to work.  Ugh. March in Indiana.  It’s supposed to stay cold through the weekend.

I did talk to another prostate cancer survivor at work yesterday, and we compared notes.  He went through the full-blown slice you from your navel to the pelvic bone surgery 5 years ago.  He reminded me to keep doing my Kegel exercises and to be patient.  He still does his every day 5 years later.  It will get better.  I sure hope so.  He also reminded me that it beats the alternative.

He also told me that he hadn’t been to the doctor “in 20 years” prior to a free wellness screening offered at work.  That’s how they discovered his cancer–an elevated PSA test.  His family physician had him wait a couple of months and retested, and the PSA was higher and that caused them to do the biopsy that confirmed the cancer.  He said had it not been for the wellness screening, he wouldn’t be around to have this conversation.

So guys reading this: Once again, get tested!  Especially if it’s been a year or two or twenty.

Have I made the leap on a new car yet?  Nope.  The head cold kind of put that on the back burner.

So that’s about it from here.  I think if the weather’s going to be as bad as they say it is this weekend, I feel a date with the IRS and Indiana Dept. of Revenue is in the works.  I need to finish and file taxes.

So I’m writing this on Wednesday night because it’s supposed to be 70 degrees here for St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow.  I have a funny feeling that I may not be available to put this together tomorrow night.  Something was said about green beer after work tomorrow…  (Where’s that catheter and two liter drainage bag when you really need it?!?)

It must have been a pretty boring week, because I’m struggling to come up with anything of interest.  Oh.  I continued to kick tires on new vehicles. 

When I dropped off the car that I was allowed to take home on Thursday night, I asked if I could take a different model home on Friday night.  “No problem.”  Off I went, in another new vehicle on just a handshake.

Have I made a commitment yet?  Nope.  Not yet.  The salesman worked up a price on the second car (much more of a joy to drive), but we’re going to have to put some negotiating skills to use before signing on any dotted lines.  Plus, selecting the right options is akin to selecting a surgeon.  (Yes, only I can make a decision that painful!)

Both at work and at home, I’ve been playing with a lot of data and computer files this week.  I’m overhauling a massive spreadsheet that I use at work to accommodate a new reporting format, and I’ve probably got 25 hours invested in updating it, and I’m still only about halfway through it.  Fun. 

About 48 hours ago, I noticed that I was getting a little bit of a sore throat, and it’s continued to intensify since Monday night.  Luckily, there’s no serious coughing or congestion with it.  If there was, I’d be in trouble.  Every time I cough, I leak.  Every time I blow my nose, I leak.  (You’ve seen my nose.  It takes considerable force to clear that puppy!)

There has been a good side to the sore throat.  I’ve taken NyQuil the last two nights, and I’ve slept from about 10:30 PM to 6:30 AM without interruption!  And without incident!  That makes me hopeful that I’ll get back to a more normal sleep pattern eventually.  And, no, I won’t turn into a NyQuil junkie–I value my liver too much.

Otherwise, I’m doing fine and more than ready for Spring to finally arrive.

So that’s it on this St. Patrick’s Day Eve. Enjoy!

Hello again, everyone!

It’s been a pretty good week. Work has been hectic and I think I’m finally settled back into the routine, as “routine” as things are these days.

On Sunday, I made a trip to Chicago and back to attend the visitation for my brother-in-law’s mother; she passed away on Thursday after 88 years on this Earth.

Both my sister and brother-in-law instructed me not to make the 4-hour drive because the weather Saturday night was crappy–rain, freezing rain, and snow. Oh. And because I wasn’t “normal.” 🙂 I guess they meant that I haven’t fully recovered from the surgery.

I told them I’d check the weather in the morning, and if it looked good, I’d come up anyway. I wanted to be there to support them (and to prove that I am “normal”). Everyone was surprised to see me and told me how well I looked (I need to buy them glasses). I guess people think that I should look differently as a cancer patient. Maybe it’s that stereotypical image of the patient who’s gone through chemo or radiation that gets lodged in people’s minds. I don’t know. Regardless, they were all glad to see that I was doing well and up and about.

I did stop for a good ol’ Chicago Italian beef sandwich on the way out of town. Mmmm-mmmm. No one around here makes a sandwich like that!

So it made for a long day–4 hours up, 3 hours there, and 4 hours back–but I’m glad I did it. It was a good test to prove that I can travel some again. It wasn’t without its differences though. Before the surgery, I’d typically just make one “pit stop” at a rest area, but on both trips I had to make three. No biggy.

BIOLOGY REFERENCES AHEAD

From the incontinence perspective, it was a week where I don’t feel as though I made much progress. In fact, on Saturday, it seemed like a setback.

I was just working in my home office on some things for work, and it seemed that no matter what I did, I sprung a leak. Blinked an eye. Leaked. Reached for a pen. Leaked. Stood up. Leaked. Hair fell out of my balding head. Leaked. I was quite annoyed at the situation and even a bit worried about what would happen on the trip to Chicago the next day.

Nothing. Nothing happened. I had one of my driest days in a while on the trip up and back. Go figure. Monday was fine. Tuesday was fine during the day, but Tuesday night, I was doing chores around the house and it was Saturday all over again.

One of the reasons I’m posting this later than I planned was that I had my follow-up appointment with the surgeon late this afternoon.

We reviewed my case and he says that I’m on track and nothing seems out of the ordinary:

• The 2-4 trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night are typical for the first 6 months.
• The increased leakage late in the day is normal as the body is fatigued.
• There will be good days/weeks and worse days/weeks.

All-in-all, he was pleased with my progress and reminded me that the infection really did a number on my system, slowing the normal recovery process. We’ve scheduled the 6 month PSA test for 4 August and another follow-up for 11 August to get those results. Hope for another undetectable reading.

POTENTIAL PURCHASING REFERENCE AHEAD

Okay. Another reason that this is a later than usual posting is, after the doctor’s appointment, I stopped by my favorite car dealer to take a spin in a car that they’ve got on the lot that I’ve had my eye on for a while now.

Rather than have me take it for a normal test drive, the salesman let me take it home overnight. I told him that I have to stick around the house tomorrow for a delivery, and that I may not be able to make it back by their 6 PM closing time tomorrow night. “That’s okay. Just bring it back Saturday morning,” he said. Pretty nice of them. (One of the reasons it’s my favorite car dealer.)

It’s a pretty sweet ride, but I’m not sure I’m going to make the leap on that particular car. (It’s a different model than my current car, and I wanted to check it out because I really haven’t had any experience in that model.) We’ll see.

And, no, this isn’t a true impulse buy–I’ve been thinking about this well before the surgery. Of course, that assumes that I go forward with either model. When it comes to something like this, I’m never impulsive! I think I annoyed the crap out of the salesman who sold me my car 6 years ago for nearly 18 months. 😦

So that’s it for this update.

Last week when I wrote my first weekly posting, I actually came home each night and jotted down the notes from the day. In essence, I was keeping my blog going each night without publishing it. That kind of defeated the purpose of going to a weekly update so I could have more time to play.

This week is different–it’s all from memory. Of course, I can’t remember what I had for lunch, so this will be a short blog.

I’ll begin with general stuff, and then get into some detailed biology (a word of warning to those whose minds aren’t so inquiring).

It’s good to be able to get around more. On the weekends, I’ve been able to get out and do things that I haven’t done in a long time. I ran to Jungle Jim’s International Market in Cincinnati and one of the salesmen there convinced me to try Grimbergen Double Ale–a Belgian beer. Very nice. (He had to twist my arm–hard!)

I also managed to test drive a couple of cars on Saturday, thinking that I may deserve a “Life-is-too-short-and-I-kicked-cancer’s-ass” present for myself. Of course, a week earlier, my sister reminded me that people who go through major life events–like cancer–shouldn’t make any major decisions for at least a year. I’ll give her advice due consideration. Alpine White or Black Saphire Metallic? J

I enjoy seeing the people at work again, but I think I returned at a crazy time. There’s a lot of new activity happening since I was out, and that makes getting caught up and refocused a bit more challenging.

I’ve been able to reconnect with folks over lunch or dinner, and that’s been good (although it takes me off my post-cancer diet sometimes–I really am trying to eat more healthful foods!).

My boss was a bit surprised when I reminded him last Friday that I have 10 vacation days remaining that I have to use before 31 May. I’m working on plans on how to use them. I don’t see a European adventure in my immediate future. I’m not quite up to that physically right now.

BIOLOGY AHEAD!

On the recovery front, things are progressing steadily. With the incontinence, each day seems to be a little better than the one before, and as long as I continue to see progress, I’m happy. Of course, there are moments of regression that temporarily annoy me.

I feel as though I’m getting closer to the day where I may be able to abandon the absorbent guards that I use. In fact, since the weekend, I’ve stopped using them at night without incident and, on Sunday, I went without during the day as I did things around the house. I had only one minor incident. It’s still premature for me to go without at work–I’m more active there than here at home.

I do notice that later in the day the number of incidents seems to increase. Perhaps it’s just that my body is tired after the long day, or perhaps it’s because I’ve been drinking water all day long, or perhaps a combination of both.

I still have nights (like last night) where I’m running to the bathroom 3-4 times through the night. And then I’ll have a night where I can go 6 or 7 hours without having to make a run. Those multiple run nights make for a fun and grumpy next day.

For several months now, I’ve been noticing that my eye glasses don’t seem to be effective as they used to be, meaning that it’s time for an exam and an updated prescription. However, in the last few weeks, the problem seems to be gradually increasing, especially in my right eye.

Under normal circumstances, I’d say that it’s merely me getting older, or the additional eye strain of sitting in front of a computer all day long again after being off work for 8 weeks. I’d go for my checkup and get an updated set of glasses.

But one of the known side effects of taking Cialis is blurred vision and–in rare cases–complete and permanent vision loss.

So, being perhaps a bit overly cautious, I stopped taking the Cialis early this week and set up an appointment with my optometrist (unfortunately, the first opening was 7 April). I also called my ophthalmologist this morning to get their take on the situation. They wanted me to call my surgeon to get his advice, so I did.

My surgeon agreed with stopping the Cialis for now, waiting a couple of days to see if things get better, worse, or stay the same, and if they get worse, to get to the ophthalmologist.

Again, I think I may be overreacting and it’s as simple as me needing an updated prescription. Still, why risk permanent vision impairment for the sake of a boner? Right?

I’ve had a routine surgery follow-up appointment scheduled for some time now (next Thursday). I’m sure we’ll talk about all this then.

Otherwise all the drain holes and incision points have healed nicely and there’s no pain or sign of lymph fluid accumulating again. Things keep progressing…

• Family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors come through when you really need them the most, and for that, I will be forever grateful.  Thanks everyone!
• I can’t control events, but I can do my best to control how I react to them.
• Fear and anger consume far too much energy that should otherwise be spent on getting better.
• I had to be my own advocate, researching as much as possible to be an educated patient.
• There was such a thing as doing too much research, and that I had to just stop at some point and make decisions with the knowledge that I had.
• Humor—however misguided or irreverent—had to be a part of the cure.
• This wasn’t all about me.  Those around me reacted differently and I needed to recognize, understand, and embrace that by being sensitive to their needs.
• Patience is a virtue (although not easily practiced).
• Talking openly about cancer makes it easier to deal with having cancer.
• There is no shame in having cancer.

Warm.  But not from a fever.  From the wonderful 65 degree weather here!  Time to open some windows.

Again, no fever through the day, so that’s reassuring that things are getting back to normal.  Also reassuring was the fact that the discomfort in my groin continues to decrease. 

I find that there’s a little more spring in my step as I walk (I still can’t walk at my normal “supervisor sprint” pace that I’m used to), and that standing up from a seated position is getting easier.  I’m also having fewer incontinence episodes when I stand (still requires deliberate effort to make that happen, but it’s happening!).

So it’s time to get away from the keyboard, open some windows, and perhaps even enjoy a bit of the evening outside before the sun sets.  Ciao!