My surgeon, Dr. Guru, walks in with his associate about 4 p.m. today, Tuesday, hands me a stapled print-out entitled "Patient Report," points out the areas highlighted in yellow and declares that I should be pleased.
The bladder? Cancer-free, according to the lab report. The chemo and the TURBT procedures took care of it. The two nearby lymph nodes he removed? They were OK. The bladder cancer hadn't spread. No problem. The prostate gland? 10 percent cancer. It hadn't spread either. Now it's gone. Once I recover, I'm going to be fine. Healthier than before.
The next question -- when should I go home? The associate said a few days ago I could probably leave on Wednesday. Dr. Guru said he wanted to be sure that the now-pale pink fluid draining from my abdomen had decreased to acceptable levels.
My opinion, having seen the nurses and aides empty the little grenade-shaped plastic collection bulb for the Jackson-Pratt Drain, was that I wanted to be cautious and not remove the drain too soon. My health proxy, Bill Finkelstein, had gone home with a JP Drain still in place after abdominal surgery a few years ago and was back in the hospital with an infection three days later. Fine. The drain can stay for another day. I'll go home Thursday.
Monday's move to a smaller private room in a regular ward on the seventh floor was accompanied by my biggest parade of visitors. There was Bill, of course, and bridge players Sandi England and Jerry Geiger -- a jolly collection. All we needed was a deck of cards.
Following them were good friends Jack and Shelley Dumpert, who promised to weed my garden Tuesday (but had to postpone it due to the cold rain and fog). Then, surprise, Richard Allmond, a friend from the Lost Expedition pub crawl I led back in the 1980s. And finally, Monica and another good friend, Marti Gorman, who showed up just as I was reaching another recovery milestone -- my first bowel movement. Guess I'm almost ready to face the world again. Except for the JP Drain, all my medical missions are accomplished.
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