Hi everyone,
Well, Dad has had his op. They kept us waiting 5 hours for a bed, even though they had asked us to arrive at 7pm for admittance. Dad was given nothing to eat and drink after 12pm midnight, but kept until 6.15pm the next day before the surgery then asked if he would WALK to the operating theatre!!! I don't want to bang on too much about the state of the British National Health service, but these sort of incidences really doesn't instill confidence in the rest of it!!
Anyway finally they removed the tumor which was described as large. I am still fasincated as to how they did this, as he was not cut anywhere!!! Surely they didn't take it out through the penis??? If so it would explain why he is so sore I suppose! They also say that there is a 'thickening of the bladder base' and when I read this my heart sank, as I suppose we have been hoping for what I think you call a 'superficial' cancer, where there is just a tumor that isn't likely to spread. There has been talk all the way through that the prostate was enlarged and this is what may have been causing the extreme pain in peeing, even before the pre-op catheter was inserted, but the prostate was said to feel normal.
Dad is out of hospital (allowed home 48 hours after the op) but really tired and weak. They have said it will take at least 3 weeks for the analysis to be done on the tumor, which I think is a very long time to wait.
Given what I have described here can anyone give us any more idea what to expect in the future? The stuff that worries me the most is the fact that in Britain we don't really have the option to 'shop around' for the best treatment as you seem to be able to do in the US. I think the surgeon is ok but how do we really know this?
Thanks again for any advice you can give.
Londongurl.