Get ‘er done (part II)

Dad’s scans came back fine which means the cancer was contained in his prostate.  Great news!  He has decided on the robotic surgery which will be April 1^st.  I went ahead and told the kids since Dad’s prognosis was good.  The phrase he has used the last couple of times I have talked to him was, “Get ‘er done.”  The four girls bought him a tee shirt with that saying on it to give to him along with some other goodies before his surgery.

I drove to the hospital in Atlanta where Dad was having his surgery.  Claudia, Jennifer, and Grady also came.  While sitting in the waiting room for Dad to get out of surgery, there were a lot of other people waiting for their loved one to get out of surgery also.  It was a big room, and it seemed very impersonal to sit and watch doctors come and go informing those waiting for their loved one’s prognosis.  A particular group of people were very loud and frequently laughed.  One lady was extremely loud.  I thought the lady should have had a little more respect for the other people in the waiting room.  Yes, her loved may have had a simple non-life-threatening surgery, but what about those around her?  Someone else’s surgery could have been life-threatening.

U  Are you being considerate of others as you are sitting in a waiting room?  U

Dad’s surgery went great.  The doctor took out Dad’s whole prostate.  He will have to come back for a follow-up visit and get his blood checked again.  When they check his blood, they use a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test.  The PSA test is the most effective test for early detection of prostate cancer.  The test measures how much PSA is in his bloodstream.  Dad’s PSA number came back .007, hardly detected at all.  He will have to continue to get his blood checked to make sure the cancer does not come back.  Dad said, “I didn’t get a get out of jail free card.”  I laughed!!