Life after Prostate

Hi everybody, a Happy New Year to you all. I think 2014 will be a better year, so think straight and be positive. As for me, I am beavering away writing the book about the Journey, and we start putting the film together over the next few weeks, so I will be fairly busy for a while. I would like to apologise in advance if I type the odd naughty word, no offence intended.

On Christmas Eve, Vi and I had an appointment at the Southampton General to meet Santa Claus, well a Consultant really, to hear the result of some tests I had recently. It’s when Santa Claus starts the conversation with the words, I have some bad news for you, that your mouth goes dry. You take in a deep breath, and give a sigh that seems to go on forever. I suppose they like to get that part over with quick, so they can talk to you about what they are going to do about it.

The bad news is, he said, you have Prostate cancer. The good news is, although it is an aggressive form it is curable with an operation. We’ll keep an eye on it and if it reappears, we worry about it then. It looks like I will have an operation in about four weeks, but before then, I had to have a bone scan to see if nothing else is lurking that will aggravate the situation. The result of the scan was OK, so all I have to worry about is the prostate. I'm 73 yrs old and I haven’t done badly so far, so I can’t complain. At my age bits are bound to drop off, or go bad, it’s all part of the ageing process.

It appears that I am having my prostate removed, and various tubes and bits and pieces reconnected. My willy will be as good as useless for a while, apart from peeing out of, and there is a chance that I will be speaking with a high pitched voice. I can’t wait. On a serious note though I think I’m lucky, it could be a lot worse. When I have the operation followed by a couple of months to settle down, I should be up and running as usual.

I am a positive thinking person and as part of the preparation for the journey, I went see my doctor to have a medical to make sure that I was healthy enough to take on the demanding task of driving around the world. Pretty well everything checked out OK, until he checked my prostate. He had a poke around, said my prostate is enlarged, and needed some poo, wee, and blood, samples for analysis. A week later I went back. He said there is something there, which needs further investigation. He had another poke around and said the decision was mine. I pondered the situation.

If my situation becomes public, I wouldn’t be able to go, VI would see to that. I decided to keep it to myself, and deal with it when I arrived back. It was one of the many things on my mind, as I was driving. I guess, bouncing up and down on my manhood for 18,600 miles, hasn’t helped either. I will keep you posted, speak to you soon. Les