Full Recovery Ch 2

The week passed quickly enough; almost too quickly for Pete, who dreaded the consultation that was coming with his urologist. When you start with a cancer diagnosis, he thought, how can it get better? The only bright spot, he thought, was that Olivia would be there with him.

Dr. Richter seemed to find just the right balance; concern and empathy for Pete’s condition and decision-making, but clear, efficient, and to the point. “You have to do something about this, Pete,” he said, “it’s not a slow-moving cancer, the kind we can just watch. The options, frankly, are two: radiation or surgery.”

There was a pause and then Pete said “Ok, can you give more detail?” So the doctor explained the process of radiation and then surgery. “Let’s get to it, Doc; what would you do?”

“Surgery. It gives you by far the best odds of a full recovery, Pete. And if there are still some cancer cells floating around we can use radiation on them. But if we use radiation first, we can’t do surgery as a backup.”

Another pause. “What are the implications of the surgery?”

“Well, it’s a laparoscopic procedure, so there are only several small incisions. It takes about three to four hours and will require a catheter be installed for a week to ten days.”

The Olivia chimed in: “Dad is too shy to ask, Doctor Richter, but what about, well, sex?”

“Ah, the big question. A full removal of the prostate is called a radical prostatectomy and, yes, very often results in full or partial impotence. There are treatments and protocols to deal with that. Another, less total, surgery can be done, that preserves the nerves essential to achieving erection. The surgery takes longer and, I have to say, does not guarantee success. It’s a delicate procedure; what we urologists all “peeling the onion”. There may still be problems of a sexual nature later. How about I give you a few minutes to think about it? And with that Dr. Richter left the room.

Pete remained silent, his gaze almost unseeing. Finally Olivia moved her chair closer and gently placed her hand on his thigh, breaking the silence. “Dad, I don’t think there’s really any hard choices here – sorry for the pun, Dad – but I think you need to peel that onion.”

“What’s the point? It’s a more delicate surgery, takes more time, and has no guarantee of success. And even if it is successful, what’s that point? I have no intentions of, well, you know…”.

“Why close doors that don’t have to be closed?