Day of Reckoning
Mary Schoen, the excellent, extremely helpful clinical nurse in the Urology Department, had prepared me for the surgery, and everything ran smoothly the day of the procedure. The nursing staff was so helpful to Tina and our kids during the surgery, coming out of the O.R. on a regular basis with reports of the procedure's progress and my condition. After the prostatectomy was completed, Dr. Scardino came out and told my family that everything had gone well. He answered all of Tina's many questions and made everyone feel comfortable.
In looking back on that day, it is apparent that the excellent treatment we received, from the nurses to the anesthetists to Dr. Scardino himself, was not an accident. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is a well-oiled machine with an expertly-trained staff.
Success
I went home four days after the surgery, and though there were some complications, it felt good to be back. My goal was to rest and to do whatever I was told. Tina had been thoroughly trained by the nursing staff to take care of me and my catheter, and she found it relatively easy to do.
My final pathology results from the tumor material removed during surgery weren't available until I returned, a week later, to the hospital to have the catheter removed. Understandably, I was anxious the day we went back. To my tremendous relief, everything looked good and the tests showed no sign of residual cancer. Initially, we had discussed possibly doing the nerve graft procedure, which, fortunately, wasn't necessary because the nerves were preserved during the surgery. Despite my instructions to save only my impudence, Dr. Scardino, thanks to his brilliant surgical technique, was able to save all my normal functions.
Lessons Learned
To me, the idea of being a cancer survivor is the ultimate pretentious concept. I don't believe in it. You survive cancer because of God, the skill of the medical team that treats you, or some combination of the two. You could be a good person, or a bad person, a sinner or a saint. It doesn't matter. Your treatment success is out of your hands.
However, now that I have survived cancer, I thank God for my wife, my children, Dr. Scardino, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering. I believe that I am going to die whenever God sees fit, but, thanks to Dr. Scardino, I don't believe I'm going to die of this. As a result, I'm not going to take too much time off to smell the flowers. I do rest a little bit more than before, but I work just as hard, too. Part of the money I earn now, I'm earning so that people in my position who don't have the same means as I do can receive the same treatment.
As part of this effort, Tina and I have given an endowed gift to Memorial Sloan-Kettering in honor of Dr. Scardino. He is part of what I consider a championship team at Memorial and we wanted to help them with their efforts. We directed that the money from the gift be used to help men diagnosed with prostate cancer receive the same wonderful treatment I received. It saved my life and I hope it can, in some small way, help save theirs.
Advice for those Just Diagnosed
If you or a loved one have just received a diagnosis of prostate cancer, my advice is simple: Go to Memorial. When you're dealing with a potential diagnosis of cancer, I don't think there is anyplace else in the world where I'd rather be.
