I am in Victoria now staying at one of the Canadian Cancer Society lodges while I receive radiation and pharmaceutical treatment for prostate cancer.
The pharmaceutical treatment, and I have been undergoing such for months now while still at home, amounts to anti-androgen drugs to suppress the production of testosterone.
Prior to this I had also already undergone what is known as a TURP. Which stands for Transurethral Re-section of the Prostate and is it’s very own unique experience. Essentially, under anasthesia thank beelzebub, large sections of the prostate are shredded and then encouraged to be flushed out of the body in order to alleviate the pressure being applied to the urethra and thus allow urine to once again flow. In order to do this a tube with a miniature meat grinder of sorts is inserted up the penis and the prostate is churned into pieces small enough to be urinated out. In order for this to happen a pair of tautly wrapped tubes are inserted after the grinding. One will pump water into the bladder and one will then allow the water to flow out again. And in order for that to happen there are two plastic bags of distilled and purified water are hung from a pole to dribble into the bladder and another will hang over the side of the bed to empty into a bucked for the next 18 hours while you remain in hospital.
This happened on June 19th and on, July 22 I travelled Victoria to check into the Lodge and on July 23, a Wednesday, I experienced my first radiation treatment.
As of today I have 17 more to go. Weekdays only.
