Hoping

The Snoopy image seems very appropriate this morning, for this is the day of my 4th prostate surgery. 

Shauna will pick us up sometime after 10 o’clock and drive us to Riverside hospital in Ottawa. I have been commanded to present myself by 11:30 for a date with the knife, two hours later. The plan seems to be to discharge me sometime around 4 to 5 o’clock. Then, we will find our way home during rush hour.

I am just two years and two days from my 3rd prostate surgery and was reminded of that when I posted of the smoke yesterday. There was so much smoke in the atmosphere two years ago that our local hospital cancelled surgery. Fortunately, the hospital in Smiths Falls, where I had my surgery, did not follow suit.

Previous surgeries have been the normal TURP procedure.

TURP, or Transurethral Resection of the Prostate, is a surgical procedure to treat urinary problems caused by an enlarged prostate gland, often due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). It involves inserting an instrument called a resectoscope through the urethra to visualize and remove or cut away excess prostate tissue that is obstructing urine flow. (Google AI Overview)

Today's 4th procedure will be different.

Cold knife incision of the bladder neck contracture with mitomycin C injection is a surgical procedure to treat bladder neck contracture, a narrowing of the bladder neck, often caused by scar tissue after prostate surgery. The procedure involves making small cuts in the bladder neck using a cold knife and then injecting mitomycin C, a chemotherapy drug, into the incision site to prevent scar tissue formation and recurrence. This approach is considered a safe and effective treatment option for bladder neck contracture. (Google AI Overview)

It would be very wonderful if this Cold Knife variation were to work for me. Mitomycin is a chemotherapy drug. While I don’t have cancer, this drug can also inhibit “the growth of other rapidly growing cells by damaging their DNA.”

Let us hope that this surgery is just what I need, for it is apparent that my prostate is really quite insistent on having its way with me. I am almost at my 78th birthday, and I first noticed symptoms when I was 39 years old. That is a half life of frequent and slow trickling.