Wait and watch

We had our visit with the urologist this morning to discuss dh's treatment options for the prostate cancer. Last night I wasn't even sure if we were going to be able to go. Dh said it was a sheet of ice outside and if the roads were icy in the morning (like what caused the road closing wreck yesterday morning) he wasn't taking a chance. We have so many wrecks on the interstate near us from the ice. But he got up at 6am and got in the shower, so I figured it must be a go. 

DH's doctor said he is considered in the "very low risk" category. Of all the samples from the biopsy only one showed cancerous cells and that was like 5% of the sample. He said dh is a very good candidate for the "watch and re-test" approach, as most likely this will be extremely slow growing, as most prostate cancer is. He went over the other 2 options - radiation and surgery to remove the prostate, along with the likely side effects/changes from those 2 options he would then have to deal with going forward. The main one being incontinence. Dh decided to do the wait and watch. He will need to have the blood test for the PSA twice a year, an exam once a year and shouldn't need another biopsy for 2 more years. The dr. also said there is a "gene test" they can do on the samples they already have. It can give a good indication of what category he falls into on how aggressive the cancer may or may not be. We are going to have that done too. The more info to make decisions with, the better. He also explained that if you chose the radiation option and then later need to have your prostate removed, that causes other issues. He cited a statistic that of all the autopsies done of men over 80 years old that died of other causes, 80% also had prostate cancer and either didn't even know it or if they did it was still limited to the prostate and not what they died from. Basically his doctor recommended that due to the small amount of cancer, the very slowness of prostate cancer, and if you are the type of person that can know you have a cancer inside you and be ok with it just kind of staying stagnant, then go with the wait and watch program.

We got over to Walmart at 9:15, so only 15 minutes past my time slot. There was only one other car there, and they pulled in right after we did. Groceries brought right out and no problem, so that was a relief, too. I needed some groceries! and was very glad it didn't get canceled. There were only 2 substitutions and nothing out of stock. Though when I was placing the order they were out of the mayo I like. I'll probably have to order some online from Walmart. I'm not paying $6.68 for it at our town store.

It's only 12:30 and I'm already tired from having to get up early again this week. I didn't take today off work, so no break there to take a nap. 

Kitty has been a total little brat. I hope he gets back to normal soon. He's also been driving me nuts the past few weeks with his litter box liner. I use those plastic liners, which makes it easy when it's time to dump the whole litter out. But, for some reason he has started pulling the sides of the liner over the litter. I keep folding it back over, but sometimes, like last night, he pulled it over and got his poop all over the edge of the plastic liner, so I had to replace the whole thing, before I was ready. Or he scratches so many holes into the liner, pulling it over, that when time comes to remove the liner, I've got sand coming out the holes. So, I just tried pouring the litter in the litter box without the liner and see how that goes. I'm sure I won't like it come time to dump out the whole litter to replace with new. 

That's all I know for today. I think it was the best of possible bad outcomes, at least. Dh seems ok with it.