Decision made....

Back at Raigmore in the consultant's office I gave him my decision to have surgery, I wanted the tumours out rather than nuked and still inside me!  We talked over the implications of the operation and I was interested in what the procedure would entail.   "An incision from umbilicus to pubis, separate the muscles to expose the urethra and prostate, then the delicate job of dissecting out and preserving the blood vessels and nerves supplying the penis, once that's done it's the excision of the prostate capsule, as the prostate surrounds the urethra that part goes along with the prostate, I then create a join between the two ends, close up and that should be it".  It sounded simple enough to me!!!
Prior to the operation I had to have various scans essentially to check that the cancer was confined to the prostate and had not metastasised, or spread, into surrounding tissue or bone structure.  The MRI was quite straight forward, a slow slide through a noisy tube.  The bone scan required me to have an intravenous injection beforehand, but it was a bit disconcerting to have to go to the nuclear medicine department for the jab!  A fancy syringe filled with some radioactive gunk which was squirted into my arm and was supposed to highlight any nasty bits which may have got into my skeletal system.  Time for a coffee while the gunk circulated then an immobile twenty minutes while the scanner did its thing.

All clear on the scans and three weeks later I was on the bus heading back to Inverness, bag packed and sort of mentally prepared for the following day in theatre.  This was it!  At least I thought it was, unfortunately that day wasn't over yet.  I arrived at the hospital ward, was booked in, shown to a bed and handed a regulation NHS 'fasten up the back' gown, the orders were put that on but don't fasten the back up (??).  Blood pressure, pulse and temperature were all duly recorded and I was handed a glass of clear, strange smelling liquid, "Drink that straight down and don't stray far from the lavatory" (??).  I quickly discovered why the gown wasn't to be fastened!!  The phrase 'the bottom has fallen out of my world' was suddenly reversed!!!  The drink was designed to completely clear my digestive system and boy did it work!

A restless night, then the following morning at the appointed hour a porter arrived to wheel me off the theatre......