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Before I retired, I worked for the county helping with road maintenance. During bad storms and weather, I went out to close roads and put detours up to keep people safe and out of low water crossings. I showed up and did my job and it kept people safe and avoided unnecessary injuries and death. It was not a fancy job but I did it with pride and care as people depended on me doing my job.
Sorry for the story but it is difficult for me to understand how someone might not show up to do their job when lives depend on it.
I still got lot of reading to do and some of the links that sent are great resources. I'm thankful for this group as you guys are really helping people like me. I didn't even know where to start like three days ago. Now I have an appointment with a center of excellence and got a room via the American cancer society set up for next week. It sounds like I need to do more and I will look into more appointments this week. Thanks all.
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You are doing Great, buddy! To get all this done in such a short period of time after getting sucker punched is just phenomenal!
Since you have a room and an appointment ((MD Anderson?) there’s nothing more you need to do right now. As jeffmarc and others have said, you are on ADT so that right there is the BEST medicine right now.
The hospital consultant - (whatever his particular area of expertise is not super important right now) - will review all your numbers, tests and scans and advise you on your next steps. Remember that you have disease that has spread to the lymph nodes, so you are going to need a multi-disciplinary approach - maybe surgery ( can’t be totally ruled out just yet), probably radiation, continued ADT and maybe even chemo depending on your genetic factors.
It may seem overwhelming but rest assured, this is how it’s done. It’s VERY different from your last doctor ( PLEASE GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!) diddling around, doing nothing while your cancer spread.
You will be asked what hospitals or doctors should have access to your records. Leave him OUT as he has NO right to access your treatment, nor would I give him any opportunity to influence your thinking in any way.
You are spot on when you say that he did not show up for work; your relationship with him should be terminated at this point and just focus on getting the proper treatment. You are gonna get thru this, buddy, just remember that. Many before you have had much worse and are still kicking ass decades later!
Happy New Year and please keep us posted on your progress…
Phil