Chemotherapy ...Scared

Good for you, buddy. I saw your reply to Colleen and now you can thank your own sound judgement for not listening to those internet trolls.
Also, you echo the sentiments of MANY of us here who pursued a healthy lifestyle, exercised, avoided foods deemed harmful, etc. It doesn’t matter when it comes to PCa!
But take heart in the fact that your otherwise healthy body will be your greatest asset going forward with whatever treatment you choose. You did not waste your time! Both surgery and radiation can exact a toll, but for myself and many others here, we found that our ‘training’ mitigated most of the side effects and enabled our recoveries to proceed at a much faster pace.
You’ve done your part….so please remember to select the VERY BEST doctors so they can do theirs.
Best of luck!
Phil

Hey Phil,

I appreciate your response more than you can ever imagine.
It is a huge relief to hear that the training can play such a key role in this whole crazy process. My urologist alluded to that, but your explanation is much more detailed. I'll keep working out, for sure. For me, it's also a way to burn off some of the aggravation that cancer has created.

One week from tomorrow I have an appointment w/a fairly young physician at The City of Hope. His credentials are impressive, and the staff has been professional, understanding and compassionate.

Thank you again for your response. How are things w/you?

Doug

Hey Doug, So good to hear that your head is in a better place and yes, working out gets a lot of the anxiety, fear and frustration out of your system! It’s really the one thing that you actually can do to take part in your treatment and make a difference.
After my surgery a nurse came into my room and suggested that I get out of bed at some point that day - if I could - and maybe take a few steps around my room just to get moving…
So I gingerly got myself upright, grabbed my IV pole (a bag of Tylenol, a bag of saline, and a catheter bag) and off we went out of the room and all around the hallways of the ward for about an hour. Did it again after lunch to cheers of “Here he comes again!”
Don’t get me wrong, I was in pain and far from joyful during my promenade, but I was gonna do it, dammit! Even at home I started walking on the treadmill slowly after a few days and it gave me a real sense of control or victory or whatever that feeling was.
I think you will do the same or even more and your surgeon ( if you go that route) will appreciate your lean physique and your well defined anatomical landmarks. Surgeons absolutely HATE excess fat and having to negotiate their way through globs of adipose tissue inside your body.
And thank you for asking about my status; doing great a month out from salvage radiation, still pushing thru the fatigue like everyone else. But it’s a new year and a time for hope for all of us! Best of luck with your treatment.
Phil