I realized over the weekend after a few people mentioned that they had been following ‘My Unexpected Journey’ that once I have had the operation to remove the bulk of my cancer that this journey that we have taken together will come to an end.  There have been literally thousands (I have the stats) of people who have been following along with you, it can’t end here, it just can’t.

That pesky little lymph node is still there and has to be dealt with and that may be further down the road and I’ve kind of gotten used to sharing my journey with my peeps.  All that I have written about, close to 30 articles now, has been about the chemo, my fears, and general emotions about having cancer and ultimately getting rid of it.  So the will does continue as I lead up to and deal with the surgery that I was told today will be before the holidays plus the change in lifestyle that I will be faced with.

Let’s be Frank – they are taking out my Bladder, there I said it…

We (Divina is on vacation) went to Sunnybrook to meet the surgeon, actually, we met with his intern who explained everything that is going to happen and how they are going to remove my bladder.  The whole thing all sounds rather disconcerting but ‘it is what it is’ and I’m going to be alive so that’s all that counts.

The operation will last approximately 5 hours (finally gets some rest lol) they keep a watchful eye on you for the next 7 days to make sure all the bits and pieces are connected properly and working correctly. The 7 days will be spent in hospital under the watchful eye of Sunnybrooks nurses.

Very little food during that time, the surgeon mentioned I will lose weight while in hospital (no kidding !) then home to recover for 4 to 6 weeks. So how do you pee you may ask, well I have opted for a Urostomy Pouch, there are other new methods but the pouch is the tried and tested way to go.  Seems over 130,000 per year resort to having a Urostomy Pouch, seems they are planning on giving me mine before the holiday.

So the journey continues, albeit a different direction, my intent when I started ‘My Unexpected Detour’ was for me to find a way to deal with my cancer.  Add some humor if I could and just share the ride,  I have achieved so much more than my original intent, I have been truly humbled by the fact that some of you have told me I have been an inspiration to them, not me, them. That’s why the journey must continue, let’s see where it takes, life is full of surprises let’s see how many we find as the journey continues.

Merry Christmas Peter here’s a bag for you – sorry I couldn’t resist that one.

Peter (&mini T)

PS: Edited on the fly as usual, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life so a few more won’t matter that much