Carl Vertrees

I’ve never been flamboyant with my opinions, nor have I spread to the world many of the nuances of my life. But 26 years ago I broke with that regimen and shared all of the details of my health when I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I can sympathize with what the Biden family is going through after Joe Biden’s prostate cancer was recently revealed.

At age 56 during a routine annual physical, I was informed by my doctor that I had a slightly elevated PSA reading. A year later it had increased more than a moderate amount. He referred me to a urologist to further analyze the situation. The biopsy indicated cancer.

Because my mother had died at age 58, I wasn’t going to gamble. The following is an excerpt of my column written in January 1999 after I was home from surgery:

———

The Redmond urologist referred me to a practitioner in Bend who also maintains Redmond office hours. He explained the options, but recommended a radical prostatectomy, total removal of the prostate gland, because of the cancer. For many men older than my 57 years, radiation therapy is advised.

Because he lives in Bend and maintains office hours there most days the doctor recommended the surgery at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

It was great having family at our home for Christmas, but we were certainly apprehensive about the forthcoming procedure. It took some luster from that special holiday.

At 6 a.m. Dec. 29, we arrived at St. Charles, and by 7:30 a.m. I was wheeled into the operating room. Two hours later I was in recovery and by 2:30 that afternoon quite awake and alert.

Ginger had the benefit of close friends sharing the tense surgical wait in the lobby. About an hour into the procedure, personnel confirmed the cancer was not present in my lymph nodes. For the horror stories I’ve heard about prostate surgery, I was very fortunate. It was not nearly as painful afterward as I had been led to believe. By Wednesday morning the nurses assisted me in walking the hallways of the hospital.

By Wednesday afternoon I could finally supplement my intravenous feeding and supplementary diet of ice with real food: Jell-O, broth and juice. The IV came out that evening. By Thursday, I was ready to come home.

Because the incision for the surgery severed the stomach muscles below my navel, I have difficulty getting in and out of chairs. Once I’m on my feet, I move all right. I’ve walked about the block a couple of times and accompanied Ginger on two brief shopping expeditions.

One of those trips involved getting a large pair of pants for me. Because of the incision and the lack of muscle control, I am not only bigger around, but was almost 10 pounds heavier than when I entered the hospital.

This afternoon, I have another appointment to remove the staples on my incision. We’ll talk about my physical restrictions, whether he’ll allow me to drive yet. All things considered, I’m doing very well eight days after surgery.

Although I usually fashion myself as a rather private person, there’s a reason for going public with all this detail. Who would have thought someone my age would have a cancer usually associated with people 10, 20 or 30 years older?

I’ve been having routine physical exams virtually every year since I turned 50. Part of that procedure has been physically checking the prostate (it had been getting larger) and having the PSA blood test. The early detection of this cancer might have saved my life.

If you’ve been putting off a physical exam or your doctor has not been including the PSA blood test as part of your screening, please do so. Please.

Cards, phone calls and emails from friends have helped expedite my recovery. Especially noteworthy are encouraging words from other cancer survivors welcoming me in to their fraternity.

And was it prophetic that my surgery would be performed by Dr. Brian O’Halloran? In our first meeting we discovered that the doctor who delivered me in Seattle in 1941 was his uncle Dr. Paul O’Halloran. Small world.

———

Twenty-six years later, I’m healthy for my age, enjoying an active lifestyle and have required no follow-up treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation — and my PSA is checked every year.

— Carl Vertrees is a former editor of the Redmond Spokesman.