An Uninvited Guest

An uninvited guest has come to stay with us. We wish he would leave on his own but it sounds like we have a lot of work ahead to evict him. John has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Yesterday we met with the urologist to discuss treatment. So far, after a bone scan and a CT scan, there is no evidence the cancer has metasticised—it hasn’t spread. That is good news. But this guest is embarrassed to come in to somewhere it isn’t welcome. That means we have to fight to get rid of it. That means tests like an MRi, radiation who knows what else. I do know that this guest claims a lot of time and space in our time, space, future plans. Our calendar is full of encounters with the visitor or plans to get rid of it. all began with a colonoscopy in July. That led to two endoscopies in September and October, then a biopsy in October then a bone scan followed by a CT scan this month. The urologist also wants an MRI. Since John has a pacemaker, that means he needs to connect with a cardiologist here in Colorado It seems pacemakers are picky about electrical activity from an MRI. When the doctors gather all the information they need, John will see a doctor who will recommend the radiology treatments they feel will be the most effective to eliminate (evict) this guest. We came to Colorado for the summer. We had planned to establish a relationship with medical care here then travel to Arizona for the winter We have wintered in Arizona and traveled in our RV during the warm weather months. But we are aging—we will both turn 80 next year—and we have lived most of our lives in Colorado. This is home and where we have family. We just didn’t plan on getting so well acquainted with our new doctors right off the bat.