Page 140 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

I was now reaching my late sixties with no serious health problems. Dr. John Baker had
given me very thorough physical exams. His only suspicion occurred after 15 years
earlier when he listened to my heart and thought there might be a slight problem. He
referred me to a cardiologist, Dr. Paul Dillahunt, who gave me an echocardiogram and
said he didn’t notice anything serious.

Suddenly at the age of 67 following a prostate examination, I found myself being
referred by Dr. Baker to a urologist, Dr. John Whittaker, who took around 10 biopsies
and informed me that I had prostate cancer.

When I entered a clinic on Riverside Avenue for a bone scan and a CT, I was asked for
what reason. It was the first time I ever had to use the word “cancer”. On November 19,
1999, I had a prostatectomy at Baptist Medical Center. While recovering the next day,
extreme pain in my armpits caused me to buzz the nurse who immediately gave me a
nitroglycerin. A blocked artery had caused me to suffer a heart attack.

Because of my critical condition following the prostate surgery, the doctors had to wait
to determine which procedure to use to bypass the blocked artery. In consultation with
Dr. Paul Farrell, a surgeon, Dr. John Koster, told me that there was a 3% chance I
would not survive the surgery. If I didn’t have the bypass, I would be an invalid the rest
of my life. I immediately told him, “Go for it!”

After two weeks in the hospital and recuperating enough to walk, I was sent home.
After 24 hours, I began suffering excruciating pain. My body was swelling with fluid
and I was readmitted to Baptist Hospital with congestive heart failure. After spending a
week in critical care to remove the fluid, I had lost about 20 pounds and had to learn to
walk again. When I could walk a distance of about 100 feet with a walker, I was sent
home. I was told that to regain weight I should eat all kinds of food and sweets. I asked
my cardiologist, Dr. Paul Farrell, what about my cholesterol. He said that I didn’t have
to worry about that right now. He said we can deal with that later.

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