The appointment went well.

I love my dad's doctor. He is WONDERFUL. I have never had a doctor give me his home phone number to call if I had questions. Can you believe it?

I went with my dad for his post diagnosis consult. I am proud to say that the materials I researched ahead of time allowed me to understand and process the discussion pretty easily. It is nice to know ahead of time the core of the discussion you will have. I highly recommend the American Cancer Society's website as a great starting point for researching cancer options (in particular I researched prostate cancer). Want great resources for questions you can ask? Check out the Prostate Cancer Foundation. This website was a great resource to me. I cut and paste the info I found into an email to myself which I printed and took to the appointment.

As we drove to the appointment my dad and I engaged in small talk. As we got out of the car he asked if I had a pen and paper. I told him I did and that I had a list of questions too. He scowled at me and said he trusted his doctor and didn't want to ask a whole bunch of questions.

Nice look on your face dad....

Anyway, I told him no problem and put my questions (and research) back in my bag. I didn't think there was any need to argue at this point, I'd ask questions if I needed to ask questions -- not like he could stop me. It simply was not worth arguing about. Let him think he is in control, this was my strategy.

So as we sat waiting I did homework. Dad had not brought sodoku or reading materials. He tried to nap (he is so cute when he does that) but eventually turned to me and said "Hey, can I look at that stuff you printed out?"

"Sure dad. It isn't as organized as it should be, but go ahead" said I. I then pretended to read my homework while I covertly studied him reading the first page. He turned to page 2 of 8 and said,

"This is good stuff!"

I grinned. Sometimes you have to survive the first wave of objections before your ideas can be accepted. We were finally ushered in for the consult and the nurse gave my dad some stuff to read over. He read one page and chucked, "This is the stuff you gave me." We giggled.

The doctor came in and gave an overview of dad's options. He explained the test results and options so clearly that (for once!) I didn't have questions. We go back in a few weeks to discuss dad's decisions. He will have to coordinate his care due to the aneurysm issue complicating matters (so treatment choice may be made for him based upon how this other condition needs to be treated). What was really reassuring was the doctor's manner. "I promise you will NOT die of prostate cancer."

I don't know about you, but for me this reassurance is everything. All I can say is that men are lucky -- if you are going to get cancer this is the one to get. We chicks don't have such great survival rates for the female cancers. Apparently if you are a dude and you live long enough, you will get prostate cancer. If you do, click my links and read -- you will feel SO much better.

I love my dad. I'm so grateful that he is letting me be there with him. I am also grateful that my sister shared with me that he was really please I went with him and that I'd done the research. It is awesome that we know to tell each other the good things Dad says about each other... he doesn't say it to us directly most of the time... even when he is proud of us.

He thanked me for going to the appointment with him and I thanked him for letting me go with him.