HaPPY BiRTHDaY!

Today is dad's 84th birthday and to celebrate his doctor gave him an $800 shot in the behind. 

Originally dad's follow-up appointment was scheduled for Tuesday, but the doctor ended up needing to reschedule due to a surgery. I didn't want to wait too much longer for the results, and since there was an opening today we took it. 

Before giving him the shot the doctor gave us some really good news...the biopsy was benign with no signs of malignancy. The shot was a hormone to help reduce the size of his prostate...which is three times larger than it should be. The doctor said the shot would last three months and shrink the prostate by 50% in six weeks. He said that the most effective way to repair it would be surgery. When I mentioned dad's age and said I wasn't sure he could physically handle a surgery, the doctor mentioned that he agreed because it would be major surgery. 

As for the mass in his right kidney, they will do an ultrasound in three months to check and see if there has been any growth. I am really not to worried though because dad's PSA level is 6.71, which the doctor will check again in three months as well, but he said that normal for a man dad's age is 6.54, and he would expect it to be in the 600's if dad had cancer.

Eli and the boys took dad out to lunch for his birthday while I was at work, and then we all took him out for dinner too. My nephew Spencer (who is attending BYU) and his new bride Nikki were able to join us...It was good to see them, even if dad couldn't figure out why they were calling him grandpa. 

I have been getting weekly newsletter emails from caring.com and this weeks letter talked about how good laughter is for the stress of caregiving, as well as for the person being cared for, so I have to share...tonight as we sat down to the table to eat, dad said, "I feel like I've fallen on my hind quarters." And I told him, "That's because you had an $800 shot in the butt today." He said, "I did?" and after I confirmed he had, he said "That's the kind of thing I don't mind forgetting!"