Well Everyone...I reiterate how I cannot thank you all enough for the advice I have received today. I have spent a very long and grueling day on the phone with Moffit, Dr. Lockhart's nurse, Dr Sexton's nurse and many other resources. Unfortunately, Dr. Lockhart will not be returning to his office until the end of May. He is on vacation. His office nurse office advised that even if our current urologist gets the mass out and biopsied, we can always come to their office for treatment later, or, for just a second opinion. She stated that the most important thing is, to NOT wait any longer. She felt considering its size and the symptoms, it was imperative to find out what we are dealing with now.
My husband then had a very long discussion on the telephone with the urologist who is scheduled to do his TURBT on Thursday. The urologist, Dr. Root was very patient as my husband asked him numerous questions. The one question my husband asked that made up our minds to have the surgery done this Thursday was.... "If I were your very dear and best friend, would you be sending me to Moffitt Cancer Center to do the surgery, or, would you still be doing the surgery?" The urologist replied without a moments hesitation. He said, "I'd be doing the surgery without a doubt. I don't like to toot my own horn..he said, but I have been doing this for a very long time and I am damn good at what I do." He continued, "That he has done thousands of these surgeries in his 25 yrs of practice." He continued,
"How life is too short for him, at his age, to be taking on a case that he did not feel he could do with his eyes closed if needed."
With that said..I wanted you ALL to know that I read every post today, most of them several times over. It was everyone's words here that rang loud and clear. You empowered us to go forth and to once again push every button we could push today to get more answers. Are we still afraid? You betcha!!! However, I think we feel a lot more confident going into this now, than we did before. I heard all of your words and as a result did a lot more research which helped to make us feel as comfortable as anyone could possibly feel going into this God awful mess.
There are no words to express my/our thanks for your kindness, caring and time to make this website possible.
All that I can do now is pray...not only for my husbands recovery, good health and life, but for all of you wonderful people for making the difference in another person's life.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart...
Cher