hi michelle -it's me, eileen g! i haven't logged onto this site in months and months. michael is doing great so i don't feel a real need to. but as you said you can never quite forget or ease up on your vigilance against the big CA. anyway, sounds like your dad is progressing beautifully. you'll see it just gets better and better.
michael had his one year check-up and has been promoted to a 6 month interval between scans, so that was good news. we haven't had any incidents/infections/scares since a few weeks post-op. (i think i told you that it's a good idea to find out who is the best radiologist at your local hospital, and make sure you request the same one to read all your dad's scans. we had a big scare after michael's first scan which turned out to be nothing, but to protect ourselves against that happening in the future, we now know to ask for the same radiologist every time.) anyway, a few weeks ago michael felt like he had to urinate all the time, which is what used to happen before he got diagnosed. then one day after about 5 days of that feeling, he passed a clot of muscous. then the urgent feeling stopped. so i guess that's the mucous plus they talk about that can block you up and make you need to self-cath. michael has never had to self-cath even once and i really hope it stays that way. so you might want to remind your dad to make sure he really hydrates well all the time. michael does that, and he almost got plugged up anyway. it wouldn't have been a big deal if he did, but i just wanted you to know so that if it happens you will be prepared. again, it was the first time in 13 months since surgery, so it was no big deal.
glad you hear you and your family are doing well! eileen