Great news Susan, we will be on our way to Vancouver in the next few days (per PM's), will work in with your schedule no problem, glad to be part of a support crew when most needed.

Be in touch again soon

Best, Andi & Ellen

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Hello Susan and Grant,

I heard about this a while ago via Facebook and was very sorry to hear this news. Better news is that you seem to be getting the best of care, Grant and I hope you get a quick recovery.

And all the best to you too Susan. Being a carer isn't easy but it's lovely to read that all this is making you even closer. All my best wishes,

Jacqui xx

Just a note to say I hope all goes well. I`m an avid HUBB reader, not so great a poster, but the site has inspired me so much.
Glad to hear that things are looking on the up

Aw the best big man.

I have noted this thread only now by chance, did not see it before.

I wish Grant a quick and successful recovery, I'm sure we'll soon have very positive updates.

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Nick and his 2010 Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré

Best wishes Grant for the surgery.
And to Susan too.

Hope it all goes well, and the recovery is straightforward.
(Me, I'm doing fine. No chemo or surgery, but 2 more years of hormones - Oh Dear!!!! - plus the radiotherapy last year. PSA <0.2 from 36 to start, everything looks good, hope it does for you too!)

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town

I know lots of folks are waiting for an update on Grant's surgery today. He's out of surgery and in the recovery room, but his bed isn't available yet, so I haven't actually seen him!

I did talk to the surgeon and he said it went very well, not too much blood lost, the prostate had shrunk considerably and he managed to spare the nerves on one side. Look it up...

His PSA was down to 1.06 a couple of weeks ago, so the chemo and hormones did have a good effect. Will have the pathology report in a couple of weeks and will know more then.

He will be in hospital overnight and hopefully going home tomorrow. Then it's 3-6 weeks recovery, fingers crossed we'll both be in California in October!

Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes and prayers, it has made a big difference to his emotional state (and mine!)

Cheers,
Susan

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Really pleased to hear things are positive. All the best to you both in the coming weeks. California in October sounds great!

That's great news! Thanks for keeping us in the loop - you and Grant have had such a positive effect on so many of us, so you shouldn't be surprised we care!

Great news. You 2 have an open invite to Mexico City any time you want.

Good news!

Great news, best of luck and here's to a full recovery and for McCrankpin as well

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That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing...

For those not keeping up on Facebook: (and I don't blame you, FB can be a pain)

Thanks for all the kind and supportive comments, it's very much appreciated. Susan read out many of your comments while I was lying in a hospital bed, and it felt wonderful to have so many care how I'm doing. Thanks again, you make me proud to know you.

Right now I'm home, sitting up and mobile, and did a short walk in a nearby park today. Slowwwwly, only about half a kay, but better than the 30 meters around the hospital ward two few days ago and worlds better than on Tuesday afternoon, after the morning surgery, when the nurse got me up and moving. Bad idea. I hit the deck within a couple of meters. Out cold, eyes wide open, not responding. Nurse hit the Code Blue button, and by the time I came around there were 15 people in the room checking me out!

Of course I fell in the corner, where they had a tough time getting at me (I like to make things tough for them... someday I'll tell you another medical story...) All I could see was a whole lot of faces leaning over me and lots of people talking medical talk like you see on TV, slapping ekg? patches on me and taking blood samples etc! (I'm still peeling the goo off from the patches.) And I'm still lying on the floor in the corner.

Once they got a response out of me, and I seemed ok, they decided it was time to move me. You'd think that would be simple - but these are the days of Health and Safety, and making sure nobody gets injured by lifting anything too heavy etc at work, so instead of a couple of strong orderlies dragging me out and sliding me onto a stretcher, they had to get "the sling". Think of the traditional "stork delivering a baby" picture, only a 6 foot tall man in the same sling, arms and legs dangling, the usual hospital gown and no dignity, swinging from an overhead crane...

Anyway, I was ok. I normally have very low blood pressure, and with the blood loss from the surgery and getting up and moving, probably too quickly, I had a "vasovagal episode" as they term it. In simple terms, I fainted. No injuries in the fall. The open eyes freaked them out though. And scared Susan half to death. So they held me over an extra day to make sure I was ok, and as my blood pressure rose from 80 over 45 to 120 over 66, normal for me, I felt a lot better, and they finally let me go.

I'm feeling pretty good all things considered, and am now back online for probably a couple of hours a day for a bit, and getting better every day.

----------added later:

Now 12 days after the surgery, and I walked a couple of km today, so big progress!

McCrankpin, hang in there - hormones suck, but there's other things that are worse! You'll beat this, as will I.

See you on the road
Grant

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Fantastic news Grant! All the best and many wishes for a speedy recovery.
Roger and Debbie

Thanks very much for that Grant. You're absolutely right.
Good to hear you're out and about pretty quickly. Good progress with the walking. Keep it up. Like me, maybe you'll find some places you used to ride to are now somehow more enjoyable if you walk to them.
Yep, whatever you enjoyed before this episode, make sure you enjoy it even more now. That's what I think.

Here in UK they say plenty of walking is the best exercise for long-term recovery and minimising the side-effects. After surgery or radiotherapy. So I do plenty of it.
During the daily radiotherapy, I often found the train the best way to get there, with a 3-mile round trip walk between station and hospital. So that was a good start.
Then I found that a pub that I sometimes ride to, I can reach from home via 5 miles of cross-country footpaths with less than 200 yards of tarmac. (Shorter distance than riding there).
So it now gets a bit more business from me than before.

Right! Your "vasovagal episode" reminds me of the aftermath of a bicycle accident, at about 15 years of age, having my nose re-aligned in hospital. A day or so before being sent home I woke in the middle of the night, no idea why, and saw 4 or 5 faces peering down at me. Heard something about "no need to worry."
Then, I felt that oh-so-strange sensation, that I had last had about 5 years earlier.
Impossible to describe - the sudden other-worldly realisation that you've been up and about, exploring, whilst fast asleep, and knowing absolutely nothing about it....
"Have you sleepwalked before?"
"Lots of times, many years ago."
"That's alright then."
And the faces slowly departed one by one.
One nurse remained. Whispering.
"You were running up and down the ward - no one could catch you! Saying something - no one could work out what.
Do you really not remember any of it?"
"Nothing!"
"Well, I'm really glad you did it. I've always felt envious of nurses who say there's been a patient sleepwalking on their ward - now I can say the same!"

So it served some purpose I suppose. And I got the walking exercise really early - before I even knew about it......

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town

Very good to read from you, Grant, I'm very happy to read these positive updates !

Keep us updated, on my side I wish you a very quick recovery.

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Nick and his 2010 Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré