Lloyd Austin

[Justfor_]

"Washington CNN

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being treated for prostate cancer and suffered complications that led to him being taken to hospital on New Year’s Day where he is still being treated, according to a statement Tuesday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The statement revealed that the cancer was discovered in early December. He underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure” on December 22 called a prostatectomy to treat the cancer.

He was under general anesthesia during this procedure. Secretary Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent,” the statement read.

On January 1, Austin was readmitted to the hospital due to complications “including nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain.” He was found to have a urinary tract infection, the statement said. ...."

My suspicion is, that a week or so later, he had his catheter removed without first confirming anastomosis tightness via cystography. The dates match perfectly.

[6357axbz]

what does that have to do with this advanced, I.e., incurable cancer blog

[cujoe in reply to 6357axbz]

In all due respects, it is pretty easy to just ignore posts that don't seem relevant or applicable to your cancer/life situation. I'm also not aware that you have been appointed to curate the content here at FPC, so why even comment on this post by Justfor_? I prefer to think of it as a PCa-related "comment cleaner" to the normal discourse.

Stay Safe & Be Well,

Capt'n K9

[cesanon in reply to cujoe]

It's just another angry old man who will be dutifully voting for dictatorship against democracy who is offended by people of another race being given any sort of due or attention.

I would just ignore him. Hopefully he will just go away.

[Justfor_ in reply to 6357axbz]

If you had followed my back postings, you would had probably noticed that when I see a post by anyone saying "I am to remove my catheter next week" I caution them not to do it blindly. It is very sad that there are a bunch of very negligent docs that play the odds on their patients by setting the date of the catheter removal without prior testing. There are also research "papers" that correlate the waiting period to the success rate. Probabilities of 95% and up, which for the medical professionals are equivalent to certainty, are found therein. What happens to the remaining 5,4,3,2,1 %? Infection and back to the operating table. I was one of them, but only suffered the burden of 3 cystographies and of wearing the catheter for a month to allow time for the anastomosis to tighten up, because the center in Hamburg where I had my RP DO NOT take chances. Now that you know 6357axbz the relevance of my post to PCa, please become useful to newcomers to this incurable disease and next time you hear someone being at the verge of catheter removal caution him: "First cystography to verify anastomosis tightness, then catheter removal".

[ragnar2020]

Justfor,

Very wise advice. Thank you. After my RARP, my catheter was removed by a nurse at the facility were the surgery was done and not by myself as a do-it-yourself option as has increasingly become the norm during the pandemic. I was fortunate that no infection occurred, but I know several men who have gotten infections and suffered greatly as a result.

[Justfor_ in reply to ragnar2020]

Thank You! My main purpose for posting here is to reciprocate the wealth of information I am mining from posts by more experienced/knowledgeable members -four years now- by sharing the details of my personal case.

[cujoe in reply to Justfor_]

Your sharing of knowledge and personal experience (along with that of many others) is one of the informative highlights of this forum - and separates it from others here at HU. Ευχαριστώ, φίλε μου!

PS For the reasons so aptly stated above, the post would be relvant on ANY PCa forum!

[6357axbz]

You’re right! I’ve been on the Advanced PCa blog. Have no idea I was on the general PCa forum. Thanks

[tsim]

It was just released today that his infection went septic.

[KocoPr]

The press said it was a minimally invasive surgery. Are you kidding! It is extremely invasive with many things that can go horribly wrong.

My brother for one had it done and for four years he was in excruciating pain in all of his muscles. He was misdiagnosed with some autoimmune muscle disease (forgot the name). They had him on heavy steroids for years and only correctly diagnosed when he moved from Bend Or to Phoenix. The surgeon used plastic clips to seal up the surgery and he was having an allergic reaction until they were removed.

[fast_eddie in reply to KocoPr]

I had that same thought about the silly 'minimally invasive' categorization.

[KocoPr]

I like Secretary Austin, he served our country well. I thank him for his service and I hope he has a full recovery soon.

[Justfor_ in reply to KocoPr]

CNN added some additional medical info: In my words, there were fluids gathered in his abdomen that impeded the functioning of the intestine. They inserted a tube through his nose down to his stomach and sucked out the fluid content from there. Additionaly, they established a "non surgical" (probably laparoscopic) drain to empty the abdominal fluids (probably leaks of urine - my guess).

[Still_in_shock]

Was your brother's robotic?

I had Robotic, and I considered that minimal invasive, I had no blood loss (3 oz)and walking that afternoon. Home the next morning. No pain at all. But I might have been the exception?? IDK

[KocoPr in reply to Still_in_shock]

Yes hos was, mine was “ open” by a soon to retire surgeon with 35 years doing open prostatectomy. I had no complications other than erections which I expected and accepted.

[Don_1213]

The original press releases had it as "Elective Minor Surgery".... right. Then minimally invasive? Compared to...?? Heart transplant maybe?

Spin doctors take on PCa - and one can't show any weakness. (I often see that same attitude among celebrities and entertainers who contract PCa.. "Ain't nothing to it..." right.

[cujoe in reply to Don_1213]

Based on this, he may be lucky to be alive:

Diagnostic Errors Common in Hospital Deaths, ICU Transfers, Study Suggests — Mistakes were driven by patient assessment, testing, and often led to harm or death

medpagetoday.com/special-re...

"In a random sample of over 2,400 patients who died or were transferred to the ICU at 29 academic medical centers, 23% experienced a diagnostic error (95% CI 20.9-25.3), 17.8% of which were judged to have contributed to temporary harm, permanent harm, or death (95% CI 15.9-19.8), reported Andrew Auerbach, MD, MPH, of the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues."

Might be a good idea to avoid admission to hospitals unless it is absolutely necessary.

[Kanka99]

A big thank you for posting the news about our defense secretary in this forum. Hopefully, it will bring even more attention to this dangerous disease and perhaps, encourage more men to go in for screening. The attention to Lloyd Austin's diagnosis and treatment can serve as an important wake up call for African American men-- a group that relative to others are at greater risk of dying from prostate cancer. Hopefully, it will motivate more African American men to take cancer screening seriously. Stay strong warriors, fight on, stay hopeful as the medicines that will cure us are in the pipeline.

[dmt1121]

It was reported that he was released the day after surgery! I don't know about anyone else, but I had a 4 day stay to observe and make sure the bowel was functional. I believe his premature release contributed to his complications. The catheter for me was removed two weeks after surgery.

Maybe he was rushing the process to return to work, but better to take the time needed for recovery and tell everyone you will be out for prostate cancer surgery! In his position in the administration, he sacrificed his privacy when he took the job. Secretary Austin was too secretive.

[dmt1121]

Interesting. Maybe my experience was different or protocols have changed. It seems like a fairly major surgery to have you walk out the very next day, but I am not a doctor.

[KocoPr in reply to dmt1121]

I might be wrong but i had open surgery (non robotic) and they kept me I believe was 3 or 4 days. Maybe robotic surgery is less traumatic.

[dmt1121 in reply to KocoPr]

Yes, robotic surgery usually has less bleeding, has smaller incisions and shorter recovery time. I had a robotic prostatectomy and I was still in for three days to be sure the blood coming out of the catheter was at a low enough level and that the bowel is working , due to opioid-induced ileus.

I was 57 in in otherwise good health, so if Llyod Austin is 70, I think he was probably released prematurely, perhaps against his doctor's recommendations because he needed to get back to work quickly.

Doesn't really matter at this point what went down. It's in the rearview and everyone's experience is different.

[cesanon]

It's both I think. Mostly experienced folks here talking about anything to do with prostate cancer.

[cesanon]

I would say this is evidence that it is not easy to get good treatment for prostate cancer.

A general gets the best health care the military can provide. And it's not so good with respect to prostate cancer.

Unless you educate yourself, ask lots of questions, and trust no one... you just are not going to get the best care.

Even if you are a senior general with your own health care system that is doing it's best to suck up to you... you still need to spend the time to look up after your self.