Thanks very much, Larry!

I met the guy who was next in line for seeding, and we chatted about it
beforehand. I saw him again in the recovery room (also used for prepping)
after mine and before his, and I used exactly the same expression: "Piece
of cake," I called to him, "Don't worry at all!"  The nurses chuckled.

Yeah, I can feel it's best not to push too hard for a while.  Keyboards I
can handle, shovels can wait :)

Thanks, Steve.  Originally it was scheduled for the 23rd but they moved it
forward.

I didn't quote the PSA (5.4, up in 5 months from 3.6) because nobody told
me not to ejaculate within 48 hr before, so that 5.4 may be bogus.  (But
it got me the biopsy :)

Seriously, I started reading this list after the diagnosis, and that's
where I learned that infections and sexual activity can lead to falsely
high PSA readings.  Neither the MD nor the uro had thought to mention that.
Guess they thought that I'd know.

Thanks, Alan.  Much appreciated.

Almost.  They started the IV in the recovery room, then there came the
anaesthesiologist, who told me they'd done a comparison between general
and saddle block anaesthesia, and it came out in favour of the latter (he
didn't say what the criteria had been).  So we went with the saddle block,
and it worked fine.  I had to be sedated to control tremor (tentative
diagnosis is early Parkinson's) but I was awake, though droopy, through
most of it. Then back to the recovery room till the block wore off and I
could pee. Then home. Very little pain (biopsy had been worse).
I fully expect to do several hours' work today (on the computer keyboard,
no shovelling :)

Thanks, Jerry.  Very greatly appreciated!

Things went very well.  Dr. Gerard Morton, the radiation oncologist who
took care of me, has written that implantation causes "surprisingly little"
discomfort, and my experience confirms that: biopsy was worse.  I had
saddle block anaesthesia with benadryl (sp?) sedation (the latter to
control tremor as I also have Parkinson's or something like it).  Worked
fine, essentially no pain.  Coming out of the anaesthetic, I dribbled a
bit because the bladder was pretty full, but control soon returned and I
was able to leave for home at 1300 after an 0920 start.  Urinating was
completely normal after a few hours (of course this will change in a week
or so as radiation damage takes its toll), and pain has remained minimal
except when I forget and sit down too hard ;) .  I tire easily but expect
that to wear off over the next few days.

Now comes the exciting part: will the treatment fail?  I expect not,
but I didn't write "will it succeed" because we can't know that till I die
of something else a few decades hence, by which time the question will
have lost much of its interest :)

Good advice.  Thank you!  All went well and I'm happy and contented.  I
wrote a bit of a description (see the subthread that JerryW started) for
people who've chosen seeds or are considering doing so.