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Posted 1/30/2009 1:03 AM (GMT 0)

All happened so incredibly fast.

3 year lapse in annual checkups. PSA jumped from 2 to 8. Referred to urologist. Good health, 60 yrs old. Some pelvic discomfort.

Biopsy showed 6 positive ... 5 at Gleason 7 ... 1 at Gleason 8

Appointments for bone and pelvic imaging.  I understand the gravity of my situation and I'm not a weak guy ... but I'm kinda terrified

Posted 1/30/2009 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
Welcome to HW! I'm sorry to hear of your dx and know how terrifying the situation is. The good news is that you have time to gather information and make a decision that is right for you. You came to the right spot. Please ask away in here and I am confident you will get a lot of support. There is also a group in the chat room right now, if you want to ask questions live. Keep us posted and please stick around!
Posted 1/30/2009 1:14 AM (GMT 0)
Oncas,

Welcome here to our little gang, sorry you need to be here, but this is a great place to displace some of that initial fear. Prostate Cancer has a way of putting someone into shock and awe, so your feelings are quite normal and natural. This has been a wonderful place for me of support, comfort, advice, and a common brotherhood among the PC survivors here, along with some of their really great wives. Hope we can help you as you deal with the scourge. We are here for you.

David in SC
Posted 1/30/2009 1:26 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,
Hope someone can help me - I guess I'm doing it all wrong but so what - I'm going to get it right. Can anyone help me? My dad's 85 and he has a prostate the size of a melon and no one cares if it's cancerous or not they just want to do the Da Vinci on him and he's ready to go for it. I'll give more details as needed. I just wanted to speak to someone this age who has had this procedure and still can pee normally because that's what he wants - if it's not going to happen - I want him to know that too before he faces this operation.
Posted 1/30/2009 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Oncas,
Welcome to HW. We have a great group and I know you will feel at home here. It is perfectly normal to feel scared, but i have a cure for that. Knowledge is power to overcome the fear. Learn as much as possible before you make any decisions. As any question you like here. I was very blessed to get the mystery out of my head by receiving help from this site. Sorry you are here, but we are glad you came here...

Tony
Posted 1/30/2009 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
Jetguy thank you for your help - hopefully someone can help me in this forum - Sincerely, cat
Posted 1/30/2009 1:38 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Cat. You need to click on the button that says "new topic" and start your own thread. I believe Jetguy started one for you a few lines down. Do you have any of your father's information, like his Gleason or PSA?
Posted 1/30/2009 2:18 AM (GMT 0)
Good chance you have clear scans, although that is not a guarantee. I hope this gives you some comfort,I had way worse looking stats than yours and I had clear looking ct and bone scans I also am alive and doing fairly well for a guy who might have already died from PCa at this 7 yr. juncture. Not all patients and treatments have the same outcomes, but some comparitive things are worth looking at and useful. You really don't need to panic, although it seems omnious others are in the PCa world with worse appearing numbers and here 10 yrs later still talking about it. As crazy as PCa is you might be cured of the disease even with those kinds of numbers.

Dx-2002 bPsa 46.6 (total urinary blockage), 12 of 12 biopsies 80-90% cancerous, Gleasons 7,8,9's on both sides....drugs/radiations...off all drugs...on a drug...psa Dec. 2008 .61 (down from 1.4 when off drugs)
Posted 1/30/2009 3:00 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry Oncas,
All of us have gone through the trauma you are experiencing. Time and education will help you through it. Be encouraged that many many have gone down the same path and are doing quite nicely. It is not the end. It sounds like you have been monitoring PSA and caught it about as quick as you could. There are many effective treatment options you will need to study, and work through your doctor selection as well. We all here wish you the best!
Posted 1/30/2009 4:02 AM (GMT 0)
Everytime I read that someone else has been diagnosed it puts a knife in my heart.  My husband was diagnosed in December and he's finally decided on brachytherapy.  It's a long story about why.

You've come to a great place to learn.  It's so unreal when you're first diagnosed but the people on this site are so knowledgeable and helpful.  Post all you concerns and someone will take the time to answer.

It's scary but remember, prostate cancer is VERY treatable.  The best advice we were given and it came from this site is this.  Take your time deciding on a treatment.  You have time on your side.  Learn about all the different types of treatments. 

You'll be ok but the journey is scary.

Posted 1/30/2009 10:57 AM (GMT 0)
Oncas,

Sorry to hear about the positive biopsy and I know the wating for the other diagnostics is nerve wracking. There are many good treatment options once you know if it is still local or otherwise. I found that reading and learning about the disease kept me for totally bouncing off the walls. I suggest the book A Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer by Patrick Walsh.

Best wishes, when are the scans? Scott
Posted 1/30/2009 12:06 PM (GMT 0)

Scans are Tuesday. Thanks all, the support here is overwhelming.

Feeling stronger already

Oncas

Posted 1/30/2009 12:14 PM (GMT 0)
Oncas:

We wrote about the same time this AM. Check out my post under "New Member in Florida" right above yours. Funny, I thought I was the only "strong guy" who was terrified. It'll be good communicating with you as we go through this.

GF
Posted 1/30/2009 3:23 PM (GMT 0)

 Welcome to the club. I am also recently diagnosed and am presently exploring treatment options.

You will find a lot of information, support and and examples of courage in this forum which will help you get through this.

Could you provide some detail regarding your "pelvic discomfort" and whether any explanation has been provided by your physicians to explain this discomfort?

Posted 1/31/2009 12:16 AM (GMT 0)

mjluke

Pelvic discomfort is erratic and difficult to describe. At times testicular soreness .. at times some urethral mild stinging and some muscular soreness inner thighs. An overall feeling of unfamiliar things going on in that area.

Sorry I can't be more specific .. my creative writing classes back in school never explored this subject.

Hope that these symptoms don't confirm that my cancer has escaped the prostate but I'm now resolved to play the cards I'm dealt and draw on the support from others on this forum to weigh my options and make sound decisions. Stay in touch.

Oncas

Posted 1/31/2009 1:07 AM (GMT 0)
mjluke and oncas, those kinds of pain are hard to describe and quantify. I experienced them for about 3 months or more before my PCa dx, so I know it wasn't "in my mind". When I first met with my Urological dr/surgeon, he listened to me about the pains, but said it was doubtful that it had anything to do with the PC.

I felt pain high up when I would sit down on something hard, pain and weakness in my inner and outer hips and thighs, almost a feeling of general fatigue or weakness in that area.

I feared that it meant that perhaps that if I had PC (pre diagnosis of course), that meant it probably had spread. The bone and CT scans cleared up that false thought real quick.

Post surgery, I still have some of the pains described, but no where at the level of pain and discomfort as before surgery.

Just make sure your doctor knows about it, because there could be other causes beyond PC.

Hope that helps.
Posted 1/31/2009 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
My husband has pelvic discomfort too but he always has attributed it to his Multiple Sclerosis. He says his the area behind his scrotum burns and sometimes he feels like he's "sitting on himself." Sorry if this is "too much information" but that's how he describes it.

It would be a very good thing if his Pca treatment lessened these symptoms. He did tell the Dr. about it but the Dr. didn't really answer.
Posted 1/31/2009 2:55 AM (GMT 0)
Oncas and others:

The reason I asked about the pelvic discomfort relates to my own experience. I have a similar complaint-pelvic discomfort-difficult to describe -but only at night- not at all during the day.

Cheers to all.

 

Posted 1/31/2009 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
Oncas,

I have been recently diagnosed and currently reviewing my options. I also feel something in my lower right pelvic area. I wouldn’t really describe it as pain, just an awareness that something is different than normal. It’s almost like having the urge to go. My biopsy came back with pc on the left side but what I feel is on my right side…which kind of scares me. Sounds like it fairly common.
Posted 2/1/2009 9:21 PM (GMT 0)
The more deeply you become educated in your disease the more you realize that similar numbers do not guarantee similar outcomes. Still .. somehow you search for comfort in the stories of brothers with similar stats. Apparently I've got a Gleason 8 on one biopsy core ...7 on all of the others. PSA 8 Has anyone in this range shown clear scans .. or shown organ confinement and clear margins after radical ... or should i be directing my focus on non localized treatment options.
This forum is an incredible resource for education and tranquility.

Oncas
Go Steelers
Posted 2/1/2009 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Oncas,

I think you should be learning about all probable outcomes at this point.  Right now you just don't know, you will soon as the diagnostics come in and the more you learn in advance of recieving the report the better equipted you will be to handle the result.

If you have not done so I recommend you get a copy of Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer by Patrick Walsh, it is easily read and very complete.

Please do not think you are in a no win situation, until the scans come in you are just in limbo for a bit.

Scott

Posted 2/1/2009 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
Oncas, despite your known stats at this point, yes, there are some just like you where its still fully contained and have clear bone and ct scans. Once you hit a gleason 7 or above, its very normal to have the scans ran as a matter of procedure and as a help in the process of elimination game. Like Scott above said, you don't have enough facts yet to fully know what you are asking. The waiting is tough, we have been there done that before, and it can be agony. Keep learning all you can, like you are doing, and try doing the everyday things you love to do in between, and time will pass.

David
Posted 2/2/2009 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
Your information and expeience very much appreciated. Being plucked from the normalcy of your life and thrown into this struggle leaves you little room for logic at first. Having now caught my second wind I fully intend to follow your advice and arm myself with as much information as possible. Your point is well taken. Clearly understanding options is the best starting point. I'm doing the pelvic and bone scans tomorrow. Are these scans interpreted subjectively or are the results black, white and unmistakeable?

Oncas

Posted 2/2/2009 11:36 PM (GMT 0)
Oncas,

You will find that there is not such thing as black and white when it comes to this issue. The scans are usually either negative or postive but here is still much area inbetween where you can have what is referred to as micrometastasis which can contribitue to PSA but is too small to be picked up by a PET scan.

Please just get your mind around the fact that the disease is not predictable and very few Drs. agree on treatment. Read and learn, and I mean text like the Walsh book. forums like this are interesting enough but can also be confusing. You need to arm yourself with clinically backed knowledge.

Best. Scott
Posted 2/2/2009 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
Oncas,
As well as this great site here much information can be found on www.yananow.net/Experiences.html where there are tables in which the many members stats are broken down by date diagnosed, initial PSA, Gleason score and treatment type together with their present progress. It would be worth your while to have a look there as well. This booklet there www.yananow.net/StrangePlace/index.html is also a great read.
Bill
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