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Prostate cancer and the Army

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Posted 12/19/2010 3:25 AM (GMT 0)
Susan,

Farwind is write.  DON'T DO A THING until your husbands biopsy slides are read at another institution.  Send them to Bostwick or Johns Hopkins.  Everyone is calling this cancer based on the word of "1" pathologist from who knows where.  You have to get a second opinion on the slides before you do anything else.  Insist they are sent to one of the above labrotories and the make sure you get a copy of the report from that lab.  Do not take your Dr.'s word on what is read at a second lab.  I would not send them any other place but Bostwick or Johns Hopkins.  It is not that expensive to get a second opinion.  If your husband does have cancer,  his stats. are out of wack.  His PSA is too high for what they found.  My Dr. the other day told me he has a patient, are you ready for this everyone, whose PSA is over 500 and they can't find any cancer in his biopsy.  He has had a PSA this high for several years and nobody can find cancer in his prostate he said.  They have done several biopsys and bone scans and nothing.   I told them I would take his prostate out anyway....

Also, if your husband has cancer, he is too young for radiation.  Every Dr. I saw said whenever there is a surgical alternative to radiation you should do it.  If he does only have Gleason 6 and it is contained in the prostate his chance of "cure" is very very good.

GET A SECOND OPINION ON HIS BIOPSY SLIDES.........

Posted 12/19/2010 4:59 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with Chris !! Do that even if you must pay for it yourself. Don't accept treatment for PC until you are absolutely SURE you need treatment!! This is a very close call and is in dispute. Hold off on treatment even if it means a second biopsy to confirm the cancer..
Posted 12/19/2010 5:26 AM (GMT 0)
Susan...........Pay attention to JohnT's posts.....He is very knowledgeable,calm and concise in his opinions.....In the end we all make our own choices but step slowly and carefully,learn all you can......Cooper
Posted 12/19/2010 6:54 AM (GMT 0)
Herophilus

My surgery was done in Thailand and all I got was Picture of my prostate and a short comment saying that the tumour was not close to the capsule and that the prostatic tissue at the Urethral resection margin and seminal vesicles were not involve by the tumour but there were no figures on how big the tumour was
Posted 12/19/2010 12:22 PM (GMT 0)
I will check into getting a second opinion at Duke, but I am pretty sure that our insurance doesnt cover Duke, but does work with UNC. Do you know anything about UNC?
Posted 12/19/2010 4:37 PM (GMT 0)
Susan,

Welcome to the forum, and I too regret that you are here. I recently went through da Vinci and have been very appreciative of the advice and encouragement from others.

My urologist is a nationally recognized surgeon at a large practice. Prior to the surgery he made a comment to me that may be beneficial for you. He mentioned there is lots of da Vinci equipment in smaller facilities that may not get much use. A lot depends upon whether it is used primarily by 1-2 surgeons, or if several share it. Meaning that a small facility could have a good surgeon with significant experience, if he/she did most of the surgeries.

Also, as you can probably tell from the postings here, two men with similar pathologies and treatment will not necessarily have the same outcomes. May be the surgeon, or the facility or just nature.

The conventional wisdom is to interview urologists, surgeons and radiologists exploring all your husband's options. Choose a treatment your are comfortable with and a doctor with who you are confident.

BTW - As a veteran myself, thank your husband for his service.
Posted 12/19/2010 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
The UNC web site indicates that they have a very active Multi-disciplinary urology program.
Posted 1/5/2011 5:04 PM (GMT 0)
Susan .
I am service connected and receive treatment for the VA. Not for Prostate Cancer .
I know for a fact that I would not go for surgery in a place that was not what I needed Whether military or not.I don't care what the military Doctors say.
You both need a facility and Dr. and his team that have done this over and over. You want the best for him and if it means waiting to go to a better facility- by all means. You both have many years ahead and you; so don't rush to get this done without a lot of thought Don't be pressured to make a snap decision. I asked my DR. those questions all of us have asked. My most important questions were what was his success ratio post op and about the incontinence ratio of his patients after the surgery.
Knowing I was looking at Robotic surgery I asked the surgeon if he played video games or was a woodworker-Not that that was a requirement,but i felt better when he told me he played the guitar. I don't know why that really mattered at the time, but it made me feel better.

You have one great thing going for you. He is young and will probably heal very quickly.
Posted 1/5/2011 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
zoph, could you go back and delete the 6 or so posts prior to this one that just has Susan's name in it? Log in to HW, then open each post, click the red X on the right corner and delete them one by one. OK?

Ah, never mind, you seem to have already been doing that while I was typing. Thanks
Posted 1/5/2011 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
This computer has mind of its own sometimes. Sorry
Posted 1/5/2011 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
Susan, as a fellow G6, your hubby may not have to rush into a procedure. Of course, if the cancer has spread, time becomes much more important.

Yesterday, I spoke with a Yale surgeon who now performs robotic/DaVince procedures exclusively at the VA Medical Center in New Haven, Connecticut. His name is Edward Uchio (I was looking for a new doc because my previous one nearly killed me with missing a related diagnosis).

I don't pretend to know anything about military health care, but as a soon to be vet, I assume he gets free health care for life.

This Doc here in CT may be worth the drive.

Good luck in whatever you choose.

Dave
Posted 1/18/2011 12:41 AM (GMT 0)
Susan,
I had the DaVinci surgery done in Raleigh two years ago. UNC and Duke would be good places to check out. Your husband is young so please don't rush in to this. It is very important to spare the nerves so that he doesn't have ED for the rest of his life. That would be devastating. There can also be problems with being incontinent which would not be good. I think the first thing I would want to do is find out what the dark area was on his hip. Better save than sorry. I may be like your husband. I just wanted it out of there. It worked for me thank God. My PSA has been close to zero since my operation. I am in Raleigh and if you would like to please feel free to E-mail me. Here is one tip that I would like to pass on. If he does have the surgery they will want him to wear depends and pads for awhile. New Born Baby Diapers work great and they are cheaper.
I hope everything goes well for you and your usband.
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