Worrying Times

Hey Jeff... Sorry you have to be here but you sure sound like a Trooper.. You'll fit in well..

Hey Jeff,

Welcome to HealingWell. If you have been reading posts here you know that you are not alone. You also will see there are a lot of Jeffs on this forum.
I am starting to think that might be one of the positive factors for PCa. ;-)

At this point you don't know whether you have it or not. There is not a thing you can do about it except do the things that keep your body fit. Eat right, exercise a bit and empty that prostate.
In the meantime, as one Jeff to another, let me do some worrying for you. I'll take Tuesdays and Thursdays. Jeff will take Monday and Wednesday and Jeff will take Friday and Saturday. That will leave you, Jeff, with Sunday. You can relax for the rest of the week.
It is our gift. One day you will pay it forward.

Let us know what happens. Be well brother.

Jeff in NY
(Worried Guy)

One of the body's natural defenses to cancer is encapsulation. A biopsy could release the cancer cells from the capsule and into the lymph vessels where they can survive and spread further. It they reach the lumber region its hell on earth. The later in life you get prostrate cancer the slower it tends to grows. Typically, if it starts in the 60s, it could take another 10-15 years before it causes you any problems. By then a cure is likely to be available. I would suggest sticking with PSA monitoring and medications unless you want to opt for removal.

Welcome aboard Jeff! Sounds like you meet the qualifications to join us so far. Hoping for a negative biopsy. I am the same age as you but you will notice we have many members at all ages here. If you decide on surgery like I had, it should be pretty easy for you considering what all you have been through so far.

Good luck and let us know how it went. I have my fingers crossed for you.

Bill from Florida USA

Hi all, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer when he was 69. The cancer was already restricting the flow and a biopsy indicated the cancer was local but well established. So he probably had it for some time before getting diagnosed. He opted for watchful waiting. As the cancer (PSA) progressed and urination became difficult he received a TUR (ream job) about every one to three years. There was some minor leaking, but he coped with that ok. To control the PSA, he went on and off courses of lupron and cyproterone. He died 2 years ago at age 86. The cancer did not kill him and never spread to any vital organs despite existing for 15-20 years. The oscillating hormone (PSA) control measures worked well for him. But the cancer cells did spread to the lumber region in the last two years of his life and caused him severe back pain. There was nothing they could do to fix this because slow cancers do not respond well to radiation or chemo, but they tried. Pain relief medication also caused other problems so he often used alcohol to self medicate. He died in a palliative care unit of pneumonia peacefully. I believe he would have lasted another 5-10 years if not for the lumber pain.

The point I want to make is there are two types of prostate cancer. Fast and slow. The slow version is generally acquired later in life and vice versa. The big question is - would my father have lasted this long if he opted for a prostatectomy? It is hard to say. But it is possible that the more evasive the procedure, the greater the possibility of cancer cells becoming mobilized and lodging in other places where they can eventually do harm. We also cant rule out that the biopsy could have enabled some cancer cells to migrate to the lumber region via the lymph vessels and he perhaps might have lasted longer if this was not done.

This shows that with the slow prostate cancer and adequate PSA control measures, it takes a long time (10-15 years) for the cancer to become fatal. I think it is very likely that a cure will be found soon given the recent successful trials of various new cancer drugs.

Anyway, best of luck.

Hello again everyone. I'm back. After thinking some more I decided to seek a second opinion from another URO and this morning had that consultation. The provisional diagnosis was the same and second URO confirmed a hard mass in prostrate after a DRE. PSA is 9.7 up from 6.2 in February. I have rebooked for biopsy on 9 October and guess I will take it from there. New URO said risk of spreading any disease from biopsy is very low and said benefit of a clear diagnosis far outweighs this.

More later

It sounds like you're doing a great job of being your own health advocate. Driving your medical support team unfortunately seems to be a common necessity.

Sorry to hear the results were positive, but on the other hand it sounds like something that definitely merits attention. Good thing they found it sooner rather than later, and good that you're a proactive kind of person.

With those numbers it seems like you have a great chance for a really good outcome.

Other more knowledgeable people will be along shortly I'm sure, but I want to wish you the best of luck in all that is coming your way. Can you locate surgeons there with a high number of successful surgeries? That seems to be a really critical factor.

Although my name's not Jeff (which will cause some confusion) I can step in on the worrying for the occasional weekend. That way with Jeff on Monday and Wednesday and Jeff on Tuesday and Thursday you can take a full six days off from fretting.

Well 1 week to go before the prostate is removed and I'm a little nervous but busying myself with many around the house chores I won't be able to tackle for some time after.

My Uro has opted for open surgery as opposed to Da Vinci as I have so much scar tissue from many previous surgeries making the latter difficult. So looking at 3 to 4 days in hospital and several weeks recuperating at home. Although retired, both my wife and I do voluntary work at the local wildlife rescue hospital. I guess this will have to go on hold for several weeks.

In the meantime I had a whole body bone scan which showed nothing and a CT scan which demonstrated no spread outside the prostate (but surgery will confirm I hope). Some positive news at least

One good thing is that with diet and exercise I have managed to shed 10KG since diagnosis and I must say I feel much better physically.

Anyway just wanted to touch base and update the forum with my progress. Hopefully I will be able to report positively on the other side and once my pathology is reported. Thanks again for the words of advice and encouragement and to those who have been doing the worrying for me.

Since you have had similar surgeries before you should be an educated worrier by now. Still, if you need help worrying I'll be glad to take a shift so you can take a break.

Those 10 kilo should help with your recovery. Generally, the lighter you are going into surgery, the better you do.

Good luck. Let us know if we can help.

Mildew
Good luck with your upcoming surgery. You will do fine and PCa will be just a fleeting memory soon. Keep us informed of your progress.

Oi! Oi! Oi!

Bill from Florida

A long post got accidentally deleted by my clumsy fingers and I can't be bothered repeating it. Suffice to say surgery is over and went well with cancer contained to prostate. 75% of nerves take due to heavy scarring and catheter removed today (27 Dec).

Leakage is a significant issue for me and I lost a lot during 1 1/2 hour drive home (was saturated). Hopefully this will improve with time. Just need to relax and heal now whilst continuing the pelvic floor muscle exercises I did so consistently prior to surgery.

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement from everyone here which has helped immeasurably.