My dad was just diagnosed...

Hi All...
My dad went in for a biopsy on Tuesday and on Thursday the doctor called to tell him that he has prostate cancer. English is not my dad's first language so I have to do most of the talking for him. I was overwhelmed I wasn't expecting the results right away and certainly not over the phone! I do not know his PSA but I know the doctor told me his cancer is Gleason 8. He is going for a CT and Bone Scan this coming week.

I tried reading some of the post on here but I immediately became overwhelmed! I already take care of my disabled mother so I'm fearing the worst. My mother has every disease under the sun EXCEPT cancer! I also have 3 kids ages 11, 6 and 3 months so my hands are full. What are the most important things for me to ask the doctors?

Thank you all!!

Julieann (daughter)
Dad 70 years old. Just diagnosed 02/05/2015

Hi Julieann,

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad! Cancer diagnoses can rock your world, and your world already sounds pretty stressful. But prostate cancer is more forgiving than most, so try not to let your worry get into overdrive yet. Here's my initial thoughts:

First, read the sticky at the top of this page for newly diagnosed. Lots of helpful stuff in there, some of which I will probably repeat.

Next, you want to learn more about your Dad's results. Apparently, at least one of his biopsy cores (they probably took 12 of them) was a Gleason 8 (that's considered on the aggressive side). But there should be additional info about how many cores were positive, the percentage and if some had a different Gleason score. That's helpful to get his overall diagnosis.

Let us know what his PSA was prior to his biopsy, that's another important piece of info. When you have that, make a "signature" that will be included in your future postings.

Also, let us know where you live as we may be able to make recommendations on who you can consult with.

Just based on your dad's age, his most likely treatment would be radiation. If that's the case, you'll want to speak with an experience radiation oncologist. But if you can give us more info, we should be able to give you better advice.

There's tons of hope at this stage, even if his diagnosis is more on the higher risk side (I was a Gleason 9 and I'm doing well), so do keep that in mind. Good luck and please share additional info as you get it.

Get copy of the biopsy report, copy and paste to this thread. We will all check it out in share our views. Gleason 8 is aggressive but not in the sense you may think. Even the higher gleasons are relatively slow growing, compared to breast cancer pancreatic or most of the others Its arguably the slowest of them all. So don 't worry about his mortality at this point. With treatment, and his cancer will need to be treated, he should be able to live his "natural" life span. though treatment side effects are something he probably will have to endure either short term to long term. E very one is different in that regard as well as different treatments have different S/E some lighter than others. Ok So you got the diagnosis, you are in shock be cause its "CANCER". Forget that part. It is highly treatable. You need to gain knowledge on this disease and how it relates to specifics of your fathers case. You will gain much knowledge here. But do not depend on that. Learn yourself! A good start is to read/study Patrick Walshes book on PCA. There are others So rest easy tonite, it is not as bad as you imagine. Imagine being the operative word. Tell your Dad that life will change but he will get thru it . The success stories with PCA are many,Iwill say that again Many

Teenie20,

Sorry to hear about your father's diagnosis, as you have heard G8 is considered aggressive. First off, prostate cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence. Many here have G8, G9, or G10 and survived for many years.

Dealing with this prognosis I found that knowledge is your best friend. You are starting off on the right foot.
There are several good books, probably the best I found is Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer. He is a surgeon, but I found his book goes into detail for all treatments.

If your father is in good physical shape, and depending on the outcome of further testing, surgery and especially robotic surgery. If not brachytherapy (Low dose or High dose) and external radiation is well tolerated. Being G8 there is a good chance hormone treatment will be recommended.

Thank you all for your responses. It is all so overwhelming but like you said step by step. We go on Thursday for the tests and I have to reschedule the follow up appointment from the biopsy to hopefully an earlier date...we weren't scheduled to see the doctor until February 17th. I am going to try to find out his other numbers in the meantime!

Welcome teenie,

Breathe. It IS overwhelming. Butnonce you have a handle on the plethora of tratment options and the control YOU and your dad has to make choices, it settles out.
I found this list of questions a great way to organize my own thoughts

http://www.pcf.org/site/c.leJRIROrEpH/b.5835175/k.B015/Questions_to_Ask.htm[url]

Hi Karen and welcome to the Forum! I started a new thread for you so as people will better see your question.(Advice Please New Member Karen Pinto) First of all though hard, relax a bit! After two years on HT a rise in PSA could mean your Dad is becoming Hormone resistant and needs to change his plan a bit.

Some more information, as you see in our signatures at the bottom of posts will help the guys better understand what's going on. The signature can be created in "My Profile". Try and calm down its definely not the end!

Cheers, Doug