Scared Son | Questions about Prostate Cancer | Experience

Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read my post. As I am here late at night looking on the web about information, I came across this website and found a lot of the stories encouraging and was also prompted to write, in hopes of anyone giving me some advice, or share their experience re: prostate cancer.

My Dad is 62 years old and in December 2014, after getting a physical, his doctor noticed his PSA level was high (original PSA reading was a 4 or 5 I believe). After close observation, the doctors decided to make a move ASAP and performed surgery using the Robotix machine (DaVinci). After the surgery, a month later, his PSA level had dropped to a 0.3. They recommended we wait another month in order to determine whether we should proceed with Radiation therapy. I forgot to mention, even after the surgery, they had discovered that there is still a little left on a a little area on the seminal vessicle, hence the need to perform radiation. After another month, which was this Tuesday in which we went to get another blood and PSA test taken, his results on his PSA was a real good 0.0. The doctors were really happy with that, but the concern is still the cancer on the seminal vessicle. The doctors had also mentioned that prior to the surgery, because of the spread, they had mentioned that it was Stage III.
I sure hope I am making any sense here because its hard to talk about..and the past 48 - 72 hours have been really stressful. In addition, we had a consultation today with the urologist and she had mentioned because of the seminal vesicle, and his gleason is at 7, there is a high risk for recurrence and or spreading. However, she kept assuring me that everything is going to be ok, your Dad will be fine, etc...

Being a worrier, I am always looking at all angles. Does anyone have any ideas and or have experienced the same. We are suppose to go through a scan on Tuesday and then immediately (after a couple of days) start radiation therapy for 1.5 months at 15 minutes per session ( 5 days a week).

Any insights would truly help.... but as you can tell, I am just scared out of my wits about whats next since I am so foreign to this.

Welcome to HW, sorry you need to be here.

Your doctor's right, you father is going to be fine. If is PSA is 0.0 (undetectable) then he has no PC.

Keep monitoring. The RT may be needed, but you're still in that mythical curable zone.

Even if the PC has spread there are plenty of treatment options open that will keep the PC at bay for a long time - years, many years.

The only way to combat fear is with knowledge. Checkout the sticky threads at the top of the forum for more info, get Dr. Walsh's book and read it. Learn all you can. While it looks bad, your father has so many options still open.

Hang in there,
Andrew

This is as much a mental game as a physical one. Take care of your emotions and soul while dealing with all this.

A lot has changed in the PC world since 1996, so don't compare your grandfather's experience to what your father is going through. Right now, PSA is a great measure as to how much PC there is in your father. 0.0 means they can't find any.

Take comfort in that. It's normal for PSA to drop like that after surgery. They won't do the radiation unless the PSA starts to rise. If it comes back up to .1 or .2 they doctors will recommend it. That could be months, years or never.

Error on the side of hope.

In the unlikely case that SRT is needed and fails, the next step is HT (hormone therapy). PC eats testosterone, remove that and the PC cells die. This can keep PC at bay for many years, 2, 3 5 and more in some cases. Then there are a lot of chemo treatments.

We have members here who've come it with PSA numbers near 1,000 and after 6, 7 years they're still going.

The treatments have their side effects, normal changes, but life goes on. PC is not an automatic death sentence, just another medical problem we older guys have to deal with.

You dad is going to be fine.
Hang in there, and ask any questions you have, we're here most days,
Andrew

Scared,

You mentioned that the Gleason score reported in your dad's post-op pathology report was 7. There are two kinds of Gleason 7 disease -- Gleason 7(3+4) and Gleason 7(4+3). The 4+3 kind puts a man in a slightly higher risk category. Do you know which kind your dad's is?

While none of us can tell you that your dad's cancer won't come back -- because it does sometimes despite everything -- we can tell you that his doctors are being very aggressive with his treatment and his odds are really good. His chances that the cancer will never come back are somewhere in the range of 8 to 9 chances out of 10. And even if it were to come back, with current treatment options there are similar odds that the cancer could be controlled for the rest of his natural life.

Most guys tolerate radiation fairly well. The actual sessions are a non-event. The patient doesn't feel anything -- he hops up on the table, the techs line him up, the machine goes beep a couple of times, he hops down and goes home. Not a big deal. The usual side effects are fatigue, odd bowel habits and problems with any existing hemorrhoids. If the man makes a point of staying active and getting exercise during the radiation the fatigue can be mostly controlled but he will still be likely to fall asleep when he sits down to watch TV.

scared son, you mention that the first PSA test was done 1 month after surgery. That is too soon, It takes about 3 months before all the residual PSA is eliminated from the blood. The more accurate PSA is the second one which is 0.0. I think your Dad is going to be fine. Give your Dad a big hug and relax.

From what you've described, your father's pathology is very similar to my own. I hope my prostate cancer history thus far will give you some measure of reassurance. I was diagnosed more than 12 years ago. After my surgery I was staged as PT3b. The 3 means that like your dad I was stage 3 and the "b" means that like your dad cancer cells had spread to my seminal vesicles. Even so, I went 7 years before my PSA rose to a level that required my having radiation. When radiation is given years after surgery to treat a recurrence it is called salvage radiation treatment, or SRT for short. I've now gone 5 years since SRT and am just now beginning to show signs that I'll need further treatment. But in the meantime over these last dozen years I've just gone on with my normal life -- I worked until I chose to retire three years ago at age 65 1/2. I've just spent the past month rebuilding my 90-year-old mother's bathroom. My wife and I are leaving on Monday for a two week, 2,000 mile round trip to a music festival towing our travel trailer. I expect that, like me, your dad will be able to just get on with his normal life.

Jim

ScaredSon, the word cancer is scary but your father has an awful lot going for him. He is in very good health, has a very good mental outlook, and has very good eating and physical activity habits. You father's doctors are right on top of things. As others have mentioned, your father's chances of stopping this problem are very good. Just remember that worrying can sometimes be our biggest obstacle to solving a problem. Hang in there and take things one step at a time. It will work out OK.

Thank you again. I will ask on Tuesday about the sensitivity of the PSA test. I would be surprised if it isn't the sensitive one. Yes, we had spoken to oncologist, radiologist, etc... From reading all the posts in this thread, it does seem that we are being super aggressive on this. Can that be a bad thing, as far as nipping it in the bud now, rather than later?

I told my Pops about this forum and told him some of your replies, I think he's breathing a little easier too. Heck, we are on our way now to the tennis courts to play for about 2 - 2.5 hours. The guy is strong like an ox, but for the first time, EVER, I saw a little fear in his eye when we were at the doctors office and the one doctor mentioned that dreaded phrase, Stage 3.

I wish I could buy each of you a beer and apps, this has been a place of comfort for me the past couple of days.

Hello Sue,

Thank you for the kind words. I am sad, depressed, scared, etc... I have never seen my Dad seem so vulnerable as when were sitting inside that hospital. The past couple of days, I have shared some of the guys / gals post in here and it has seemed to brighten him up. He played in a tennis tournament yesterday and took out a way younger guy. He is in such great shape its so surprising he's going through this. As mentioned, even when all the doctors, oncologist, urologists are all saying, 'youre going to be fine, many many many years ahead of you.' As a concerned son, and a bit of a worrier, you can imagine my crazy head running around all over the place.

I will look up your post and read, and once again, thank you so much for the kind words.

Hello guys, I just wanted to give a quick update on where we are at. It's been a very long week. Tiring, exhausting, confused, hope, etc... are all words that would be combine with all of the weeks activities.

So we have been back and forth to the hospital the past week. The initial PSA test, as I had mentioned was a 0.0. This is 2 months post-op.

The gleason score we received is a 7. The 3+4 type. From my readings and also hearing from other patients diagnosed, the 3+4 is the best kind as it's slower and recurrence is low.

Yesterday, we went in for a pelvic exam (scan) in order to prepare for radiation. I believe, if I recall right, we are going through 34-36 bouts of radiation at 15 minutes each day.

There has been some 'debate' and or opinions as far as is radiation needed at this early point? I have heard some say that with a PSA of 0.0, radiation is not really necessary, until we receive a spike two PSA's in a row. Some say we might be overly aggressive, while others are saying they like how we are attacking this head on.

The analogy the oncologist mentioned is this: We have already been in there, we've prodded, took a look around, did Robotics, it's better, while you are young and healthy, to do this now..at least you can get sleep at night knowing we removed everything 100% as opposed to waiting for something to happen. Does anyone here have experience with this or have any thoughts?

She also said, doctors vary as far as their plan of attack. Some will wait it out until necessary, while others will say, let's get after it now. She also made an example of saying, it's like peeling an orange, once you peel it, it can possibly leak, it might, it might not.

The best part about the consultation yesterday, which eased my mind. My Pops, held the oncologist hand and asked, 'so Doc, am I going to be ok, I'll live a normal life?' Doc replies, oh yes, you are going to be just fine, you'll live a long life.

That eased my Pops mind along with myself. For the first time in 2 weeks, I was able to sleep and woke up past 730AM. I could have slept more, but my Pops woke me up and said get my butt up and lets play tennis. We proceeded to the courts and played 2 hours straight. Heck, I was more tired than him...

I do like the aggressiveness of our actions, but at the same time, a little worried that so many patients have said, wait it out...might not need it at all. Ugh. But regardless, considering where we were last week, I/we'll take it.

Scared Son;
The thinking of getting it all is the most progressive way to think. If you wait for PSA # to rise you most definitely run the risk of letting the cancer metastasis to the bone and lymph nodes. We couldn't do anything with Daves as at diagnosis it was already the very worst of the worst. If he was in your Dads position for long life we would have done it just in the order they are reccomending. I would if I could want to have that possible for Dave. Please don't share my post with your Dad as it is of the utmost importance to stay focused on beating PC. Our story is not one that will ever have a good out come and you have to keep him thinking curable!!! Right now he has enough problems and emotions to deal with of his own .The focus is really on making him take care of himself to fight another day and win!! Take care you are doing the best job of educating yourself and there isn't much more you can do .I pray for all of us battling and always Include yourself and your Dad when I do. Only positive good thoughts to you and your Dad ...Sue

In the end, we all have to select the treatment that we believe will give us the best chance at the outcome we want. This is why the research is so important. There ARE choices out there, and rushing to follow the advice of the first doctor we talk to is almost always a bad idea.

Now, we might wind up right back in the office of the first doctor--after we've done our research and made our decision. In the end, the patient has to be ok with the decision. The job of the rest of us is to support that decision in every way we can.

Your father is a long way from terminal, and he's going after the disease in a way that sounds like a reflection of how he's lived is life to this point. Go straight at it like the Marines storming the beach at Guadalcanal. Nothing wrong with that. It's hard as h*** to watch.

Like I said before, where the treatment protocols are today compared to where they were even 10 years ago is such an improvement. And people like our fathers and grandfathers have paved the way for us.