Moving to fast

Hi I am a brand new member,
Found out yesterday I have PC.
They are doing roto rooter tomorrow
Dr mentioned likely remove prostate next month.
Happening too fast I did not sleep last night.
How can I learn in 24 hours?
Thanks

Thanks Howard3569, Wow fast reply, I still plan to have the roto rooter tomorrow. I hope it will help with peeing. Then I will take time and learn. Does that seem reasonable?

Yes, cancel the TURP and study your options for a week or two.

John, i agree with the others. Makes zero sense to do Turp if you are deciding on treatment for Prostate Cancer. If anything, i would think (and this is a laymans guess) it could spread the cancer.

Provide your details as mentioned above, (gleasons score, psa and psa history, other detials of your pathology) and members here will be very forthcoming with ideas, questions to ask, etc.

Hi John,

As you suspect, we (I) believe you are moving way too fast. There is much to learn, and you do have time. I strongly suggest you put the brakes on, get some sleep, cancel the TURP, and do some in-depth research about what you're embarking on. You can get Dr. Patrick Walsh's (bible) book, "Surviving Prostate Cancer, 4th edition, in 2 days from Amazon.

As my signature below indicates I had a TURP five years ago, for the same desire - nighttime urination relief that you hope for. The relief I got was disappointingly minor, for what turned out to be a serious operation, that wasn't clearly explained to me beforehand.

What I should have gotten first was a BIOPSEY. Have you had one, and how was the diagnosis of prostate cancer made? If you have had one, please post the pathology results.

I question a doctor who is about to do a TURP, and says he can then remove your prostate in a month. Your prostate needs months to heal before further surgery, and if your committed to taking it out now, why go through the added surgery of a TURP???

Something doesn't add up.

A TURP is not a substitute for a biopsy. Modern biopsy techniques like the Precision Point transperineal biopsy device do not cause infections and do not need antibiotics. And, they only require an exam room and local anesthesia.

I get that you want immediate relief from the urinary problem, but there is a bigger picture of diagnosis that will be missed without a current biopsy.

You need to become much more informed about your situation, especially the pathology reports, before agreeing to any procedures.

Five years ago TURPS were falling out of favor. How many per month does your physician do? I bet he older, and I know he's giving you bad advise, but it's your call.

You came here for advise, and your getting a lot of similar input from people who have been there.

Good luck tomorrow with what many doctors call a 'barbaric procedure.'

The other guys here seem to be missing a few key points. Your Dr said there is a restriction viewed through cystoscopy. Also you have been suffering for 3 years. Now. per your last post you are at your 3rd urologist and all favor the procedure. As long as you understand that you will probably need a future biopsy I see no reason to cancel. There are other ways to do a biopsy and perhaps your new Dr. can explain how he does them. Good luck and report back.

From all you've posted I surmise your first move should be to find a more competent urologist. Seriously. Sepsis and now this advice?

The one decision you as a patient make that has the most consequence for your outcome is picking your medical team.

Best to you -
Wilderness

John - Do what you need to do now then take your time with the suspected prostate cancer situation.

Ask your URO about the transperineal biopsy procedure to reduce infection risk. You probably can get it in Seattle area if not out your way.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/urology/news/ultrasound-guided-transperineal-prostate-biopsy/mac-20473283

Good luck tomorrow.

I had a (successful) TURP for BPH symptoms in 2013. In 2017 I was diagnosed with Gleason G10 PCa and had a (so far) very successful RP as my treament. I can't tell you how much it would have been worth to me to have had a crystal ball and been able to have had a single surgery with the curative intent of resolving both serious problems.

Learn as much as you can about your current situation with regard to any prostate cancer and then consider your options for treatment very carefully.

Djin

John, by now you've (probably) had your TURP. I hope you do well with the recuperation from it. Here's a few facts about PCa that are commonly misunderstood by newbies:

1. PCa is slow growing. This is both a curse and a blessing. Except in rare cases, with PCa, you have months, if not longer, to make a treatment decision after diagnosis. It's not like the other major cancers (colon, lung, etc), where one typically goes from diagnosis to treatment in as little as a few days. PCa just doesn't work that way. In fact, for many men with low grade PCa, there is a possibility of NEVER needing treatment.

2. The general advice we give newcomers here includes several basic points: First, don't panic. See point 1 above--PCa is not (most of the time) a death sentence. After diagnosis--which can ONLY happen with a biopsy--you have time to evaluate your options. You have time to have your biopsy slides sent off for second opinion (and about 1/3 of the time the second opinion is different). Second, make a plan. There are numerous doctors out there who have dedicated their lives to treating PCa, and only PCa. If you have a serious case, it's good to find one of them. If you have an uncomplicated case, it's still vitally important to have a VERY experienced doctor and team to work with. If surgery is your choice, have a surgeon who has done many procedures before. Many is defined in the thousands, not dozens. Same with radiation. Third, and most important, educate yourself. You have to advocate for yourself. You, and your family are the ones who have to decide what to do, when to do it, where to do it, and how to make it all work.

3. Hang around here. There is a wealth of knowledge here. We actually are a pleasant bunch. We've all been there, and we get it. It's hard. But, all of us are proof that there is hope, a lot of it. There are many guys here who have been dealing with it for a long time. With PCa, there is every likelyhood that you'll live out a normal life span. Really.

Check back with us soon. We want to hear from you.

John, I just tuned in for the first time in a while. I first went down my rabbit hole in 2013 when I was told that I had PCa, even though my highest PSA had been 4.1 and I had no symptoms. Unfortunately, many of the details about the treatment were only learned after decisions were made (like - why did you do that? You should have done this instead...) I hope that the TURP went well and you are recovering. A guy who installed my driveway had a PSA of over 30 and as I recall had done the TURP routine after he wound up in the hospital with a catheter the second time. He said it took him a couple weeks to recover fully.
After the TURP and the sample collected is analyzed, as others have discussed, I would highly recommend that you find a facility the does the combined MRI (with contrast) guided biopsy. It wasn't readily available when I started, and I had 3 random sampling biopsies that all showed very limited PCa, which cost me a lot of time. UCLA was doing the MRI w/ contrast-guided biopsies as part of another PCa procedure study at that time but has become more widely used in the last 5 years. The MRI-guided biopsy is not a random sampling of the prostate, which is the normal method. Instead the radiologist uses the MRI to identify areas in the prostate that are suspicious, and then that is computer-matched with your prostate during the biopsy. Sort of like a GPS for the prostate. With the combination, the urologist focuses on the MRI-identified areas to obtain definitive samples, and then used a standard (random) process for the remainder of the prostate. My diagnosis changed from a Gleason 6 - "not very threatening" to a Gleason 7 - "it's time to decide on treatment method and do it!" because of the number of high cancer cell samples showing in almost every targeted sample.
If your urologist doesn't use this method (or the newest equivalent) - find another Dr.
Also, keep in mind that you need a good team of doctors, not just one - My GP told me once that medicine is like a department store with multiple floors - if you get off on the surgical floor, you will get the surgeon's solution to your problem, but on the radiology floor the radiologist will tell you how he can solve your problem. Each specialist has their own bias and viewpoint, but you need an advocate for your needs. I didn't realize the importance until I visited CTCA (Cancer Treatment Center of America) in Phoenix. There a team of doctors reviewed my records, looked at the actual samples from biopsies, etc., and met with me (and my wife) for several hours to discuss all of my options with the different specialists. I like CTCA, and have referred several friends to them, but my main advice is that wherever you go, look for a team who can advise you on the advantages and disadvantages of each procedure, not just a single specialty. Then you can make a better, more informed decision about how to proceed.
Remember, the doctor will go out for a round of golf after treating you, but your life will be different from that point on, so evaluate your options carefully.