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10 years later...

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Prostate Cancer
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Posted 3/23/2023 1:26 PM (GMT 0)
I feel blessed to have reached the 10 year milestone after my successful RALP surgery.

I was diagnosed at age 41 with no symptoms and no family history of PC. My PSA was 9 and biopsy was Gleason 3+4. Post surgery biopsy was upgraded to Gleason 4+3. Details about my journey are available in links found in my signature below.

I have been getting PSA tests regularly since the surgery and the results have always been "undetectable" (generally bouncing around in the 0.02 to 0.03 range). You can see the full log of all my PSA results here.

How am I doing today? Really good.

  • PC feels like a distant dream, aside from getting my regular PSA tests.
  • Since recovering from the original surgery, I have had very minimal incontinence (often a drip or two after urinating and very very rarely a tiny quirt comes out of nowhere or when I sneeze/cough).
  • From what I can recall, it took 12 months or so for ED recovery after the original surgery. Since then, I have had very minimal residual ED (for which I supplement with a small dose of ED meds, but frankly don't really need it).

Aside from my wife, none of my family knows that I had PC or why I had surgery 10 years ago. The next big step for me will be having "the talk" with my oldest son about about getting regular PC screenings starting when he turns 30. He is currently 25.

I know that there are lots of guys with very different PC situations. I feel very fortunate that my outcome is one of the "best case scenarios".

My thoughts and prayers are always with our brothers who are fighting this disease. I hope that this post gives them some optimism that there is a future for them where PC can mostly be a thing of the past.

-Gedman
Posted 3/23/2023 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
Great outcome Gedman! 👍
Posted 3/23/2023 2:59 PM (GMT 0)
That is a great update, Gedman. And you we’re very young at the time of diagnosis. Age 41. Wishing you continued zeros and stay in touch.
Michael
Posted 3/23/2023 4:38 PM (GMT 0)
Another great example of getting treated at a younger age. Having a great surgeon and staying vigilant after the first treatment. Congratulations and my best wishes for many more years of undetectable results.
Jack
Posted 3/24/2023 7:53 AM (GMT 0)
Hope you live long and strong.
Posted 3/24/2023 5:40 PM (GMT 0)
Gedman, nice to hear from you and I’m really glad you are doing so well.

Jim
Posted 3/25/2023 4:40 PM (GMT 0)
Gedman, great to read this post.
You were a huge help to me early on, and so i always enjoy seeing good news from you.

May you have many more decades of undetectable PSAs and good health
Posted 3/26/2023 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
Fantastic news! My son turned 40 last year and I pestered the hell out of him to get his PSA tested. I doubt many young men know the potential for PC in their forties. I think it will always be thought of as an "old man's" disease.
Posted 3/26/2023 2:43 AM (GMT 0)
Gedman, if I may ask, with no family history or symptoms of PC, what motivated you to get tested at such a young age?
Posted 3/26/2023 3:35 AM (GMT 0)
Good question.

My primary care doc did a PSA test and DRE as part of a regular annual checkup when I turned 40. He didn’t even tell me that he was ordering the PSA test with my standard checkup bloodwork. The DRE was negative but the PSA came back 8.3.

The doctor assumed the elevated PSA was due to an infection and gave me an antibiotic. 6 weeks later my PSA was 9.1 and 4 weeks after that was 9.0, so the antibiotics weren't helping. I went to a urologist who did the biopsy which resulted in the PC diagnosis.

My case is a perfect example of why even young men should be getting PSA screening. My primary care doc went against recommended medical protocol and ordered a PSA test on a 40 year old healthy guy with no family history. If not for that doctor, I probably would not have discovered that I had PC until many years later at which point my situation could have been much worse.
Posted 3/26/2023 11:53 AM (GMT 0)
It is always uplifting to hear success stories........it gives hope to those just recently diagnosed or just a few years into the journey.
Posted 3/26/2023 1:44 PM (GMT 0)
My son started testing at age 36. The second year his PSA went from .7 to 1.1, that was a scare for me, but after that it dropped back below 1.0
But he tests every year
Posted 3/26/2023 2:14 PM (GMT 0)
Ten-year milestone!

Great day for this great news!

Here's to new vistas & horizons ~

CYCLONE ~ # Iowa State University
Posted 3/26/2023 4:21 PM (GMT 0)
that's great news! i do find the secrecy bizarre tho
Posted 3/26/2023 5:28 PM (GMT 0)

F8 said...
that's great news! i do find the secrecy bizarre tho


I think you're referring to Gedman's doctor checking the PSA test box to be included with his blood panel without informing him? I think that was a common practice back when he was diagnosed. I imagine doctors at the time didn't consider it to be a big deal worthy of mention. If the test came back in a bad way, men just had to address it.

As you know, in 2012 the Task Force decided PCPs should have a "meaningful" discussion with the patient before ordering a PSA so as not to cause potential anxiety for the patient. I suppose plenty of doctors just decided to omit the PSA test altogether, and many guys may have declined a PSA if such a discussion did take place. The rest, as we all know, is history. 😐
Posted 3/26/2023 7:43 PM (GMT 0)

mattam said...

F8 said...
that's great news! i do find the secrecy bizarre tho


I think you're referring to Gedman's doctor checking the PSA test box to be included with his blood panel without informing him? I think that was a common practice back when he was diagnosed. I imagine doctors at the time didn't consider it to be a big deal worthy of mention. If the test came back in a bad way, men just had to address it.

As you know, in 2012 the Task Force decided PCPs should have a "meaningful" discussion with the patient before ordering a PSA so as not to cause potential anxiety for the patient. I suppose plenty of doctors just decided to omit the PSA test altogether, and many guys may have declined a PSA if such a discussion did take place. The rest, as we all know, is history. 😐

#########

"Aside from my wife, none of my family knows that I had PC or why I had surgery 10 years ago. The next big step for me will be having "the talk" with my oldest son about about getting regular PC screenings starting when he turns 30. He is currently 25."
Posted 3/26/2023 7:48 PM (GMT 0)
Whoops 😁
Posted 3/26/2023 8:03 PM (GMT 0)
The topic of whether to tell people (who and when) has been discussed and debated on this forum many times. It ultimately comes down to personal preference.

Here is why I chose not to tell my family (other than my wife) about my PC diagnosis....

There is a "fear factor" involved with the word "cancer". My dad was a smoker and died of lung cancer at age 58 before my PC diagnosis. At the time of my diagnosis, I had 5 young kids ages 6 to 15 whose association with the word "cancer" meant "will die soon" just like their grandpa died. And my mother tends to panic about health issues, which wouldn't have been helpful to anyone.

I only needed support from my wife and my medical team at the beginning of my cancer journey. Therefore, I told family members that I was having "abdominal surgery" and didn't provide any specifics. My plan was that if RALP was successful then I would have no reason to tell anyone more details until my kids were adults and had a need to know. If RALP wasn't successful then I would have told everyone immediately because there would have been a difficult and uncertain battle yet to come.

Thankfully, my RALP was successful so I've had no reason to tell anyone. 5 years from now I'll start discussing with my kids because that is the age at which my oldest son will begin regular PC screenings.
Posted 3/27/2023 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
Eeveryone has their own approach, its very personal and no one approach is right or wrong, especially when it comes to family.
I told my kids, once i had surgery scheduled. They were in their early 30's, and i didnt want them to ever wonder if i was keeping anything from them. My son was very matter of fact he just said "ok, but its prostate cancer, so it can be taken care of right?" He didnt know what he didnt know, but luckily, for me, that turned out to be the case.

My daughter started crying, and was pretty distraught, but i was able to get her to listen to me, and she calmed down.

When my wife was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in her 30's, she didnt want anyone to know. Her parents even, who both died without anyone knowing. Only people who knew were people whose help we needed, to watch the kids when she was out of town for surgery.
She cant even talk about it, when the kids got older, it was me who had to tell them, knowing they had to be vigilant.

Like i said, everyone is different and everyone makes the right choice for themseles, just like treatment choices
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