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Posted 4/27/2007 8:07 PM (GMT 0)

I just got the path report 2 hours ago and i have PC(just great) Gleason 6 T1c.how long can I safely wait till surgery? I have to get a second ablation on my heart for A-Fib on Monday, hope to god it works. I would like to wait at least 8-12 weeks for the heart to heal. great forum thanks carl

Posted 4/27/2007 8:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Carl,

Sorry you have to be here but this is the place to be for info, support and hope. Welcome.

Your stats (T1C and Gleason 6) seem to indicate you caught it in the early stages. You have time to get your heart in shape and make your decision on your treatment. Just take first things first and don't worry that much about the cancer till you get your body ready to deal with it. It is scary and the uncertainty can drive you nuts if you let it. Plaese stay close to this forum and we will support you through you ordeal...

Jim
Posted 4/27/2007 10:05 PM (GMT 0)

Jim, thanks I've followed your posts and it seems you certainly had your share of challenges. I'm so impressed on how well you deal with it. I just got off the phone with the U, great guy he said 2-3 months should not be a problem. it would be good to get a average time that people wait and what effect if any it has on the out come. I keep thinking the difference in between challenge and struggle is attitude. carl

Posted 4/27/2007 11:06 PM (GMT 0)
4carl,

In my case I waited four months after diagnosis. I took month to make a treatment decision and then 3 months due to my surgeon's schedule. If you decide to go with a Da Vinci you may want to get on a surgeon's schedule now. The ones that are more experienced have backlogs of three months or more. While your biopsy results indicate T1c which is early detection you never know if any of the cancer is close to the margins so while it is slow growing you do not want to gamble a lot. I was told that I could wait a year but having it on my mind all of the time just was too much.

Tamu
Posted 4/27/2007 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
Has any body heard of or used Dr. Thomas Ahlering UC Irvine ca? thanks carl
Posted 4/27/2007 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
Carl, I'm also T1c Gleason 6. I was diagnosed in Jan07 and my surgery is in May07. My (4) doctors all told I needed to be treated but there was no rush. They said my cancer stage was early enough that I had plenty of time to make an informed decision that I would be comfortable with. Be thorough but don't procrastinate.

Good Luck,
Joe
Posted 4/27/2007 11:38 PM (GMT 0)
There is a gal with the ncikname "B&B's World", her husband's surgery was performed by Dr. Ahlering and they seemed very happy. She talked about him in a Post titled "Veil of Aphrodite" that I put out there.

Dr. Ahlering was one of the guys I was considering. There are several top surgeons in that area of So Cal.

Joe
Posted 4/27/2007 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hi carl,

We were in same situation. We did take almost 6 months from diagnosis to surgery (not all voluntary). I agree that if you are going to do robotic move forward to make consultation and try to schedule.

Anyway, it worked out fine waiting 6 months (so far at least). Path report was only 1% of total prostate, and even though at apex, negative margins, although the gleason was upgraded from 6 to 7.

You do have time to research, deal with heart problem and go forward :)

Best Wishes!

Tanya
Posted 4/28/2007 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
Tanya, Joe, thanks for the infomation.I can't find the thread on Ahlering anybody have a link?. thanks carl
Posted 4/28/2007 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi ~   4Carl &   Loved Ones,    A    “Special”   Warm Welcome   to   You!   We know ~ we can “all” make “Your Journey” smoother just by being here for you!   This is truly a great forum!!! ~ You have joined!  You are now part our forum family ~ a group of wonderful individuals who are so willing to share...   It helps “all of us” ~ to help you ~ if we know where you are on your path. So ~ Please stay with us and take our hand when you need it!   Keep posting.... OKAY!!     KNOWLEDGE     IS     POWER   ...   and   POWER conquers   fear   YOU MAKE THE DECISIONS… YOU HAVE OPTIONS… ~ and ~ Your decision will be the right decision for you!!!   J   We invite you to visit our personal thread:   Click Here:   “Our Journey” ~ Sharing is Caring     Our thoughts and prayers will be with you as you continue to move forward with your decision.   In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy   “God Bless You” It's a little prayer   ~   "God Bless You" ...but it means so much each day, It means may angels guard you and guide you on your   way.   (Direct Links ~ just clicks on the title below and a new window will open!   Reminder … click on the REFRESH icon once you get there) Helpful Hints ~ & ~ Direct Links to Important Topic Threads ~ Hope this helps you!! :) Veil of Aphrodite ? Started by: Joes411  
Posted 4/28/2007 12:11 AM (GMT 0)
Hi ~ Carl,   We hope the links above will give you some guidance… as you continue to move forward. Your body needs time to heal from the biopsy ~ and 6 weeks is the normal time frame for this.   So another 6 weeks should give you plenty of time to do research and start Kegels!!!!!!!!!   This is so important as you will continue to find out as you read postings.   The Helpful Hints page has information on those too!   We are so glad you reached out to all of us!!   Keep posting! In New Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy   P.S. I see your recent post just now coming up.... I attached the thread in your Welcome post above...
Posted 4/28/2007 12:15 AM (GMT 0)
I bumped the "Veil of Aphrodite" post to the top so you could read where "B&B's World" talks about their experience with Dr. Ahlering.

There is a nother thread with a title like "So Cal Docs" or "Surgeons" where Dr. Ahlering is mentioned too I think.
Posted 4/28/2007 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
Joe, thanks for the link it looks like he's a top tier choice . I know he is cash upfront no insurance. carl
Posted 4/28/2007 5:25 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Carl, I bumped our thread up so that you can read what I said about Ahlering. Also, even though you pay up front, our PacificCare Insurance is paying for the hospital and reimbursing for part of the surgery. Becky
Posted 4/28/2007 6:04 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Carl

Because you appear to be in a earlier stage of PC, I think the general rule is that you can safely wait up until about six months before your treatment. While your stats look pretty good, I did note that your free PSA (6%) is very low which could be an indicator that your cancer is more aggressive. I think you should discuss this point with your urologist and seek his opinion. I would also suggest that you get a full body bone scan and an endorectal MRI. Many doctors don't authorize these tests and they should to give you a greater assurance as to your projected stage of PC. Also, how many biopsy samples were taken? 12 should be a minimum, but at least 20 is more preferable. The fewer the biopsy samples taken, the greater are the chances that some cancer can be missed in determining your stage of PC.

Considering your heart problem, have you considered the possibility of radiation treatment? Considering your age and projected earlier stage of PC, you may well be an excellent candidate for proton therapy. I assume that you live closest to the Loma Linda, CA Proton Therapy Center. You may well have as good a chance of success with proton therapy as with surgery, but with substantially fewer side effects to deal with. I am not out to sell this treatment, but you should seriously consider it in your decision making process. Take a look at my thread relating to my proton therapy treatment. https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=726381
Best of luck to you in whatever decision you make.

Dave
Posted 6/16/2007 9:41 AM (GMT 0)
Quote from Carl’s thread:    how long do i have to wait to go back to excersize? I run 4-6 miles per day or cycle 30 miles plus weight train every day. After i have the robotic surgery how long do i have to wait till i can resume? i've been doing this for over 35 years and its a part of my life that i dont want to give up. Whats realistic? thanks for the help. carl    Hi ~ Carl,                                                   Thinking of  You!        I missed your posting on 5-17 and thought I'd answer now.  We have members who are running, cycling, and weight training…   after treatment/surgery.   I even did a link to the open seat for cyclist!   I think the main thing is to listen to your body.   We had RRP open surgery and were told to hold off for 6 weeks… we did start back… but changed our regiment to “work” with the sphincter muscle… (we only have 1 and we want him to last our lifetime!!!)   Our personal path does not include any sit down (pressure on the sphincter area) machines in our Y! routine.   Keeping you close in thoughts and prayers as you move forward… In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy   Post edited to update and move personal links only «   bluebird ~   Moderator for Prostate Cancer Forum Post Edited (bluebird) : 6/28/2007 8:07:39 PM (GMT-6)
Posted 6/20/2007 1:14 AM (GMT 0)
This is a question that was nagging at me. The time between biopsy path report and treatment. I am leaning towards Proton Thearpy. On the to-do list is CT scan and a colon-rectal exam. Might as well get poked and prodded more to cover all the bases to make sure there are no other surprises.

In the mean time I am working out as agressively as I can at the gym. If circumstances change where it is open/robotic surgery I want to be in good enough shape to endure the anesthesia. The other thing I am doing is changing diet. Greatly minimizing dairy products, red meat, and sugars. I have not read a lot about dietery changes in regards to PC, except that the aforementioned three items can apparently contribute in some way to the cancers growth.
Posted 6/20/2007 1:32 AM (GMT 0)
New Journey

It took me 5 months between diagnosis and start of my treatments. Some of the wait was just to get to see the top radiaiton oncologist where I was treated and then waiting for an opening to start treatment, because the number of openings is limited. I made my decision to pursue proton therapy, after extensive research and networking, in a little less than two months from the date I was diagnosed. Once Gleason scores get to 7 or above, it not advisable to wait too long to start treatment. I would say 3 to 6 months maximum, but preferably the sooner the better. If your PSA reading is approaching 10 or beyond, I would start treatment as soon as possible. Another factor to look at is free PSA (the lower the reading, the more aggressive the cancer might be). It is preferable to have free PSA exceeding 25. Notwithstanding that I had free PSA of 27 which statistically gave me only about a 20% risk of prostate cancer, I fell into the PCa group.

Dave
Posted 6/29/2007 2:06 AM (GMT 0)
  Carl,                 We are  " Thinking of You"   …as you continue to move forward in search of the right treatment for you! Please as time permits…. Touch base and let us know how you’re doing. In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy     Helping to keep Carl’s Journey together for future readers… Personal threads started by: Carl4 how long do i have to wait to go back to excersize? Cesiun 131 anybody know about it? HDR brachy CET CANCER CENTER why are there so few that have Brachytherapy ?? new idea seeds maybe?? advice welcome how long can i wait-need input   
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