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Prostate Cancer
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Posted 10/14/2011 8:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Since Aug 29th the rollercoaster ride has not been fun. Had prostate biopsy and next day ended up in hospital with ecoli infection in blood and almost died. Second bout a week after - hospitalized again. Biopsy confirmed a Gleason 6. I am 68 years old and in process of seeking a second opinion. Has anyone had the Da Vinci surgery for removal - one surgeon said that scar tissue from ecoli could be a problem (the outcome not as good, incontinenece issues, etc.). Tuesday I go for another opinion and hopeful that I will get more information. Also told that radiation (seeds) may be a prob w/scar tissue issue. Any help would be so much appreciated.
Posted 10/14/2011 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
Tim,

welcome to our fraternity that I am sure you didn't rush to join. Many of our members have had robotic surgery with Davinci, as I did.  I also developed an e coli blood infection from my biopsy that put me in the hospital for 2 days. I also had 2 bladder infections before my surgery as a result of the e-coli. I was not told anything about scar tissue from my URO and it didn't factor in my surgery as far as I know. I had a full recovery and have been continent since week 4 after my date with Davinci.

Posted 10/14/2011 9:08 PM (GMT 0)
I am 64 and just completed 43 radiation treatments. Have you given thought to having radiation? It is kind of a pain to go 43 times, but to me it was worth it to avoid surgery
Posted 10/14/2011 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to HW. We're sorry to see you need to be here, and as well that your biopsy was unusually rough.

I'm not aware of scar tissue and e-coli. That is the first mention I've seen.

IGRT Radiation can (as it did in my case) aggravate any colo-rectal issues (I had surgery in the past, and my radiation oncologist did have me double checked before starting, but it flared up just the same).

Posted 10/14/2011 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
Help - somehow I hit ignore from one of my replies - I am new at this and having a hard time. Cannot get back reply. Thanks much.

Tim
Posted 10/14/2011 9:24 PM (GMT 0)
Go to "my profile" (blue bar in the top section of the page, next to Log Off), then look for "edit ignored users". Click that to see your list of ignores. You can remove an "ignore" on that page.
Posted 10/14/2011 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
I had my Da Vinci surgery at the age of 67. I'm almost 70 now (1 more month). I was continent at night immediately and all the time after 4 months. ED is hereto stay since I had the nerve bundles removed. My biopsy was a piece of cake, I guess I lucked out.
Posted 10/14/2011 9:35 PM (GMT 0)
water guy - where did you get your stats that 70% of us on HW had robotic surgery with da vinci?
- not meaning to open up a debate between open and robot or seeds or RT ... just wondering where you pulled the numbers from?

-also , is it not common procedure to be on antibiotics prior to and after the biopsy? - and wouldn't ecoli poisoning suggest the tools used in the biopsy were not handled/cleaned properly?
Posted 10/14/2011 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
Tim,

Since you are going through pretty much what I did please click on my email icon under my name on the left and send me an email. I will send you my phone number so we can talk if you would like.

Terry the Water Guy

Posted 10/14/2011 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Bronson I guess it was just an educated guess from most of the regular posters in here. I do not want to start any debates so I will change my assumption on the posting.

I was told by my URO about 2% of needle biopsies result in blood infections from the bugs living in the intestine. The antibiotics I was on before and after the biopsy didn't touch the ecoli so I spent 2 days on IV antibiotics. In my case a culture was run on the biopsy infection and the UTI 2 weeks later both came back positive for ecoli. The UTI took 2 rounds of antibiotics to knock out the ecoli. While in the hospital after the biopsy my urine was the color of Ice Tea for about 3 days from the infection.

Terry'

Posted 10/14/2011 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
Tim,

Welcome to HW, sorry you need to join our fraternity here, but since you have need, we are glad you found us.

I had open surgery myself, nearly 3 years ago, as at the time, robotic surgery was too new in my area, and I wasn't willing to travel far to have robotic done. My surgeon was very experienced with open surgery, and I am glad he was, as there were complications.

Good luck as you educate yourself on how best to deal with your cancer. Feel free to ask all the questions you need, and if you ever want to vent your frustrations, this is a great place to do it at. No one will bite your head off, lol.

Please keep us posted of your journey ahead

david in SC
Posted 10/14/2011 10:26 PM (GMT 0)
Terry - thanks for your update
- so sorry to hear of your troubles re: the biopsy - I expect you had to do a clear fluids the night before and a Fleet enema before the biopsy to clear out the lower tract -
- the biopsy is one test I would not wish on my worst enemy (from the pain I felt) even though there was supposed to be some type of local anesthetic used
- but it did get the details needed to proceed - and I am still here :-)

hugs,
Bronson
Posted 10/14/2011 11:47 PM (GMT 0)
Tim, as they say sorry to see you here, but the group is very helpful. I went through the RALP earlier this month, and haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary. I do believe a second opinion will be of great use to you. Good luck!
Posted 10/15/2011 11:16 AM (GMT 0)
welcome
I didn't have an infection after my biopsy, but did have a lot of belly ache and had to be given an additional course of antibiotics after the one I had for the actual biopsy.

I have heard of a biopsy causing scarring, but not an e.coli infection. If this is possible then it's an unknown area for me.
The biopsy causes a small puncture wound in the lining of the bowel and a larger entry wound in the prostate. All that usually matters here is that there is plenty of time for these wounds to heal before surgery occurs.
Sometimes the wound on the bowel and the wound on the outside of the prostate can sort of stick together and the surgeon has to be careful to separate this bit during surgery.

I would think that scarring and RT would only be promlematic when there are very large scars.

Alf
Posted 10/16/2011 5:02 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry you have to be here. All of us know what you are going through, so feel free to ask any question you think of. Lot's of great experience here for surgery or other treatments. Take you time and explore your options as you gather information. You can check out what I went through by clicking on the link in my signature. Good luck. Someday you'll be able to put this behind you and get your life back.
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