Posted 1/21/2012 7:52 PM (GMT 0)
I wanted to post this to provide a thanks to all those who have posted, as it has been immensely helpful to read about others experiences.
After a couple of years of having my PSA bounce above and below 4, with the highest being just 4.5 - my doctor sent me to see a urologist just to be on the safe side. I had the biopsy in September 2011, and before the labs came in, the urologist said he was pretty sure I had just benign enlargement. So it was a shock when I came back for the follow up, that the test showed prostate adenocarinoma. Gleason 6 (3+3) in 4 out of 6 samples on one side. 30% involvement. This was all on the right side.
I thus began the journey that many have done, to try to understand the options. There was just so much conflicting info out there, that it was hard to know where to start. In short, I ended up weighing the "watchful waiting," prostectomy (robotic or traditional), brachytherapy, and cyberknife. This is where reading the experience of others was so helpful, as there is really no one out there in the medical field who can tell you just what you should do. In the end, you are really the decision maker - which seems strange when you don't have medical experience.
I was fortunate, however, to have a great brother-in-law, and MD who teaches at a major medical school. He did not tell me what to do, but did help me know what questions to ask. He also helped a lot in thinking about the issue of waiting vs. taking action. Most of that is not a medical issue, but a lifestyle. He asked questions like - Do you think you will be in a better position to do surgery 2 or 3 years later than now? What about insurance and your job, when is the best time for that - now or maybe later? Etc. All of those led me to believe the time to do something was now as I have a good employer, am healthy, and my loved ones are healthy too. As for the choice, I turned out to be only a so-so candidate for radiotherapy. And the other factor, was when the radiologist asked if I was going to use my urologist (a surgeon also) if I did go the surgery route. I said yes. Then, he said - I would recommend surgery, as he is one of the best in my (Washington, DC) area. And indeed, he has done over 1000, such surgeries.
Well all of that took time, and on 9 January I went in for surgery in the Washington Hospital Center (DC). To make a long story short, everything went well. I came out of surgery feeling pretty weak and sick, but was on my feet that evening. Except for a bad reaction to medicine (a form of Advil) which caused me to toss my cookies the first night (no fun after surgery) I did ok. The hospital was great, had me walking, walking, walking. I stayed 2 nights and went home.
Now it has been 12 days, and I am feeling great, all things considered. Last Thurs they yanked out the catheter (which is where the phrase "Yip-pee" must originate!). I also got my pathology report, which was good. Nothing found in the margins or in the lymph nodes or other things checked. At this point, the prognosis looks good. A sobering discovery was that the pathology showed the cancer was actually a Gleason score 7 not 6, which the doctor said could have been an indication it was growing faster than he had thought.
The other good news, for this short time since catheter removal, 48 hours - I appear to be about 95% continent. And so far at night 100%. Main problem has been end of day, but nothing terrible - just drips. Blood in urine has stopped (frequent when the catheter was in). My pain level overall is at about 1.5 out of 10 (down from night one when it was 8-9). I am walking, and have made it out to store a couple of times, and walking 2-3 blocks a day, along with lots of indoor walking. I have resumed the Kegel exercises which I was doing pretty regularly for the last 2 months.
While I can tell my libido is pretty much intact, there is virtually nil action yet as I think the nerves are still in shock. Also, I am sure I have read this elsewhere, but bowel movements are a major challenge after surgery - and I am still swinging back and forth either having all or nothing in the BM department.
I know everyone has his own road to travel on this and will face different hurdles. I just wanted to share my own, which so far has been a positive as I could have hoped for in this kind of situation. I have a long way to go, but am thankful that others shared their experiences - which made it much more comfortable for me to talk about mine, and helped me make what I think was the right decision.
And I want to close on one other personal note, as I note that many persons here do mention their wives. I happen to be gay, and it is a bit hard sometimes to find gay men speaking out about their prostate cancer. But prostate cancer does not discriminate gay or straight, and I hope that some other gay men will benefit, as have I, from the kind of info offered here. Without my partner's help throughout every step, I don't think I would be here writing this. Again, thanks to all.