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Husband newly diagnosed, insecure about best option

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Prostate Cancer
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Posted Today 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
Squirm - most docs feel there is very little benefit of surgery if the PC has escaped the gland, and they feel that the side effects are not worth it. Many docs will not do surgery if there is strong evidence that the cancer has escaped. But some believe that there is value to "debulking" the tumor, i.e. removing as much cancer as possible, because it reduces the number of cancer cells that remaining treatment has to deal with. The research on this point is not yet sufficient to answer the question beyond debate.
Posted 12/2/2012 1:10 PM (GMT 0)
I think caution needs to be used when discussing the effectiveness of surgery once it's known the cancer has escaped the prostate gland proper. My husband's surgeon knew going in that there was an area of cancer right at the edge of the prostate itself...the biopsy showed him that. Since the robot was used, the surgeon was able to visualize the entire field in that area of the prostate and had decided to cut a much wider margin around to eliminate the risk of a positive margin. In my husband's case, there was a single focus of invasive cancer, and it had not yet breached the capsule wall. The surgeon classified my husband's cancer as regionalized rather than localized, but was confident that he had "gotten it"...4.5 years later, it appears that he was right.
Posted 12/3/2012 5:43 AM (GMT 0)
In my husband's case, much of the decision came down to remove it instead of dedicate a long period of time to radiation and hormone therapy with the knowledge that radiation on that area would not be possible later coupled with the long term radiation damage. For him it was take the side effects as they come now and improve vs radiate and hormones and risk deterioration later. his age was a huge factor in going ahead with the surgery as he should live long enough to suffer the effects of radiation. It seems true that each PC case is individual, in my husbands case, surgery best fits his needs, others the opposite may be true.
_____________________
age: 56
PSA 5.7
G7 -- 4+3
Stage T2B
Posted 12/3/2012 4:34 PM (GMT 0)
Hi MarleH,

I had LARP on October 26th. There were three issues I experienced that were uncomfortable. First, living with the catheter for a week. It becomes your new master. Want to sit, ask the catheter, want to go for a walk, ask the catheter, want to turn over in bed, ask the catheter. I also experienced swelling of my penis and scrotum--like the size of a grape fruit. Both situations were uncomfortable, but manageable. Once the catheter was removed, the swelling went down almost immediately. Bladder and rectal spasms were uncomfortable, especially during the week following surgery. They have subsided considerably now.
I experienced very little leakage, usually when coughing, sneezing or passing gas. I am no longer wearing pads and everything is dry. On the ED side, the nerves are waking--slowly. I have an appointment in two weeks to specifically address that issue.
Best of luck to you and your husband!

Fred Hill
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