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Posted 4/13/2013 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
Had robotic surgery in 07. I was 58 at the time. Everything is fine. But just wondering if I did the right thing electing for surgery. My Psa level was 5.62 and Gleason score of 7. Biopsy showed 1 section 65% tumor involvement and the other with 45%. If I had to make the choice now in light of the recent knowledge of Prostate cancer and the relatively slowness of advancing. Would surgery be the right course? Admittedly I feel fine that I had the cancer removed but was it that urgent? My intimate life with my wife has never been the same. Never a strong erection. Must be very careful with arousal due to leaking. How Must be very aware of leaking with a good laugh or a little alcohol. doing any kind of strenuous work. The doctor told me it was moderately aggressive so I figured if you can rid me of cancer then do it. Was I right?
Posted 4/13/2013 2:34 PM (GMT 0)
from my understanding, your stats show that treatment was necessary.

What's your PSA 6 years later?

I don't think anyone here can tell you if your choice to treat and choice of treatment was right. It's a personal decision and there can be various equally legitimate ways of tackling it.

If I were you, at your age and with your stats, I would have had treatment.
Posted 4/13/2013 2:35 PM (GMT 0)
I vote yes. With Gleason 7 and your tumor volume, it sounds like the right thing to have done.

What you're doing wrong now is second guessing the decision you made 6 years ago. Any decision you would have made would have had consequences. You don't mention your latest PSA readings, but I'm assuming they're zero after six years, which is a really good outcome.

Is the biopsy you're referencing the one done after the surgery? That's the important one to look at. I would also point out that many 65 year old men who HAVEN'T had a prostatectomy are no longer able to "get it on" with their wives, and a lot of them are "dribbling" (as are their wives, by the way). The years take their toll.

Try not to second guess yourself. You can't change the past anyway.

Post Edited (clocknut) : 4/13/2013 8:40:09 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/13/2013 2:49 PM (GMT 0)
PSA to date is 0.01. I know whats done is done. I felt I made the right decision. I just wanted to throw it out there to see what anyone else thought. My pathology report:
1. Gleason's grde 4+3=7
2. Perineural invasion: present
3. Tumor location: Peripheral zone- right, left
4. Tumor volume estimate: 10%
5. High grade P.I.N.: Multifocal
6. Seminal Vesicles: Neg for tumor
7. Fibromuscular capsule: Tumor confined to prostate
8. Peripheral margin: neg for tumor
9. Distal margin: neg for tumor
10. Proximal margin: neg for tumor
11. Regional Lymph nodes (right and Left): neg for tumor seven lymph nodes, no evidense of tumor
12. pTNM: pT3aNOMX

Surgery wa at University of Chicago by Dr. Shalhav
Posted 4/13/2013 2:51 PM (GMT 0)
With a Gleason 7, you needed immediate treatment, that was the right choice. One could argue if you should have had surgery or radiation first, because of potential side effects, but you already chose, its behind you, and so that makes it a mute point.

Good luck as you continue to recover.

david
Posted 4/13/2013 2:51 PM (GMT 0)
The cancer is gone, you're alive, probably for a very long time.

Every treatment for prostate cancer has a side effect or "effects".

I chose surgery. Yep, ED is there. So what. I choose to live and carry on.
Posted 4/13/2013 2:56 PM (GMT 0)
iSpark, you're less than a month out, give it time. You might even see dramatic changes in 1-2 months. Right now you're not even suppose dot be getting erections.

romanas - 4+3 is even more reason for treatment. I was assuming you were 3+4.

6 years with a zero is a GREAT return on your investment. There are many people who wish they wer ein your shoes.
Posted 4/13/2013 3:12 PM (GMT 0)
Romanas I would never try and tell someone what is right or wrong for them. Our numbers are similar and I can tell you I have no regrets whatsoever about the course I have taken. Of course my surgery was two months ago. For me I hope I can be sitting where you are now six years later with big fat zeros on my psa. I have problems with incontinence and ED, and I hope both ease soon...but even if they don't, for me it is a small price to pay to be alive. I miss sex with my wife and I don't like rubber panties but generally speaking my quality of life is great (aside from getting old). My wife reminded me last night....you had cancer....now you are a cancer survivor and are cancer free. Enjoy life...things look so much brighter than they did a few weeks ago! I hope you can feel the same too!
Posted 4/13/2013 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
Pca treatment is like the game show "deal or no deal", as is most of life. Suppose we all said that what you did was the stupidest thing they have heard of. What then? Or said the opposite??
Posted 4/13/2013 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
davidg, yep, I'm only less than a month out from surgery and the ED was expected, but hopefully, it will return soon.

However, if the ED was to be with me for the rest of my life, I will gladly accept it. Being alive and dying of old age and not because of PC, trumps all side effects IMHO.
Posted 4/13/2013 3:35 PM (GMT 0)
Many of us here are in your situation--dealing with the consequences of SEs we didn't think that much about before we had surgery, and wondering if we did the best thing. In one sense, we are in an enviable position, having the luxury of concentrating on those rather than on ongoing treatments for advanced disease as so many on HW are faced with. On the other hand, the human tendency is to take for granted the good things that come our way and fret about the problems. Also, since your surgery, and even since mine a year and a half ago, there has been a lot more discussion about exactly where the threshold for treatment falls for a disease that can be deadly but also can sit there quietly until you die of something else. I try very hard to keep reminding myself how lucky I am to be able to feel "cured" of this potential horror, and certainly reading the stories of those not so fortunate in their battle with it helps a great deal, but I still find myself falling back to your questions from time to time: was it really necessary; could I have just continued on with my life without going through all this?
Posted 4/13/2013 3:45 PM (GMT 0)
You are cancer free--enough said in my book.
Posted 4/14/2013 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
You guys are unbelievable. Really, haven't you ever seen the Don Henley (eagles guy)  "Boys of Summer" video, the greatest video ever? As he says, "don't look back, you can never look back." That says it all.
Posted 4/14/2013 4:53 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, given what you told us you did exactly the right thing.
Posted 4/14/2013 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not regretting one minute for the course I took. I was just wondering in lieu of all the recent info about wait and see. I was just wondering what every one else thought. Believe me when I asked the doc that if he took my prostate gland out I would be cancer free it was a no brainer. A little leak is a small price to pay for a future!
Posted 4/14/2013 2:09 PM (GMT 0)
Yes
Posted 4/14/2013 2:33 PM (GMT 0)
"The unexamined life is not worth living"--Socrates
Posted 4/14/2013 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
With a Gleason score of 7 and a 65% core you would not be a candidate for active surveillance under most programs if you were diagnosed today. You might have a different set of treatment options to choose from today, as opposed to six years ago but "wait and see" probably wouldn't be one of them.
Posted 4/14/2013 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
That sums up what I was curious about thanks and God Bless!
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