Post Surgery Path and PSA tests

Am I completely crazy? What say you?

you are depressed. I would seek help. been there and while my life isn't perfect while in the throes of depression I had almost convinced myself that I would never be happy again and life was not worth living. don't let your head take you out. good luck.

ed

I wrote a post on another thread yesterday on this subject, not the side effects part, as that is both a cause and effect of the thread genesis, imo. but erased it, reason matters not. so I will attempt a reboot on it due to the synchronistic timing of Sifgato's thread.
I have not had a psa test since Jan of 2013.>.1 My initial reason was to go yearly. Well its now Feb and have " decided " to go for my 5year oct 2014 op date. Then I started thinking, do I ever stop?,
and why not just stop doing them period. I am close to 71, had great postop pathology, ceptin gl score, which is not a minor consideration. I have excellent health, fitness and attitude/faith. Why should I be lead around like a cow in the pasture by what might happen. I am not of that nature. But am of th nature to be affected by this nasty lil voice very 6 mos to a year, you better do this or you better not do that or else. I'm thinking,maybe this is where the rubber hits the road. If I cannot life my faith and only yak it, whats the point. Am I depressed, maybe a bluish tint to my cheeks, rather than rosy red. I would not recommend this for a younger man with different path, but then the other particle comes in and says why not. It goes on and on and i know it will never stop in this life and personally do have the antidote. {to be perfectly clear, the antidote to death, not life, actually life is the antidote, isn't it} I guess I will do what I want to do when I want to do it, and damm the vibrations, tho how can I, when they are the very essence of life in this plain. I guess this is what Walt Whitman meant, " so I contradict myself, I contain multitudes" paraphrased So Sifigato, I feel your pain, and thankfully my own.

There seem to be three issues going on in this thread; they are 1) If you are unwilling to take the next step in your treatment if a test reveals the necessity, why go on testing? 2) You are discouraged about his sex life. And 3) You sound depressed.

I'll deal with the last one first: I dunno. In your post you copped to being "really discouraged". Maybe you're depressed, too. They are not the same thing. Hard to tell from a couple of paragraphs. Certainly something to talk to your doctor about. Men who have real troubles can't afford the luxury of depression. Get yourself checked out and fixed up.

Second, I was tempted to respect your decision not to test if you didn't want to know. It is a rule here, for one thing... but then I noticed that you are a young man and all you have done to this point is surgery. If you were to recur there would be a good chance of curing you again so you could continue to struggle with your crappy sex life for decades. I've done radiation after my surgery. I am doing hormones. The radiation wasn't that bad. The hormones I hate but I am 4 1/2 months away from being done with them. So I will have to give you a rain check on approving of the decision not to continue testing. I think you are premature. If you do recur, check back with me after your salvage radiation and I will fix you up.

Finally, what are you doing on the sexual rehab front? You've started threads about Cialis a while back and you've commented on a Peyronie's thread (dunno if you were speaking from personal experience). How's that all working out for you?

You are a young guy and your doctors should (and probably will) feel some sense of urgency in helping you get back a useful degree of sexual function. But you have to let them know.

sfigato
I'm sorry you got this disease so early in life. Sex is so important at your age. Maybe as a GL 6 you won't have any recurrence. .1 is good. It's likely you won't need more treatment, but if you do, HT may not be necessary.
It's so important to have other things to focus on. You definitely should see a psychiatrist so you get some perspective and a new outlook on life. Think about the guys out there dealing with high risk cancer or other life altering conditions like the poor ******s coming home from war with terrific physical and/or mental disabilities.
I too do not look forward to HT or RT, but it's highly likely for me. I have two great sons and four wonderful grandchildren to think about. That keeps me going. And daily bouts at the gym keep me sane.
Hang in there!
Bob
___________________________________________________________________
DOB January 1944
1981: prostatitis
2000-2013 BPH treated with finasteride & tamsulosin; low T treated with androgel
PSA History:
Pre 2009 0.4-.6
11/2011 2.2
8/2012 2.7
2/2103 5.5
4/2013 6.1
5/2013 6.6
11/2013 0.1
1/2014 0.2

6/2013 Bx:PCa Gleason 4+4=8 (Bostwick), 4+5= 9(Johns Hopkins), 2/6 cores, 10%, 40%, DRE neg. (Stage PT1c)
7/2013 bone scan and pelvic MRI negative
9/7/13 open RRP, Johns Hopkins, Ted Schaeffer MD PhD.
9/9/13 Pathology: 33G, both nerves spared, SVI, EPE and 4mm pos. margin at base (Gl7), Stage PT3bN0M0)
9/20/13 Foley and staples removed
Continence: one pad per day for 13 weeks, now none. ED pre and post op.
Watchful waiting until next PSA May 1, 2014