Waiting on Results

I had my annual physical about 3 weeks ago and Doc found 2 nodules, PSA was ok, 2.1 but sent me to Urologist to get checked. Urologist did the Biopsy 3 days ago and will probably get results first of next week. I will turn 51 this weekend. Found this board by being freaked out about blood in semen. Like others said, Doc said you will see some blood, but was not expecting something that looked like it was from a horror movie!!, Don't even know if I have cancer yet, but was very impressed by the "brotherhood" type atmosphere on this board. Waiting is terrible, especially thinking about the decisions I may be forced to make on something I know little about. Thought I would go ahead and post, little bit of therapy for me, not something you can just talk to anybody about, at least thats how I feel right now. Will post back when I get results. My prayers go out to all here.

DR,
Wishing you only the best results.
Continue to stay proactive with your health!

Welcome Doublereno ! Good luck and keep us posted. It is good thereapy here. Prayers go out to you as well.

Don

Good luck, and welcome to you.

Hope you don't need to really join us (negative test results), but if you do, we are here for you.

David

Still waiting, Doc said 6-7 days Tomorrow will be 7, gonna try and call if I haven't heard anything by noon. Just want to say thanks for all the well wishes, and will let yall know what I find out. Not really anybody you can talk to about this stuff, except for guys like you that are going through it or have been through it.

That call is a shock to the system, isn't it.

Don't speculate too much until you have the appointment and can talk about the results. With one core positive and I assume your doc means, Gleason 7, I'd think you're likely on the less aggressive side with all your treatment options open - active surveillance, surgery, radiation, etc. You'll likely be told to get scans and some stuff like that. I suspect your real problem will be deciding which treatment to chose and when to schedule it.

Go learn all you can and get a second opinion and I'd talk to a RO just to make sure you've considered all your options.

How do you tell the kids? For now, I wouldn't - you've just been hit between the emotional eyes and likely you're not in a place to have a reasonable conversation about it yet. I'd wait till you've seen the doc and talked about the pathology report and treatment options. and have had a chance to process your mental and emotional state better.

Then you can gather your strength and will be in a better place to have a rational conversation and help them through any fears they might have. Throwing words like "Cancer" around can be troublesome if you can't answer the fears and anxieties with facts and a plan. I'd likely tell the kids in two different groups - daughter first, she's older will understand better. Then I'd talk to the boys. Likely the six year old won't really understand much but a simple, "Dad's sick, needs an operation and the doctor says I'll be fine."

I wouldn't get to technical or use too much medical lingo during the talks. I'd keep it simple and discuss how it is going to affect life in the household while your being treated and recovering - you know, "I won't be able to play for a few weeks, you'll need to help out more for a little while." Stuff like that.

and be assured, kids understand far more than we give them credit for and likely have already guessed that something is wrong with dad.

Well, hope that helps.
Hang in there, you're going to be fine. It won't be fun to go through and normal will change but I bet you'll still be around long enough to play catch with your grand kids.
Andrew

Just sat the kids down and told them, Told them I was sick first and then that I had Prostate cancer,,Told them that I will be fine and they will fix it, just need them to know that Dad is going to be going through some tough times. Told them I was a fighter and that I wouldn't let it beat me and That I will not leave them. One of the toughest conservations I have ever had. We all cried a lot and they didn't really say much. i hope they ask questions later. Don't want them to hold it in,,,I guess time will tell. Go in to talk about treatment options Wednesday..Love this board, the support level is great and whenever I feel down I can get on here and read and it helps me every time. I'm praying for all here. Off to take the kids to a cookout and fishing, should be good therapy for all.

Here's something that hopefully might help you a little bit at this point.

One of the useful things we can do on this forum is to conduct surveys of the forum members now and then. We can ask about how they feel about whatever issue the survey is covering, such as "Which of the following treatments do you prefer?," or "How much do you exercise?," etc. The results of the survey then display, all tallied and broken down, at the top of the thread.

A while back I conducted such a survey here on the forum that was entitled: "What has been the worst pain (physical or mental) of PC for you so far?"

Here it is. If you click on this link you can see at the top of the thread what the results of the survey were:

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=2905799

Please note that shock of diagnosis was the leading answer, followed by some other responses. My point being that, since you have now already gotten passed that, that is, the shock of being told you have PC, it may well be that you are already passed what many say is the worst part of this, and you can take comfort in that.

The second most common answer in the survey was the mental aspect, including things like depression, but I get a very good feeling from your posts that you will be able to get past that, because you want so much to be strong for your kids, and I've got a pretty good feeling that you will be.

Being told we have this thing is a shock for everyone, but once we're passed that, and we start gaining experience on how to deal with this thing, it really does become manageable.

You can do it. And any time you would like us to help, we're here for you.

Had consultation with Doctor today, Didn't really try and sway me either way, but options he gave me were the Dav Vinci Robotic Surgery or probably 8 weeks of Radiation. Looks like the cancer is close to one of the nerve bundles so most likely would be able to spare one nerve bundle and partially spare the other, He said with that being done, odds are about 65% of everything still "working" Going to do an MRI in a month (said best to wait 6 weeks from biopsy so all swelling is gone) to get a better picture. Probably not going to treat until after summer, Have a lot of travel with my Daughter and her Softball team. will go and see a Radiation Oncologist soon too and get his opinion.
Asked doctor about surgeries, said he has been doing them for 7 years and has done around 100,,from what I have read, that seems like a relatively low number. I like the Doc and he seems like he know what he is doing but who knows.
So my big decision now is Surgery or Radiation. Would love any feedback from guys that have had either one. I am only 51 and Doc says that at that age most people opt for the Surgery, which is how I would have to say I am leaning. My Wife who went with me seem to think that the Radiation makes more sense. Have a lot of reading and studying to do now I guess. Posting my Info below now,,Makes me feel like one if the club now

Double:

Sorry you have to be here. I was dx. with a G7 about 4 1/2 years ago, but reading posts like yours reminds me that THE PHONE CALL is so memorable. I remember exactly what I was doing, where I was, etc.

Anyway, I saw a surgery expert, a radiation expert, and a med. oncologist. I chose surgery for a variety of reasons. I list them with some trepidation, as sometimes we get into battles extolling one treatment choice vs. another. Let me give you just a few of the reasons and I'm sure others will chime in with rationale for other choices:

1) Psychologically, I was of the "get it out" mentality. That is not the strongest reason, but...maybe it is.

2) The pathology after surgery will tell you EXACTLY where things stand. 30% of results change. So, you could be a G6 before surgery and a G7 afterwards.

3) If surgery fails, you can do salvage radiation and that is a second potential curative bullet. The reverse is not true. Some have argued strenuously that this is specious reasoning (because if the radiation works as a backup it would have worked as a primary treatment). I disagree because we can only deal with what we know now, at decision-time.

4) The SE of surgery can be difficult, such as ED and incontinence. But they generally improve rapidly over time, whereas radiation SE can occur years later. In my case, I had significant incontinence that quickly improved  and was 100% improved in about 2-3 weeks. I do have ED.

5) I felt more confident in judging the surgical experts. They had data. The radiation folks really don't. This is a pet peeve. I had salvage radiation, and I was told in no uncertain terms that is I had complications, I was to not go back to him but see the appropriate expert. As an aside, if you go the surgery route, try and find the best surgeon. EXPERIENCE MATTERS. In fact, when/if you make that decision, the group is an excellent source of referrals.

6) I have had a history of bowel problems. Radiation was more likely to cause issues in that area.

I know I had more reasons for choosing surgery, but I can't remember them.

Please understand that I am just giving you my reasons for making my choices. As it turned out, I failed surgery and the radiation, but I have responded very well to hormone therapy. My PC is not curative, but we are trying to keep it just as a chronic condition. Nevertheless, I look back and have no regrets on my decisions.

Mel