PSA now zero but with positive margins ...

My prostate was removed at the end of May this year and am recovering well from the surgery in every area. My PSA before surgery was 7

My surgeon who told me this week that my post surgical PSA was undetectable, so I am obviously quite happy to hear this. I was also told the cancer had positive margins so he cut as wide as he could with a nerve sparing surgery.

When I got clarification about what that meant by positive margins I was told " that it was a focal margin with no extension outside of the prostate and that I should wait and see what future PSA tests show." He added that " chances of a bad outcome for me are very slim."

I am 58, my Gleason score was 7 ( 3 + 4 ), and only 5% of my prostate was involved.

Can anyone explain in laymans terms what " a focal margin with no extension outside of the prostate " means and what I may want to ask him in 3 months when I meet with him again.

Thanks to everyone here and I wish you all a speedy recovery.

My layman's understanding of why your surgeon is unconcerned about your margins are that with robotic surgery "focal" margins with no extraprostatic extension often mean that the the gripper tool (it looks like Swiss Army Knife pliers) poked a small hole in the prostate while grasping it. Before the pathologist slices and examines the prostate after it has been removed, it is first covered with ink and any place where the ink touches the cancer is noted as a positive margin. The places where the gripper poked a small hole that lets the ink leak in are seldom clinically significant but do increase the incidence of "positive margins" with robotic surgery.

Thank you all for the replies. It may take a while for me to STOP being concerned about this. Even though my surgeon seemed unconcerned, I was still worrying. Hearing your replies helps alot

Thanks, and I wish everyone here a good recovery.