Got the call

The doctor called me this morning to say that my husbands biopsy showed cancer. I don't have any more information as he wants us to come in and talk. Pretty scary feeling.

Hi sorry for the call. Hopefully it will be easily managed. My uro gave me a similar call and brought me in for a two hour meeting. He covered absolutely possible treatment and then sent me out to get several other opinions. After I did I knew he was the best fit me.

Go into the meeting calm and with no thoughts of making any decisions until you can do proper research. Take a note pad and or record the meeting. Look at the sticky thread and print it out to take with you regarding what a newly diagnosed man needs to do.


Above all stay calm without fear. You are going to the first of several learning meetings. You will have ample time to research and then decide what comes next. Stay in touch and let us know how the meeting goes.

Best wishes

Jack

Sorry about having to go through all this, its scary as hell.

G6 and the better version of the G7 score. I was a G6 and I am ok now... Time to get really educated and make the right decisions. But no reason to panic

You will get allot of really good advice soon and remember we are hear to help and support you

Kidscaddy,

Ok, there are some first things to do FIRST....

1. Read the 'sticky' at the top of the forum page for the 'newly diagnosed'. You'll get lots of good info there, including questions to ask.
2. Have the doctor send the slides for second opinion to either Bostwick labs or Dr. Epstein at Johns Hopkins. It's a nominal fee--and your insurance should cover it...and with that report, you'll really know what you're dealing with.
3. Try to relax. With 3 G6 cores and 1 G7 cores, "cure" is part of the language, and time is definitely on your side. You do have time to research your options and make the right choice FOR YOU. You have weeks, if not months, to make a decision. Don't let your gut response of "OMG He has cancer, fix it NOW" take over.
4. Let us know where you are located. Someone in here is sure to know where the best place to go near you is. There are PC experts all over, you just have to find them.

Last but not least, again, try to relax. It's not a death sentence. Far from it.

Kidscaddy,

I know it's not what you were hoping for. Some men with that Dx are choosing active surveillance, which should give you comfort in taking your time. It takes awhile to get through the initial shock, and get to a more rational frame of mind.

- Allen

Thank you for your comments. We live in rural NE Oklahoma. As I said, we have our consultation Monday but he did mention sending him to KU Medical Center in Kansas City.

Kidscaddy, I don't know how far you are from St. Louis, but I got great care from the team at Barnes-Jewish/Washington University.

If it's any solace, it's "normal" for men over 40 to have prostate cancer. Sounds odd, but true. With those Gleason scores, there's lots of time to research. Lucky for him, he has a concerned wife. I'm single, so flying solo. Women are so much better at this ...

[quote]

*Finding cancer in the prostate of a man who is over 40 is quite normal. Finding cancer in the prostate of a man who is over 70 is very normal!

*Something like 95 percent or more of the men who get a diagnosis of prostate cancer today in developed countries are NOT going to die from it. They may die with it … but not from it. There’s a huge difference.

*Prostate cancer is not a death sentence for the vast majority of newly diagnosed patients in the developed world today!

Quoted from a very helpful site. Start reading. /prostatecancerinfolink.net/diagnosis/newly-diagnosed/

[quote]

*Between 25 and 35 percent of men aged between 30 and 49 years of age will have cancer observable in their prostate at autopsy if they die for some other reason (see Sakr et al., 1993)

*Some 30 percent of all men in their 50s will also have cancer observable in their prostate at autopsy (see Franks, 1954)

*As many as 70 percent of all men in their 80s will have cancer in their prostate at autopsy (assuming they still have an untreated prostate)

/prostatecancerinfolink.net/risk-prevention/cancer-is-normal/

--

Kidscaddy, You owe it to yourself to also talk to radiation oncology experts, both in brachytherapy (seeds) and external beam. Urologists are surgeons, and they recommend surgery. At G6-G7, he may also be eligible for active surveillance. Ask about that as well.

Hello, Kidscaddy. FYI, with your hubby's diagnosis and PSA the scan are likely to show nothing. In fact many doctors don't even bother. I do have a couple of suggestions:

1. I will repeat what Halbert suggested earlier, i.e. you need to get a second opinion on the biopsy pathology. Please get the slides sent to Bostwick or Epstein. Instructions for doing so are in the sticky thread at the top of our forum. Many "garden variety" pathologists are not expert in reading prostate cancer slides - it is important to have these read correctly so that you may assess your treatment options with full knowledge.

2. You might consider adding a "signature" to your posts. That way those of us who are following your journey will know the applicable facts so that we can respond better. Things like age, Gleason scores, number of samples with cancer out of total number of samples, % cancer in each sample, prostate size, existing urinary issues, etc.

3. Depending on what you hear from Epstein or Bostwick, you husband might be a good candidate for Active Surveillance. This treats our cancer as a chronic condition rather than something that needs treatment. You should talk with a knowledgeable urologist who has expertise in this area.

4. If you do decide on treatment, please realize that seeing an "RO" is simply not enough. Radiation has become specialized. Your husband can likely be cured by SBRT, LDR Brachy or HDR Brachy. You should see doctors who specialize in each of these protocols. Treatment by one of these protocols is likely to offer equal cure rates as surgery but with a likelihood of less onerous side effects.

5. You get one chance to do this right the first time. If you can do so, please consider traveling to experienced practitioners who will treat your husband with the excellence he deserves.

Good luck and please let us know how we can help.

Jim