New Member of the Club

Welcome to HW.

Good to hear you're doing well post-op.

It gets better each day.

Do keep us updated on your progress,
Andrew

Kit,
Welcome to the club no one wanted to be part of. But the experience here and knowledge here is incredible.
Also glad to hear you are doing well. Heck with that San Diego weather you should be back to normal in no time. Just stay off the 5 at the wrong times of the day, LOL. Thats all day right?
Feel great and glad you have great support from family, that is very important for sure.
"and I'm grateful every day that my condition was detected early and dealt with promptly." That statement is key. Rest well and enjoy life.

Welcome Kchevas, hopefully your cancer will soon only be a bad memory that only will require the regular PSA tests.

PS you wrote you want to learn: T1 category is only used for clinical staging so you are after surgery by default a T2.

Hello Kit and welcome. I hope your recovery continues to go well.

Jim

Welcome aboard! It appears the surgeon did a great job since he was able to spare a set of nerves and it's great you had clear margins.

Welcome.

With luck, the worst is over. Now you should take it easy, let your body heal from major surgery, walk as much as possible, and enjoy life. From my experience, you should feel yourself again in about 6 weeks.

Sexual function may take longer, but listen to your doctors, and your body.

Hi Kit,

My husband just got diagnosed and has Kaiser. We're debating on radiation vs. surgery. Did you attend any of the support groups that Kaiser offers? He's 52 and the Gleason rating is 4+3. We just saw the radiation doctor at UCSD today and are weighing our options. Do you recommend Dr. Chuang?

Thanks,
Kailey

kaileygirl said...
Hi Kit,

My husband just got diagnosed and has Kaiser. We're debating on radiation vs. surgery. Did you attend any of the support groups that Kaiser offers? He's 52 and the Gleason rating is 4+3. We just saw the radiation doctor at UCSD today and are weighing our options. Do you recommend Dr. Chuang?

Thanks,
Kailey

Kailey,

I sincerely apologize for not seeing your post earlier. Hopefully this reaches you in time to guide your decision making. I'm sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis, but very glad that you found your way here.

I would enthusiastically recommend Dr. Chuang. He was not the doctor initially assigned to me when I was diagnosed, but I reached out to a good friend who is a department head at Kaiser and he got me the referral. Chuang was trained in non-invasive surgery at the University of Chicago, established the robotic surgery program for Kaiser in San Diego, and has 800+ procedures under his belt. His office is in the Kaiser facility by CSUSM, and he operates out of the Palomar Hospital in Escondido.

Your husband's age and condition are similar to mine. I'm 6 weeks out from surgery and was just told (yesterday!) that my post-surgical PSA level is undetectable. No issues with incontinence once my catheter was removed, and I'm working with my doc on ED issues.

I did not participate in any of the support groups at Kaiser. One of my nurses, while not discouraging me from going, told me candidly that the vibe was not positive.

Hang in there, it gets better. It seems like things are moving very slowly from diagnosis until treatment, but once you get to a surgeon (if that's your choice) things will move quickly.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Kit

Post Edited (Kcheves) : 5/23/2017 2:58:40 PM (GMT-6)

Kailey,

Good to hear from you, and I'm glad your meeting with Dr.Chuang went well.

Everyone's case is different, but I've hade no (zero) issues with incontinance. It has allowed me to resume a normal life earlier than I thought possible.

I was out of work for 4 weeks, but in retrospect could have returned sooner. I did not have any lymph nodes taken, but Dr. Chuang had tissue tested during my surgery that led him to state that the marigins were negative.

Please feel free to contact me through a Private Message. My wife and I would be happy to talk to you and your husband if that would be helpful.

Kit

Post Edited (Kcheves) : 6/3/2017 8:42:06 AM (GMT-6)

Thanks Charles. I'm going through the Newsletters and will try to attend a meeting.

Kit

Thank you, This helps. After how were you, how long until you back on your feet? How much care was needed while you recovered?

So many questions

How are you now?

BSelig said...
Thank you, This helps. After how were you, how long until you back on your feet? How much care was needed while you recovered?

So many questions

How are you now?

I was walking the day of my procedure, and did not need much assistance after the first 2 days. Once the catheter was out (1 week later) it was smooth sailing.

I'm doing great now, coming up on 3 months after surgery. I did not have continence issues, which was my main concern. My procedure was partial nerve sparing and its too early to tell about ED, but I'm working with my doc on this and am hopeful. I'm fully recovered from the surgical trauma with no limitations on what I can do.

Our situations are eerily similar, same age and cancer in the same region of the prostate. But you are a lower risk than me with G6 cancer. I'm sure others here will tell you that a G6 diagnosis affords you time to consider your options carefully and not succumb to the urge to 'cut it out'. First step for me would be to get a second opinion on your biopsy from Epstein's lab at Johns Hopkins. The info you need is in the sticky above. And add your diagnosis and history to your signature so it will be appended to all of your posts.

Have you consulted with a radiation oncologist yet? You mentioned preferring surgery so you have the option for radiation if required in the future. I got the same recommendation from my urologist ( a surgeon) but I think there are a range of opinions/data on this. If your cancer is contained and low grade, radiation may have fewer adverse side effects, and is something you should fully consider.

I was referred to my Kaiser Doc in San Diego by a colleague of my college roommate, who is the Neurosurgery chief at Kaiser Fontana. Who are you working with in Fontana? Has an MRI been ordered? The Kaiser system moves slowly at first, with what seems like unnecessary steps. Once you select a therapy, it gets better.

Finally my dad had both prostate cancer (RALP at City of Hope) and Pancreatic cancer (Whipple at City of Hope). Sorry you have to go through this again, but at this stage with your diagnosis you should be very hopeful that a cure is achievable.

Keep us updated, and feel free to PM me if you have additional questions.

Kit

Post Edited (Kcheves) : 6/27/2017 12:51:24 PM (GMT-6)