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Posted 7/18/2018 3:31 PM (GMT 0)
Just checking in to give encouragement and hope to those low-risk gents that are wondering what course of action to take. I just had my 4 month checkup, and it's been over 4 years for me now on AS, and it's all still good. I am SO darn GLAD I did not take my urologists initial advice to have my prostate removed within 2 months of diagnosis!!!

Carry On brothers!
-GeetarMan
Posted 7/18/2018 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear this!
Posted 7/18/2018 4:09 PM (GMT 0)
Great news!

Keep that AS going.

Andrew
Posted 7/18/2018 4:42 PM (GMT 0)
Geetar, that is great news. Looking forward to many more years of AS reporting.

Jim
Posted 7/18/2018 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
Nice!!!!
Posted 7/18/2018 6:50 PM (GMT 0)
Great news!

Your first urologist sounds like a greedy butcher. Hopefully, more of them are recommending AS now.
Posted 7/18/2018 8:21 PM (GMT 0)
Awesome news. As a guy just getting started on AS your post really gives me some hope and encouragement. Thanks for posting and wish you the best as you continue this journey!
Posted 7/18/2018 8:31 PM (GMT 0)

convertible68 said...
Awesome news. As a guy just getting started on AS your post really gives me some hope and encouragement. Thanks for posting and wish you the best as you continue this journey!

I'm glad! That's why I do it!

So what kind of '68 Convertible are you toolin' around in?
Posted 7/18/2018 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
yeah
Posted 7/18/2018 8:46 PM (GMT 0)

ASAdvocate said...
Your first urologist sounds like a greedy butcher. Hopefully, more of them are recommending AS now.

So... My urologist is actually a great guy and a really great surgeon, one of the best in this area, I just think he really was doing kind of what he was trained to do. I think he has actually learned from my case and I would bet that it may have even affected how he counsels other patients, though I haven't asked him.

He does admit that based on my current stats, that I made the right decision, and he would not even recommend surgery for me today.

My take is that we both learned from my experience.
Posted 7/18/2018 10:26 PM (GMT 0)
great news..I went 5 years with 3+3.. now? not so good.. maybe should have paid a little closer attention rolleyes Hoping for great news for you in the future. Ed
Posted 8/2/2018 8:00 AM (GMT 0)
Wish me well, also. I'm going into my 9th year of AS after visiting several doctors who wanted to perform surgery, radiation, and all the other "traditional" treatments for PCa.

I'm 62 now and go in twice a year to my prostate oncologist (who advocates for AS when it merits it) to be checked for any progression or problems.
Posted 8/2/2018 2:20 PM (GMT 0)
I think there is a reason even some honest, conscientious docs are reluctant to recommend AS: it puts a heavy burden on them. They will have to make the call for when to recommend treatment, and they don't want to have a case on their hands that metastacized. In addition, there is no uniform, accepted protocol for AS testing. Each doc has to read the research and decide for themselves. If they get you to treat the PC, they know you are likely cured.

People are quick to jump on docs who recommend surgery and other treatments for low rick cases, and there is surely some justification for that. But I can also see the burden AS places on a doc.

I write this as someone on AS who has one doc who wants to test me all the time, but I also get a second opinion from time to time from another doc who thinks my doc is over-testing me!
Posted 8/2/2018 2:54 PM (GMT 0)
JJO, There are very few cases of metastasis when men are properly screened and accepted into an AS program. Also, studies at JH and Sunnybrook have shown that men do not have any greater risk of mortality if they enroll in AS, and then need treatment, than men who had immediate treatment.

Yes, there are issues with diagnostic testing tools and all AS programs not having the same criteria, but the steep increase in men choosing AS within the past ten years shows that both patients and urologists are becoming more confident with it.
Posted 8/2/2018 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
Very good news indeed. However, need to watch closely the slow rise in PSA.
Posted 8/3/2018 12:29 AM (GMT 0)
ASAdvocate: I fully agree with you and that's why I've chosen AS. And I'm not saying doctors are right to steer low-risk people away from AS. I was commenting more on why I think some docs may not push hard enough for AS even though the evidence supports it.
Posted 8/3/2018 2:01 AM (GMT 0)

GeetarMan said...
Just checking in to give encouragement and hope to those low-risk gents that are wondering what course of action to take. I just had my 4 month checkup, and it's been over 4 years for me now on AS, and it's all still good. I am SO darn GLAD I did not take my urologists initial advice to have my prostate removed within 2 months of diagnosis!!!

Carry On brothers!
-GeetarMan

Good for you, Geetarman!
Posted 8/3/2018 11:13 PM (GMT 0)

ASAdvocate said...
Great news!

Your first urologist sounds like a greedy butcher. Hopefully, more of them are recommending AS now.

Great News!! Good luck to you in the future!! yeah
Posted 8/4/2018 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you that is encouraging. I will have a second biopsy around January 2019 I was diagnosed in June (or was it July? bad with dates) My urologist wanted me to consider cryotherapy which was kinda strange because my local hospital in Poughkeepsie does not even have the equipment yet to perform cyro.

I then went to NY Prespyterian in Manhattan and saw a surgeon urologist and a radiological oncologist to get information about my choices if or when the need arises. With a Gleason score of 6 I want to say with AS as long as possible.

Thanks again for the report

Glen
Posted 8/4/2018 3:15 AM (GMT 0)
Geetar Man--Congratulations on your excellent report. I read it wistfully as my own case of G6 exactly mirrors yours: G6 1 core <5%. In 2006, Active Surveillance was called Watchful Waiting and not an option seriously considered by most urologists. Nowadays, of course, AS is a virtual no-brainer. Alas,prostatectomies, unlike vasectomies, are not reversible.
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