Greetings

[nacinla]

Hi. I'm Nick. I live in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. I'm a former newspaperman now a software trainer. I was diagnosed in January, 2014. PSA was 6 in February, 2013, but dropped to 5.2 before treatment with SBRT in March-April 2014. Gleason was 3+4. I attend a support group at the Gay & Lesbian center here with a terrific group of guys. You're all welcome to join us on the first and third Tuesday of every month.

[Vitruviusman]

Nick, I lived in Los Angeles, Pasadena, over the hill from you for over 27 years. I have attended that Prostate Support group at the center 2 times.  You and I have the same PSA and Gleason rate. PSA was 4-5, and Gleason was also 4-5. I have the ED thing after the surgery and dating has been tortrous. I work out at the gym doing a rigorous work out 3x a week. I am excellent athletic shape but once guys find out I cannot get hard, they make nice and it fizzles..  Please tell me about how you are coping and your dating intimacy situation if you feel comfortable/ We can also take this off line/publically and you can email me privately. I can give you my email address if you should so desire.

[nacinla in reply to Vitruviusman]

Hi. Happy to talk offline: [e-mail] 

[Vitruviusman in reply to nacinla]

Sent you an email: mine is:  [e-mail]

[Jerryhenry17 in reply to Vitruviusman]

Hi...I live in LA and Chicago during the summer..I had the surgery 4 yrs ago and I'm the same...ED found me...I workout 4-5 times a week, bike hike, have tried various meds...to no avail. I'd like to meet other guys in the same boat in both LA, Chicago or Palm Springs...for friendship, activities, travel...guys who know what ED is like...and talk about the realities of ED.

I can give anyone who feels the same, is active and maintains a positive attitude my private email address if desired....

Thanks.....Jerry

[Vitruviusman in reply to Jerryhenry17]

Jerry, I live close to Palm Springs. Write me: [e-mail]

[nacinla in reply to Jerryhenry17]

Hi Jerry,

Nice to hear from you. If you're in LA and want to meet a great group of guys, I suggest the twice-monthly PC group at the Gay and Lesbian Center on McFadden. It's at 7 p.m. on the FIRST and THIRD Tuesday of every month. (I'm taking a class through Sept. 6 on Tuesday nights so I won't be there, but the other guys would love to meet you also.) You can also email me at [e-mail]. Happy to share what's going on with me.

Nick

[JDP13]

Hi Nick. How did you decide SBRT was the way to treat your prostate cancer?

[nacinla in reply to JDP13]

The first thing my urologist at UCLA said was, "Either option (surgery or radiation) will be effective for you." I thought that was hugely open-minded because my previous urologist, who did my biopsy, insisted on surgery. So I switched to UCLA and that opened up the door to exploring other possibilities. Allen in the LA prostate group was hugely helpful in showing me research about long-term studies on reoccurrence rates, etc. So I talked to a radiation oncologist who specialized in SBRT, another who did brachytherapy (a great doctor) and a surgeon. In the end, it came down to the research that seemed relevant to my particular situation (intermediate risk, Gleason 3+4) and the side effects I was willing to endure. As superficial as it sounds, I did not want to deal with incontinence because I was traveling and teaching on the road for work at the time and didn't want to cough in front of a class and wet my pants. That doesn't happen to everyone, but I didn't want to take a chance. There also were horror stories from guys about penile shrinkage — though the cause of that is not necessarily surgery itself, I'm told. The prospect of beating this back with SBRT — five high-dose treatments over about 10 days, minimal side effects and inconvenience — was persuasive. I did have side effects afterward that were disconcerting: "radiation sunburn" that made bowel movements painful — but that went away literally overnight after a while. I wish you luck on this. Take your time. If you want to talk by email or phone I can get you that info offline.