St Petersburg, Florida

[BeachChuck]

Hi, name's Chuck.  68 years old.  Just found out have aggressive prostate cancer.  Went from 3.2 to 9.4 in one year.  Gleason 7.  I have had colonoscopy, bone scan, and pelvic scan and it looks as though it is focused in the prostate.  I am now evaluating what to do.....so many options.

[kenman52000]

Dear Chuck,

There are many options and lots of advice. I read and listened but in the end decided on Robotic Surgery with Dr Patel in Celebration based on his experience. He and his team have performed over 5000 procedures as of May 2013. I recovered quickly and am not incontinent. Sex is an issue as I can have an orgasm which is dry and takes patience. My partner is very understanding. Best advice I got was find the most experienced at whatever road you follow.

Ken

[Vitruviusman]

Beach Chuck, there is so much information I can share with you that I would have to know more about your situation.  I was diagnosed in 2010. Had the robotic surgery, now I am left with ED. I researched all possibilities of treatments, pros and cons, as well as found on info that the doctors never told me about .  If you would to talk by phone let me know and I will send you my phone number: my email: mineo.keith at gmail.com

[JimVanHorn]

Hi Chuck, so sorry but welcome to the club. I am a retired pharmacist in Orlando 71 yrs. I have had slow and fast growing prostate cancer starting in 2008. In 2010 my PSA went up again and for 6 years living with metastatic PC and I am in good health. I choose to have a shot every 3 months of Leuprolide (a drug that wipes out my testosterone and other androgens). It turns out that I have a fast growing cancer and have also had 40 radiations in 2008 and 32 in 2010. So I have a zero sex life, but I am in good health for 6 years with my prostate intact and single cell cancer inside my bones. My disease is in limbo as long as the Leuprolide works on my pituitary gland. Should another treatment come along I will consider that, for example a new drug radium223 has been approved. I was given 5 years, but I have a neighbor who is healthy after 7 years and my doctor has a patient with 10 years and in good health. Sorry, no guarantees. I have a side effect inside my penis from the radiation. It is called "urethra stricture" and once a week I insert a catheter half-way in for 3 minutes, which solves the problem. Another side affect of the drug is "Female menopause" which lasted for 2-3 years. (No big deal) Good luck.

[Bj1069]

Please don't do anything until you find a doctor that will order an mpMRI. Anything less is operating out of willful ignorance, greed or both. That technology can precisely locate the cancer, and depending on findings, you may be a candidate for focal treatment or active surveillance. It happened to me, and my cancer was Gleason 8 with PSA from 12 to 25. mpMRI ought to be the standard, as it is both safer than TRUS biopsy and more accurate. Don't have surgery based on guesswork. You desrve the best information available before you decide. My story is below.

I was diagnosed incidental to TURP after 3 neg biopsies. Gleason7( 3+4). PSA 12. My urologist recommended EMRT. I sought a second opinion, had a biopsy and DRE (the previous Doc did neither). The 6 core(surprising) biopsy was neg, and the doctor said come back in a year. Third opinion was from a University cancer center. Did bone scan, pelvic CT, and reread the pathology. Bone scan and CT normal, Gleason changed to 8 recommended immediate RP. So I moved on to MD Anderson Cancer Center. Day one they did an mpMRI. They reviewed the pathology and agreed that it was Gleason 8. But my PSA, which had been elevated between 12 and 25 for nearly 2 years, had dropped to 1.8. The mpMRI showed a single lesion that was inconclusive as to PCa or scar tissue. Then they did a 3D Fusion biopsy of the lesion and a saturation biopsy. The lesion is scar tissue and there was no cancer present in any core of the saturation biopsy. So end result, there is no indication that I still have prostate cancer. I'll wait until August to heal, have a new PSA and go from there. Sad part is that the whole process could have been finished nearly a year ago if the first doctor had ordered an mpMRI. The hospital has the equipment. The procedure is quite safe, and quite accurate. But urologists make no money from MRIs, so they stick to nomograms (guesses based on flawed data) an RP.

[SpenceNYC]

Sounds like my diagnosis in 2017. I opted for prostatectomy because I didn't want radiation or hormone treatment. I think I made the right decision for me, but only time will tell. Best wishes to you. There are many kind and knowledgeable people on this site.