Guest guest Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 AJ If you go to my site you will find this index http://www.yananow.org/exp_data.php?desc=All of men who have shared their experiences after they were diagnosed with prostate cancer. there are more than 1,000 such stories and about half are from men who chose surgery – just click on the relevant Treatment links to have the stories sorted by the one you choose. You can also see, for example what other men in their 50s did by clicking on the age link – same with PSA etc. Of course, as our good friend the late Steve Jordan used to caution, what one man chose does not necessarily mean that you should choose. We must all make decisions that suit us – but it can sometimes help to focus on what that might be to see what other people have done. All the best Prostate men need enlightening, not frightening Terry Herbert - diagnosed in 1996 and still going strong Read A Strange Place for unbiased information at http://www.yananow.org/StrangePlace/index.html From: ProstateCancerSupport [mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ] On Behalf Of dnb4aj Sent: Tuesday, 6 December 2011 6:53 AM To: ProstateCancerSupport Subject: Newbie here Hello PC friends, I joined this group b/c hubby got dxd 6 months ago with early stage pc, he is 50 and very healthy otherwise. We're new to this but have done some research and been consulting a few doctors, and still confused as what treatment to consider. Interested in learning about your experiences very briefly, anyone done surgeries? gleason 3+3 psa 3.5-4 I will go back and read the older posts but still would appreciate your responses. AJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 > > Subject: Newbie here > To: ProstateCancerSupport > Date: Monday, December 5, 2011, 2:53 PM > Hello PC friends, > > I joined this group b/c hubby got dxd 6 months ago with > early stage pc, he is 50 and very healthy otherwise. We're > new to this but have done some research and been consulting > a few doctors, and still confused as what treatment to > consider. > > Interested in learning about your experiences very briefly, > anyone done surgeries? > > gleason 3+3 > psa 3.5-4 > > I will go back and read the older posts but still would > appreciate your responses. > > AJ AJ, Sorry about your husband's diagnosis. One of the things I suggest that you do is ask for a copy of the biopsy report. You've got the Gleason and PSA values, which are important, but it's also useful to know how much cancer was actually found. The biopsy report may say, for example, that 12 samples were evaluated and 9 of them had significant amounts of cancer. In that case, the cancer should be treated soon. But on the other hand it might say that only one or two samples had cancer, and only 5% of each of those actually contained cancer. In that case " watchful waiting " or " active surveillance " may be appropriate and a PSA test every 3 months or so will tell you if the cancer is developing or lying dormant. I presume that the fact that you've waited six months since diagnosis means that the doctors did not think the cancer needed immediate treatment. If treatment is required I think that there are two big decisions to consider. One is what kind of treatment to get. There are a lot of choices and each choice has fanatic partisans. In my personal view however, there are a number of very good choices and outcomes of all of them are comparable - though I'm not an expert and I could be wrong about that. The other big decision is who to get treatment from. In my personal view that's even more important than the treatment choice. I'd rather have surgery by a top surgeon in the field than radiation by an average radiation oncologist and, vice versa, I'd rather have radiation with a top radiation oncologist in the field than have surgery from an average surgeon. With cancer, the first treatment is the most important. If it works, you might be home free. If it doesn't, the treatment can not be repeated and one is left with second choice options that may not be curative. So you want the most experienced, smartest, most skillful, most dedicated and committed doctor you can find. I hope that helps, and I hope that we can provide more help as you need it. Best of luck. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 AJ, Terry's website is the best place to get a range of experiences from men who have had surgery. Many of us update our experience after each followup with our urologist, so you get a complete picture, including the range of experiences with incontinence and erectile dysfunction, and the ways we are dealing with it. Mike Subject: Newbie hereTo: ProstateCancerSupport Date: Monday, December 5, 2011, 2:53 PM Hello PC friends,I joined this group b/c hubby got dxd 6 months ago with early stage pc, he is 50 and very healthy otherwise. We're new to this but have done some research and been consulting a few doctors, and still confused as what treatment to consider.Interested in learning about your experiences very briefly, anyone done surgeries?gleason 3+3psa 3.5-4I will go back and read the older posts but still would appreciate your responses.AJ------------------------------------There are just two rules for this group 1 No Spam 2 Be kind to othersPlease recognise that Prostate Cancerhas different guises and needs different levels of treatment and in some cases no treatment at all. Some men even with all options offered chose radical options that you would not choose. We only ask that people be informed before choice is made, we cannot and should not tell other members what to do, other than look at other options. Try to delete old material that is no longer applying when clicking replyTry to change the title if the content requires it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Greetings AJ, I am blessed to have found this group. I trust you will be too. While you are researching and rereading older posts, I offer a portion of my journey for your perusal. See post # 26639 for some excellent research material offered by Steve Jordan. Thanks Steve, this was most helpful to us as we considered our options. Additionally, post # 26894 found Alan M., Steve J., Larry H., and G. Kahlert all giving support and encouragement that we found very helpful as we grappled with a PCa diagnosis. Our best to you and yours as you do the same. -Smiley in Montana aka Rich Rose > Hello PC friends, > > I joined this group b/c hubby got dxd 6 months ago with early stage pc, he is 50 and very healthy otherwise. We're new to this but have done some research and been consulting a few doctors, and still confused as what treatment to consider. > > Interested in learning about your experiences very briefly, anyone done surgeries? > I will go back and read the older posts but still would appreciate your responses. > > AJ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 AJ -- My story (and many others) is on Yananow. It's major surgery, and the side-effects are often serious. Some questions: .. . . How big is the cancer? .. . . How fast is PSA increasing? What's the " PSA doubling time " ? " Active surveillance " (used to be " watchful waiting " ) might be a possibility. When you talk about surgery, the experience of the surgeon matters. Who would be doing it? Open, or robotic (although that might not make a difference) ? If the doctor you're talking to is a urologist, you should also have a consulation with a radiation oncologist, and talk about brachytherapy (radioactive seeds) and possibly proton-beam therapy. Cohen PS -- your confusion is normal. The data that you need to make a " clearly-right " decision don't exist. And none of the available choices for treatment is _good_. The material on the USTOO website is very useful: www.ustoo.org > > Hello PC friends, > > I joined this group b/c hubby got dxd 6 months ago with early stage pc, he is 50 and very healthy otherwise. We're new to this but have done some research and been consulting a few doctors, and still confused as what treatment to consider. > > Interested in learning about your experiences very briefly, anyone done surgeries? > > gleason 3+3 > psa 3.5-4 > > I will go back and read the older posts but still would appreciate your responses. > > AJ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 AJ, I've only posted a couple of times myself over the past couple of years since my diagnosis, but I've been reading a lot of others' posts. You've already heard from some of the people who give the group a lot of insight and helpful information. I don't have a whole lot to add to what they say except for my own personal experience. I was diagnosed in early 2009 with Gleason 3-3 t1c in <5% of one of 12 cores and PSA of --I think it was--3.8. I've been on Active Surveillance ever since. The first year or so out my PSA rose to 7.8 and I've since been on Proscar (Finasteride), which has lowered my PSA to 2.1 where it's been the last six months. My doctor is recommending a follow-up biopsy within the coming year, just to make sure things are not progressing. It's possible that my level of cancer may need no further treatment, but to be sure I have to keep an eye on it for the foreseeable future. It's a scary diagnosis, but your husband is in a good position right now for either a curative treatment or surveillance, depending on factors the others have mentioned. For me, at this point, I'm more intimidated by the potential treatments than the disease itself, but as time goes on that may change. My hope is that if I do need serious treatment that I can put it off long enough to have some better options, which seem to be in the pipeline depending on what I read where. It would seem as if your husband is a good candidate for the AS option as well, and I'd encourage looking into that possibility. Best of luck to both of you, and I would encourage your husband to participate in this group himself (even if just to read postings). This is not a fun thing to think about, but the group is a very good place for support. Best, Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Thank you so much everyone for your responses, you have no idea how each one your experiences mean to us. The first biopsy showed cancer in one core out of 10 for 1.5% as for the second biopsy showed one out 12 cores to have cancer 20% this time. psa 3.6-4.9 The next step for us is to do a color Doppler and consult dr.lam/Schulz in LA. And then decide on the treatment. Thank you again and in the meantime will read the articles recommended by you wonderful people. AJ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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