YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

BRONZE

Bob Hoffman lives in Pennsylvania, USA. He was 61 when he was diagnosed on October 31, 2007. His initial PSA was 3.2 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 7 and he says he was staged T2, but this may have been his pathological staging. He is undecided on his choice of treatment. Here is his story.


At this moment I am still stressed in what option to take, namely surgery.

My urologist is a competent and excellent doctor. Based on my own research & discussion with him, I feel that surgery is my choice. That said, my urologist only performs the traditional open surgery and I am more in favor of the Da Vinci robotic surgery. It appears many other men are also looking into the robotic surgery and the surgeons in my area which are many are booked many months ahead.

My urologist would like to see me have my surgery by next month or early February at the latest. He is leaving the decision to me, however I could have him do the surgery a lot sooner.

I would like to hear from anyone who chose the traditional open surgery and their suggestions, good or bad.

I am so glad I found this site....
Thank you ALL.

 

UPDATED

January 2008

 

 

I had my surgery on January 10, 2008 with my own urologist, Dr Guy T. Bernstein at Bryn Mawr Hospital (near Philadelphia). I did see another surgeon on December 7, 2007, Dr David Lee who performs the Da Vinci procedure, however he is so busy that the earliest he could schedule me for was in April. I did not want to wait that long.

After my surgery my doctor indicated that the biopsy showed that the cancer did NOT penetrate the prostate. The surrounding tissue was negative for cancer and that my Gleason Score was a 7. On February 13, 2008 I will have a PSA test done at the doctors office.

So far so good.....but here is my concern, yesterday January 24, 2008 I had the catheter removed. My doctor had me start and stop my stream and said I did a good job. That evening at dinner I had a gusher (did not even feel it coming) and I soaked through the pad and onto my pants. Needless to say I felt really bad.

Can anyone share with me their experiences and what I can expect in the days and weeks ahead.

Thank you to all who written to me earlier after my diagnosis.

 

UPDATED

March 2008

 

 

I had my first PSA post surgery on February 13, '08. The results showed PSA as less than .05 ng/ml. I will have another PSA in May and my doctor will start me on some ED (Erectile Dysfunction) medication.

So far this is no sign of life down yonder, but I hope there will be some improvement. I know it will not be like it was before, but my wife and I can live with that. One thing that does concern me is that I occasionally have night time urinary accidents. I try to watch my evening fluid intake and also go to the bathroom before retiring for the night, but still have this accidents. Will this improve with time? It has only been 7 1/2 weeks since my surgery.

Thanks, Bob

 

UPDATED

May 2008

 

 

I had my second PSA done since my surgery on January 10, '08. The results were <.01. My urinary function is much improved & I could go without a pad if I wished. Impotence is still a problem. My doctor has given me samples of the ED meds to try, but the side effects were too bad for me to continue. They all gave me terrible migraine headaches. I will give it more time & see what happens.

I had read that in some cases it can take a couple of years. I don't want to try injections or pumps just yet. It would be great if some drug company could develop a patch that would cause less side effects than the pills.

Has anyone tried any herbal products with any success??

 

UPDATED

August 2008

 

 

I had my three month doctor appointment in August and PSA test. Results came back showing less than .05( great!). I have not been using any pads for over two months now. Urinary control is good and no stress leakage.

Still no luck with E.D! I cannot tolerate the meds. My urologist gave me a prescription for MUSE (highest dose). I tried it once and was in real pain. I had to recline for at least 3 hours before the pain subsided. On top of that no erection! My doc also suggested the needle method, but that totally turns me off. My wife is totally understanding, so no stress there, just my own self-inflicted stress.

At this point, I am thinking about letting nature take its course and see what happens. Hopefully I have taken care of two of the three problems with prostate surgery, the most important eliminating the cancer.

 

UPDATED

December 2008

 

 

Had my three month follow in November and my PSA was less than .05. My next appointment is in three months and I will be 13 months post surgery. My doctor will than follow up with me every 6 months.

He really wants me to give the ED meds another try and so now I am trying Levitra 10 mg. I do notice that nocturnal erections are increasing in frequency which he said is a good sign.

No urinary problems or pads since 6 or 7 months post surgery.


Bob's e-mail address is: roho18@yahoo.com