Mark
Denton and Terrill live in Ohio, USA . He was 53 when he was diagnosed in November,
2006. His initial PSA was 3.1 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6 and although he does
not state his staging, it seems from his narrative that he would have been staged
T1c . His choice of treatment was Da Vinci surgery. Here is his story.
Let
me begin by saying that this website was more helpful than any of the research
that I conducted after my diagnosis in November '06. Considering the research
that was done (hours upon hours), this statement cannot be diminished as to it's
importance as I began the "journey". I found Yana to be so helpful for a very
simple reason.....the information provided was from men that shared "real world"
experiences in their fight against "prostate ca".
I am fully aware that
many of you that are reading this have already been diagnosed, treated with your
choice of therapy, and hopefully are going on with life as you did before the
scare. However, my true purpose in sharing my experience is to provide information
to those new to the site...those of you who are now in the situation that I was
in November '06 when I received the phone call informing me that I had cancer.
If
my experience can allow just one of you the piece of mind that I enjoyed by reviewing
other's comments, then I've accomplished what I had hoped to accomplish in this
correspondence.
As stated in my profile, I was 53 years old when I was
diagnosed. Although there was no family history of PCa, I had been getting my
PSA checked since my mid forties . Why so early? Because I was (still am) a pharmaceutical
rep selling oncology drugs. I happened to be selling a drug for PCa, and as many
oncology reps are prone to do, I was paranoid about the "C" word. My PSA initially
was 1.9 but had shown a consistent rise over the next 8-9 years. Even though my
PSA was 3.1, still well within range, my urologist suggested a biopsy based on
this pattern. His intent was to "rule PCa out", but the biopsy provided the opposite
scenario. I had cancer!!
The research began in earnest and the robotic
assisted prostatectomy ( Da Vinci) was my choice of treatments. As a gentleman
from England described his decision to do the same (on the Yananow site)..."I
wanted the cockroach out of my body!" I felt the same way, so I chose surgery.
My
"bio"....53, 3.1 PSA, Gleason score of 6, 7 cores positive for cancer post biopsy,
out of 12 ( most of those in one quadrant), post surgery margins negative for
cancer, both nerves spared. I get my PSA checked every 6 months and all PSAs have
been under detectable levels ( my urologist uses the term "zero".. I like that
a lot!!)
I'm not going to go into detail regarding the surgery itself,
nor the short recoup time, as I found the information on this site very comprehensive
as to those details. I will also admit to feeling very selfish in not visiting
this site after my surgery, as I am now able to share my own experiences and have
neglected to do so until now.
With that said, I'd like to share with you
some personal matters that result from the surgery.
As stated earlier,
I have not been on this site since my surgery. I would assume that many testimonials
provided are including information describing "long term, post surgery" details.
I found, in 2006, that many concerns were not resolved by those sharing their
stories since their treatments had been fairly recent (6 mos, maybe a year). I
point this out since I found information lacking as to some post surgery "problems".
Problems? Incontinence and impotence. Again, having not visited this site since
my surgery, I would assume that these issues are addressed by guys who are now
2-3 years down the road. I realize that I risk being redundant, but I'll take
my chances and provide my experience.*1
INCONTINENCE....annoying,
but short lived. I maybe had 6 weeks that I needed some sort of protection, but
this truly resolved itself much sooner than I expected. After the pads, drinking
a few beers presented a problem, but even that issue went away very shortly.
IMPOTENCE....Now
I have your attention!! I had both nerves spared, so my urologist suggested that
things will be "somewhat normal" with one and half to two years. He was right
on the money. I do need to say that I've never been concerned about possible side
effects from the ED drugs (remember...I sell "legal" drugs for a living). In fact,
I had experimented with them before I was diagnosed. Before the surgery, you could
hang a three piece suit on the trouser snake "after" sex, so I was already sold
on the results. "After" the surgery was a different story. It took months to get
a stiffy and then more months to somewhat maintain it. My urologist had me use
a "pump" twice daily to increase venous blood flow, along with Levitra times a
weekly ,at night, to increase the "oxygenated " blood flow. It's the 'ole "use
it or lose it" theory.
Ok, you are asking if there is a good ending to
this story. You better believe it. I had my surgery in February of '07 and I have
"almost" a normal sex life. Almost? Here is the deal....no prostate, so no semen.
So, you can forget that. BUT....I get woodies AND I climax. Regarding the "climax",
I'll pass something along that has happened. I'm going to discuss this with my
doctor next month, so I have no idea as to whether or not this is "normal". There
are two people who know this, my wife and I, and thank God we've always had a
great sex life. Since that is the case, she has readily accepted the following.
My "climax" doesn't result in the release of semen....it results in the release
of "urine". Not a tremendous amount by any means, but this is what happens. It's
actually a more intense climax, and without going into specifics, my wife is cool
with it. (She was never really over- enthused with the "pre-surgery" emission
anyway, so she has adapted very well). Enough of the gory details...again, I have
no idea as to whether or not others have dealt with this. I consider this a bonus
that I was not expecting, but I don't want to provide false hope. (I know, hope
is a strange description for this outcome)I simply want to be open, as I found
others to be on this site. So, just be patient and things will work out. *2
Keep
one thing in mind...you have a very curable cancer and even if things are different
in the bedroom, you are alive!!*3
I truly hope
that this VERY long message helps someone as my intent was to provide you some
solace. The Da Vinci surgery was not a big deal at all...back to work in 2 weeks.
I had a catheter for 2 weeks as well....meaning I didn't have to pause the DVR
to go to the bathroom (actually, VERY convenient). The surgery "after-effects"
are minor, but again, patience is a virtue.
Before I close, I want to tell
you that I was very proactive with friends, co-workers, family, etc after I was
diagnosed. I sent out 85 emails explaining my situation...not to garner sympathy...but
to point out the importance of the PSA test. I've had 8 guys (either recipients
of my email or acquaintances) inform me that PCa was detected. All were diagnosed
early and will go on to die from something other than PCa. You may want to do
the same. You might save someone's life.*3
Thanks
for your time and good luck to all!!
Mark's e-mail address is: markjd@fuse.net
*1
Mark perhaps missed the index that lists stories by year of diagnosis - there
are descriptions of treatments going back to 1991 - and plenty of examples of
the outcome.[back]
*2.
The leakage of urine after climax that Mark describes here is a common result
of surgery - in fact PCa activist Donna Pogliano was of the opinion that it is
the 'norm' -but for some reason is rarely discussed. Most people are able to deal
with it pretty well, but others find it unpleasant.[back].
*3
While Mark's enthusiasm is to be commended, regrettably not all versions of PCa
are 'curable'. Some men with aggressive varieties do not have such a rosy future.
