YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

BRONZE

Paul A and Kathy live in Massachusetts, USA. He was 54 when he was diagnosed in January 2007. His initial PSA was 6.9 ng/ml and his Gleason Score was 3+3=6. He does not state his staging but it appears that it would have been T1c. His choice of treatment was Radical prostatectomy. Here is his story:

In August of 2006 I had an annual physical with my general practitioner. He always does a PSA along with other tests. The results at that time were 4.3 ng/ml, but for me it had run high for years and I had an enlarged prostate. Despite those facts he referred me to a surgeon at UMass Med Center in Worcester. The surgeon discussed the results with me and we both agreed that we would wait until the first of the year to do another PSA and decide what path to take at that time. Well, the result was a PSA of 6.9 ng/ml and the surgeon telling me (not asking) that I would have a biopsy. Unfortunately the biopsy came back positive. From there the process of appointments began. The positive aspect, I was getting it early and the prognosis was excellent! Due to my age, excellent health and physical condition we decided on surgery. My wife is an RN so she certainly had a lot to say about the decision. At first I wanted robotic surgery, but my prostate was too large (and, as you'll see later, it's a good thing I didn't have someone try it). Radiation was out of the question to me. There are far too many negative side effects, especially for a guy my age. At any rate, my surgery was scheduled for May 31st and off I went.

I want to note here that some very caring friends who had gone through the surgery gave me a lot of tips and re-assurances, however, they urged me to go in to Boston for second opinions and to have the procedure done. This really confused me, at first, but some other friends in the medical field assured me that I would obtain equal or better care in Worcester. The bottom line, if you are happy with the surgeon and facility where you live, go for it! I'm not sure about small community hospitals, but I now feel strongly that the care and expertise in Worcester was at least equal to Boston. Also, for all of those post-op appointments and potential problems I would have been travelling a much longer way. Trust your instincts! If you are happy where you are JUST DO IT!

Now then, I gave my two units of blood and had all the pre-op stuff done. But I had a complication. A few weeks before surgery I woke up in the middle of the night and could not pee. It wasn't pleasant! The surgeon had me come right in (my wife driving, of course) and he catheterized me taking out an enormous amount. I remained catheterized for a week. He said this was a good thing because most men have never had a catheter. I would now know what to expect when I woke up from surgery. He said that, in his experience, the catheter is the biggest problem for most guys post-op. A small consolation, but one none the less! I then was put on Flomax until surgery. After some further tests I was informed that, despite the cancer, I would have had the surgery anyway due to the urination problem and probably just as soon.

Showed up for surgery early in the morning on the 31st. Everyone was very pleasant and helpful. The anaesthesiologist started an IV and then injected something into it telling me that it would take effect quickly. Next thing I knew I was in recovery! My surgeon keeps his patients in recovery for 24 hours which was very nice (or as nice as it could be after surgery). Due to a kink in the IV I kept setting off alarms. The nurses got so used to it that they would just yell to me and I'd say "I know. I already straightened my arm." They were great! The next day, off to the floor and, lo and behold, I snagged a private room! WOOHOO!!!

My surgeon showed up to discuss a few things (actually, he showed up in recovery, too, but I had no idea who I was where I was, who he was and I really didn't care at that point). He said my prostate was much larger that they initially thought, in fact, they notified other surgeons to tell them about it. Something like 90-100 grams! Also, even though I made a point of telling them pre-op that I had numerous hernia surgeries years ago, it turned out that there was a lot of scar tissue from those surgeries. My incision is huge! He said they had to chisel away at it to get to my prostate. Keep that in mind if you had hernia surgery. I had both radical and laparoscopic. The lap surgery left more scarring and adhesions! (So much for being non-invasive!) He also told me my Lymph nodes were fine and the cancer was confined to the prostate. My spared nerves looked good, but my recovery was going to be rough because of the size of my prostate.

Pain levels weren't bad, but I have been told I have a very high pain threshold. The nurses had to urge me to push the Morphine button. I didn't really need it. Getting up the first time wasn't too bad. I only made one circuit of the halls, but it was okay. Getting back in to bed, very rough! The burning at the incision was tough.

After a five day hospital stay and getting my Dopplers done I was off to home. My wife was great about everything! It is so important to be patient with your man and just give him some time to adjust. I opted to sleep on a couch in our great room over the garage. Kind of my own space with a TV, bathroom and the cats. That way my wife could sleep better, and I think I did, too! I have to be honest, the catheter sucks, plain and simple! The two weeks could not have gone by sooner for me.

At this point I am two months out. I got my PSA results today. 0!!! That's what you want to see! I am struggling with the incontinence thing, but I have to admit it's getting better, getting better all the time! I'm adjusting and it's improving.

I will add more to this later.

 

UPDATED

March 2008

 

 

Hi,

Well, I'm actually coming up on a year already. At this time last year I was quite concerned.

My PSA continues to be 0 and my surgeon doesn't feel that will change. I'm still working on the incontinence. Night time is still no problem and overall it has improved. I'm down to one pad a day (two every now and then) and my wife, the nurse, feels that when my present supply of pads is gone I should get thin pads instead. She feels that the "man pads" are much thicker and are designed to absorb far more than I am putting out. I'm sure she's right. I'll certainly be glad when I don't have to use anything! A good friend who also had the surgery tells me it will get better and that the pads will go away.

Sexually we've experimented and I am achieving a reasonable erection without Viagra. I'm positive that, with Viagra, I'll be pretty much back to normal there. I guess I can't complain much, but we all do, don't we?

That's pretty much it for now. The best of luck to all of you!!!.

Paul's e-mail address is: pairoldi@charter.net