Rich
Brown and Pat live in Illinois, USA. He was 48 when he was diagnosed on April
18, 2008. His initial PSA was 3.5 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6 (3 + 3) and he
was staged T1c. His choice of treatment was Robotic Prostatectomy. Here is his
story.
My story begins at my annual Physical Exam in February of 2008.
My GP had been checking my PSA and doing a DRE since I turned 46. My Dad was diagnosed
with PC when he was 65, had radiation therapy and is doing fine at 79. I received
a call from my Doctor's office a few days later saying he wanted to put me on
an antibiotic for 10 days and recheck my PSA to see if I had an infection. After
about 8 days of the Antibiotic I ended up in the hospital overnight with an enlarged
Prostate and Colitis. I was scheduled with a Urologist that my GP referred me
to. He checked me over and re-tested my PSA. It came back at 3.5 and he scheduled
me for a Biopsy.
I had a biopsy on April 11th, and was called back to
the office on April 18th, 08. I now know what people mean when they say they felt
that they were hit by a 2 x 4 in the gut. I couldn't believe that my Doctor was
telling me I had Prostate Cancer. I was only 48 years old. PC to me was the old
guys' cancer. Even my Dad was 65 . He did tell me the good news was that it was
caught very early and was very treatable. I only had involvement in 2 out of 12
cores, with a Gleason of 6 and staged a T1C.
I left the office and called
my wife as soon as I got in the car. She was shocked as well. We set up an appointment
to go back in and discuss the options with the Doctor. We met with him later that
day. He explained the options with us, but recommended surgery to be the best
option at my age. We scheduled surgery for later in May before we left the office.
A couple of weeks before the surgery I went back in to get some more answers,
and I ended up cancelling the surgery. I decided that I wanted to investigate
the options, plus I wasn't comfortable with the experience of my Doctor for this
surgery.
After doing a lot of research, talking to a lot of people, and
praying a lot, I found a very good Doctor in Indianapolis. I still felt that for
long term survival at my age, surgery was the best option. My wife and I went
to see Dr. John Scott in Carmel Indiana. We were very impressed with him. He actually
sat and talked to us and answered our questions for an hour. That is pretty rare
these days. I scheduled the surgery for Sept. 8th, and began to try to get in
good shape for the surgery.
I am 2 weeks past surgery as of this writing.
The robotic surgery went pretty well, although it was harder on me than I expected.
The good news is that all my path reports came back really good. My margins were
clear with no outside involvement. My Gleason score stayed at (3 + 3) 6.
My
recovery is coming along pretty well. I have already had my first follow-up, and
an rid of the Catheter. I am getting out and walking and increasing my activity
a little more each day. I do have a little stress incontinence, but not bad for
only having the Catheter out for 5 days.
I haven't started to think much
about the ED. My Urologist sent me home with a pump and recommended that I start
using it soon, to keep blood flowing. I am looking forward to life returning to
normal. That is the main reason that I chose a Doctor with a lot of experience.
He has done over 1,400 robotic surgeries.
I will update after my next
follow-up appointment.
Later:
I returned to Dr. Scott's office on Oct. 9th for a follow-up. He was happy with
my progress and released me to go back to work the following Monday. They took
blood for my PSA. I received a call from his nurse the following Tuesday telling
me that my PSA came back at .01 undectectable. Wow, talk about relief. Praise
God!
Other things are coming along OK. I have only a little stress incontinence. I
wear a light pad during the day and nothing at night. Some days it stays completely
dry, and some days just a few leaks.
As
far as the ED, Dr. Scott sent me home with a pump, and I am beginning to see some
progress. He also wrote me a prescription for Cialis to take a half of one twice
a week. I haven't started that yet. I am waiting for my bladder to settle down
a little first.
I
am back to work, happy to be Cancer free, and hopeful that life will return to
normal soon.
Rich's e-mail address is: richnpatb@comcast.net
