Robert
Powers and Elayne live in New Jersey, USA. He was 57 when he was diagnosed on
June 1, 2009. His initial PSA was 5.3 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 3+4=7 and he
was staged T1c. His choice of treatment was Radical Prostatectomy. Here is his
story.
I had PSA and DRE (Digital Rectal Examination) every year.
The PSA never doubled , but crept up to 4.1, 4.3 and one 5.3. Around the time
of the biopsy that my PSA went down in 30 days to 4.3.
I had a biopsy and
the results came in on June 1st. The week the biopsy came in two surgeons did
DREs and no one could find a tumor, however 8 out of 12 zones were positive with
cancer. The Gleason score was a 7 with a highest 3+4 - no 4+3's.
I saw
a surgeon for CyberKnife® but he recommended a radical prostatectomy; went to
NYU and the surgeon also recommended a radical.
I had all pre-op testing
in one day, and had the operation on June 29th! My catheter out on the 18th day
and I was incontinent for 2 months :-( I started to be dry in September 2009 and
am now dry after bio-feedback .
I'm very disappointed in how long the
recovery was - I was sick to my stomach for two months maybe from the Cipro.
It's
now been five months since I've been on low dose of Viagra but I have no erections
at any time unless by the pump or tri-mix injections. Injections of about 7 units
produce a very uncomfortable, very hard erection that lasts 2 hours with a uncomfortable
curve - lucky me!!! My wife is wonderful but this whole thing still sucks!
I
go to two support groups and they have been great!!!!!
Bob
Bob'e-mail
address is: travel4082@aol.com
