Brian Heller and Rita live in Ohio, USA. He was 72 when he was diagnosed on April
24, 2009. His initial PSA was 47.0 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 9 (4+5) and he
was staged T4NxM1. His choice of treatment was ADT (Androgen Deprivation Therapy).
Here is his story.
Three weeks ago I was walking on a path near Lake Michigan
and my left leg started to hurt. I went to see my primary care doctor early the
next week and he said that it was probably a sprained muscle, but sent me for
an MRI (probably because he was a friend of mine and I asked for one). The MRI
was done on Friday and read on Monday. He called me Monday morning and told me
that it looked like prostate metastases to the femur with pathologic fractures.
I went into the hospital the same day.
There, I was x-rayed, scanned, PSA
tested, DRE'd and given a preliminary diagnosis of T3 prostate cancer with metastases.
My PSA was 47. I was started on Casodex and scheduled for a total hip replacement
on Friday (10 days ago). I talked with physician friends of mine and decided to
get a second opinion. I went to the University of Michigan Cancer Center two days
ago and was told that I did not need hip surgery. They are setting me up with
the oncologists at Michigan for evaluation next week.
I also got the results
from the prostate biopsy done a week ago. It came out with a Gleason score of
9 (4 + 5).
My plan is to get whatever radiation/chemo help that I can and
to continue with the androgen ablation.
Very worried here.
Brian's
e-mail address is: bheller@aol.com
