YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

BRONZE

James Donohue and Linda live in Bridgewater, New Jersey USA. He was 60 when he was diagnosed on November 24, 2008. His initial PSA was 5.62 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6 (3+3) and he was staged T1c. His choice of treatment was Laparoscopic Prostatectomy. Here is his story.

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 08. My PSA was 5.62 and Gleason Score of 6 (3+3), stage T1c. Of the 12 biopsy needles only one contained cancer at 5% in the left lobe. There was also some precancerous cells on the right side. The urologist did not feel anything unusual (DRE) but my primary physician did.

My urologist said radiation or surgery was my choice and recommended the laparoscopic robotic (LR). He could not give me success rates. He said he would assist and one of his partners would do the LR. He was vague about how many his partner had done. We did some research and found out that his partner was only certified in 2008 and we felt that it was not enough experience.

I was really scared and found myself in lala land. My wife found your website and it was very helpful to read the stories of others. One particular participant, Joe Ecker was very encouraging and sharing of his own story with us. He advised us to get the Dr Walsh book, which was extremely helpful in explaining all about the prostate and what I could expect and all the alternatives. Dr Walsh is emphatic about getting an experienced doctor.

I was inclined to go locally (in NJ) and did some research and consulted at the Cancer Institute of NJ. Meanwhile a friend advised us that our insurance would cover surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering. We did research on MSK and all the physicians doing prostate surgery and consulted with Dr Karim Touijer. He is very personable and took the time to answer all our questions. His expertise is in Laparoscopic Prostatectomy (LP). It was Jan 21 and he had one open date of Feb 5. Anxious to get this over with and having done a lot of research, we made the decision to proceed with the LP.

My surgery was on Feb 5 and I was released on Feb 7. On Feb 10, after a night of excruciating pain, fever and vomiting, I was readmitted through MSK Urgent Care for another two nights. They wanted to check out for blockages. Apparently I caught some kind of 'flu (poor timing) and was OK. I did experience difficulty with the catheter and had to keep in for 30 days. I am now doing catheter recovery (Depends) and taking small dosages of Viagra to help with the ED.

I would recommend Memorial Sloan Kettering to any one. They are very helpful, compassionate, understanding and responsive. Everything was co-ordinated (through four different facilities) and I just had to show up.

I am now prostate cancer free. It had gone on to stage T2b but it is gone and the nerves were spared.

Thank You for creating and monitoring this site. There are volumes of helpful information (physical and emotional)that you can not get from any book.

 

UPDATED

Jun 2009

 

 

In April 2009 I returned for a followup PSA test. Results of the test were a PSA less than .05. Such good news.

I am still struggling with the incontinence issue but it is much better than when I got the catheter out 3 months ago. At that time I was in Depends with the added pad. I would go through 3 to 4 pads a day and they would be quite full. We bought a diaper genie because the odor was so bad. Now I am back to regular underwear and go through 1 pad per day. Most times I can make it to the bathroom in time, so I feel that I have made much progress. I continue to do my kegels and hope to progress to 0 pads per day within the next two months.

The ED continues to be a problem. As it was a problem before the operation, the doctor does not believe I will get this function back. I do take a quarter tablet of Viagra per day and am hoping for some recovery. That being said, I am alive and getting my strength and stamina back and am cancer free. I have a very loving wife who helped me tremendously through this whole ordeal. So I feel that I am a very lucky guy to have found this cancer early enough and found this site to navigate the many questions that I had.

James' e-mail address is: jamesjdonohue@optonline.net