YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

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Jim S and B live in the USA. He was 59 when diagnosed on July 24, 2006. His initial PSA was 13.7 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 3+3=6 and he was staged T1c. He is undecided as to his treatment choice. Here is his story as told by his wife.

My husband has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We will be meeting with the surgeon in two days, armed with a list of questions, to discuss treatment options. All of this started back in January 2000 when he had his annual physical. His PSA was 4.5 ng/ml and it was the first time it had ever been elevated. He was referred to a urologist and between January 2000 and April 2006, he had four biopsies and continued to have PSA counts done every three months. Each time there would be a slight increase.

Finally, I stepped in and requested the urologist refer us to Duke for a second opinion. He didn't want to and even made the statement that we would be wasting our time and money, and all that would happen is that the 'almighty Duke doctors' would put their blessings on 'his' findings and then would send him back home. Well guess what?? The urologist at Duke DID NOT put his blessing on the prior findings. He was immediately concerned that the count had gradually increased every three months over the past six years and the ratio had dropped. He did a 3D biopsy which revealed cancer in four of the eight samples. It is located in the right and left Apex and in the right and left transition zone. His Gleason score was 3+3=6. The bone scan was negative.

By the way, during this entire six year period, my husband has never experienced any symptoms and his DRE's have always been negative.

Since the day we found out, July 24th, we have done a massive amount of research and at this point are leaning towards a nerve sparing radical prostatectomy, but will make the final decision after meeting with the doctor on Monday morning.

I haven't found much information about exactly what to expect during the recovery period. The doctor said that the surgery requires just an overnight stay, however since we live over four hours away from the hospital, we would stay in a local hotel for several days just to make sure things are okay before we make the drive back home. Since we live at the beach, we have lots of stairs just to get in the house....is this going to be a problem? Also, how long before he can drive? Is there a period of bed rest? If anyone that has had this type of surgery could answer some of my questions, I would really appreciate the help.

 

UPDATED

August 2006

 

We met with the surgeon on August 21st, armed with our questions, and came away feeling confident that the decision to have RRP is the right one for Jim. One thing we found out that really increased our confidence is that the surgeon has done well over a thousand RRPs and that he was trained by Dr. Patrick Walsh at Johns Hopkins.

Surgery is scheduled for October 20th. Prior to that he wants Jim to see his cardiologist and have a stress test to ensure that his heart is okay for the surgery. We must take a copy of the test with us when we go to Duke on October 5th to meet with the anesthesiologist and to have the pre-surgery bloodwork done.

Now, we just have to wait, which is the toughest part for Jim.....he wants to 'do it now' and start the recovery process.

Now we must decide how many days, if any, that we should plan to stay in a hotel following surgery. The reason for the hotel is that we live 264 miles away from the hospital, on an island, and with Jim being discharged 24 hours following surgery, we feel that we should stay close to the hospital for at least a day or two - just in case!!

 

UPDATED

June 2007

 

We are now 7 1/2 months post-surgery and have had two PSA tests done (one at 3 months and one at 6 months). Both came back as <.01 or non-detectable.

Jim returned to work after eight weeks and felt a such a new zest for life that he decided to delay his upcoming retirement for a few more years. He still doesn't seem to have all of his energy back, and he still has some problems with incontinence and total ED. But we are so thankful for the successful removal of the cancer that those issues seem minor! As long as his PSA remains at <.01, we can just continue enjoying life and after one year, he can start having the tests every six months instead of every three months!

Good luck to all that are dealing with this 'dragon' and hopefully one day soon we will all be able to say we 'slayed' the dragon!

 

UPDATED

August 2008

 

 

We are now 22 months post surgery and Jim has continued to have PSA results of <.01 at each three month checkup! Since I last posted, Jim decided to retire four months ago, and we have moved from Florida to Tennessee and upon arrival, we immediately located an excellent urologist. The new doctor wants Jim to have one more PSA in four months and then he can drop back to once every six months!

Healthwise, Jim is doing great, however the nuisance of having total ED continues, along with enough incontinence to require two pads per day. The new urologist says this is normal, and that there is still a good chance that within the next year, the incontinence should improve.

I know that once the decision for treatment is made, that we should not look back and say we should have done it different, however, Jim now feels that because of the ED and incontinence, if he could do it again, he would probably have had the robotic surgery rather than the RRP.

But otherwise, we feel so fortunate that everything is going great. We are enjoying retirement and are doing a lot of travelling and just enjoying life.

B (Jim's wife)

 

UPDATED

December 2009

 

Jim is now 37 months post surgery and there has been very little change since my update last year!

His PSA results continue to be <.01 and now he is having the tests every six months instead of every three months. He continues to have total ED and incontinence remains about the same with no signs of improving!

Jim had total knee replacement in July of this year and the surgery caused the incontinence to worsen slightly, but other than that, we are continuing to enjoy each and every day to its fullest!!

Jim's e-mail address is: beachbette@hotmail.com