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Jim Wade and Nita live in South Carolina, USA. He 51 was when he was diagnosed on June 30, 2008. His initial PSA was 6.0 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 3+4=7 and although he does not give his clinical staging, it seems likely that he was staged T1c. His choice of treatment was Radical Surgery. Here is his story.


After reading some of the experiences of the men in this group, I decided to post my experiences to aid others with this disease and hopefully learn how to better cope with mine.

I had my biopsy on June 30, 2008, at the Medical College of Georgia, located in Augusta, Ga. Prior to the biopsy, the statement I can remember most was made by one of the nurses in the Urology Department, who stated, "Don't worry. If it comes back positive it's just 'snip, snip' and it's all over." Out of the mouths of babes.

She was right. Every since the biopsy I have felt like it was all over.

A little history about myself. I was 51 when diagnosed (52 when the surgery was done). Semi-retired after spending 20 years with the Federal Bureau Of Prisons, departing as a Lieutenant. I have worked a variety of jobs since leaving the Bureau, mostly home repair and maintenance. Taking care of the "Honey Do" lists. Not a great income, but it keeps me busy. I'm fortunate enough to be married to a good women who is a nurse. She manages a Neonatal Unit at the Medical College of Georgia and thus was able to pull a few strings to get me the right doctors and help with the knowledge base. She's a doll.

Seriously though, I have really tried to keep a positive attitude through out this. That in itself is probably the biggest accomplishment of this whole journey. The jury is still out on my attitude, but with time hopefully that too will improve.

The biopsy was completed on June 30, 2008. Twelve core samples (Sounds like drilling for oil) were taken with six coming back positive. My Gleason Scores came back at 3+3 and 3+4. Unlike many survivors here, I was told they could not stage the cancer from the biopsy.*1

I had my surgery on August 21, 2008. The surgery was conducted by Dr. Ronald Lewis. A professor of Urology at the Medical College of Georgia and also a prostate cancer survivor. I chose to have a radical prostatectomy based upon my age and apparent "good health". I was treated well by all the staff at the hospital and was able to return home after the surgery on August 24.

On September 5, I returned to the hospital to have the catheter removed. That was much less painful than I imagined. I fully expected to be biting bullets from pain, but felt nothing more than a little pressure, fortunate for me and the "little guy". My surgeon was not on duty that day and I returned to the hospital the following Monday to see him and hopefully get a "clean bill of health" from my pathology report and continue on my merry way. That weekend is also when my problems started.

I am un-circumcised and apparently this makes a difference when men are cauterized. I applied Neosporin and KY jelly around the head of the penis twice daily after the surgery, but the day after the catheter was removed, the penis foreskin became swollen and I was unable to skin it back. This is a ritual I have done daily since I can remember to keep the head of the penis clean. More on this later.

I had the nerve sparing surgery and the pathology report was described by Dr. Lewis. Although I have done quite a bit of studying since being diagnosed, it wasn't until I returned home that I was able to fully understand the pathology report.

From the report, the "margins" around the nerves were not what we had hoped and showed signs of cancer. No cancer was detected in the lymph nodes, but was noted on the vas deferens. I was staged at T2C, but as yet I am not sure where this leaves me.*2

Further treatment consists of having a PSA taken at six week intervals rather than twelve and closely monitoring the PSA.*3 With luck and God's good will, it will stay low and I will not need further treatment, but the Doc did not sound hopeful.

 

UPDATED

February 2009

 

 

I haven't posted in a while. Well, I did but it was never posted. Lost in cyberspace somewhere I suppose.

It's been six months since my initial surgery. PSA was tests are as follows.

six weeks: 0.05

twelve weeks: 0.06

six month:0.09

Definitely noticing a trend here.

Hasn't been a lot to report in the erection department. I can get erections with a lot of stimulation, but definitely nothing to write home about. My wife and I haven't tried "normal" missionary sex yet. The one time we tried anything together I felt pretty inadequate. I haven't tried any of the magic blue pills yet, but I have only seen the doctor once since the surgery.

I don't have any trouble holding my urine, thankfully. At least I'm successful in that area.

I'm not real sure where all this is going, but I presume I'm at least looking at salvage radiation treatments. I have a doctor's appointment on February 23, if the surgeon doesn't cancel. He's pretty good at that.

I'm hoping to wake from this nightmare soon.

 

UPDATED

June 2009

 

 

Greetings from South Carolina, USA.

Just a few questions. I had normal surgery in August, 2008. PSA has slowly climbed from 0.05 following surgery to 0.16 in April 2009. I began IMERT at Georgia Radiation Therapy in Augusta, Ga on June 8th with a total of 37 treatments scheduled. I've not had any significant side effects except a slight burning sensation in the rectum after using the bath room. It seems that I have to void my bowels more often than before, but other than that, no loose stools as expected. The whole treatment takes less than 5 minutes once in the treatment room.

No discussions of ADT yet, just looking for general outcomes following the radiation treatments. I've heard many men discuss a rise in PSA following radiation and wondered how long the spike in PSA lasts following treatment until you can settle into a base PSA reading?

Hope everyone is doing well.

Jim.

Jim's e-mail address is: jwade61@comcast.net

*1. This is an unusual statement. Normally the doctor will initially estimate a clinical stage and, after biopsy or surgery amend this if necessary to a pathological stage. These distinctions are explained at STAGING. [back].

*2. This seems to describe what is termed peri-neural invasion, with the disease confined to the gland.[back]

*3.It is unusual to have the first PSA taken so soon after surgery as the result may be artificially elevated. Three months is a more normal time lag. There is an interesting discussion on this issue on the YANA FORUM [back].