YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

BRONZE

John McKinnon and Debra live in British Columbia, Canada. He was 57 when he was diagnosed in March 2006. His initial PSA was 6.25 ng/ml and his initial Gleason Score was 7. He was staged as T2. His choice of treatment was HIFU. Here is his story:

I decided to go to Ragensburg in Germany for HIFU treatment. I had known that I had prostate cancer for about 2 years before I had a second biopsy, and decided to deal with it. I was scheduled for a radical prostectomy, and I wanted to know more about the possible side effects of the proceedure. The Urologist whom I was dealing with at the time informed me that the odds of becoming incontinent and or impotent were about 50/50. This concerned me a lot, so I thought that I should get on the Internet, and find out what others who had been through this had to say.

Many of the personal reports concerning other people who had experienced radical prostectomys, seemed to indicate that there was little or no bad side effects. I thought that these kind of reports were flawed in that anyone who is experiencing these conditions isn't about to share it with their neighbors. While researching the Internet, I discovered the HIFU.

The more I read about it, the more interested I became. My gut feeling about the radical prostatectomy wasn't good, and I immediatly cancelled the appointment, which was scheduled to take place within a few days.

There is a hospital in Toronto that offers the treatment (HIFU), and I'd contacted them right away...the cost C$23,000 was too much. I thought "Can't afford this, and it isn't covered at all by the B.C. medical." So I kept on, and discovered that there was a wide discrepancy in the cost of the treatment worldwide. Eventually I settled on Ragensburg at the Caritas Krankenhaus. The quote was around 7,000 Euros (about C$10,000). They have been working there with this technique I understand for over 10 years. I was apparently a good candidate for this proceedure because of the condition of the prostate. They performed a TURP (Trans Urethral Resection of the Prostate) proceedure first, and then immediatly afterward, the HIFU. This the doctor informed me would reduce the amount of swelling, and therefore expediate the healing.

It has been only about four weeks since the treatment, so I can't really say much about how it is, other than that it hasn't been a debilitating experience. It will take some time to get back to feeling normal again.

I think that I made the right choice in this matter, but time will tell.

UPDATED

September 2007

 

 

It has been 15 months since I received my HIFU treatment in Ragensberg Germany.

The recovery from the treatment went well, and after a couple of months everything felt normal. It is of course never the same as if there was no treatment.

My PSA level now is around 2 ng/ml previously it had been up around 7 ng/ml. There is no problems with incontinence. Sexual activity is fine, but sometimes needs a bit of a boost. I will go in for another PSA test in October.

o far I have no regrets about my decision to follow through with the HIFU treatment, but I am a bit pissed that our medical system doesn't recognize it as a valid treatment and at the same time supports more barbaric procedures.

C'est la vie

Cheers John m

John's e-mail is: johnmckinnon@shaw.ca