Larry
E lives in New York, USA . He was 49 when he was diagnosed in August, 2009. His
initial PSA was 4.1 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 7 (4+3) and although he says
he was staged T2c, this seems to be his pathological staging - his clincial staging
was likely T1c. His choice of treatment was Robotic Surgery. Here is his story.
He is undecided as to his choice of treatment. Here is his story.
In
July 2008 I had my first Biopsy after my PSA rose to 3.3 and antibiotics did not
lower improve the PSA. My primary doctor had started taking PSAs at age 45. The
biopsy came back negative and I thought I was fine and just had an infection.
However one year later my PSA was up to 4.1 and I went off for a second biopsy.
This one positive for two cores.
Since I am relatively young I quickly
made my decision to have Surgery as I wanted the cancer out of my body. Deciding
which surgeon took a little time but after meeting with three surgeons I selected
Dr Tewari in New York City. His experience with robotic surgery was the reason
that I selected him. I am very happy with my choice. My surgery was done in November
of 2009 at Wiell Cornell Medical Center. Dr Tewari was able to do Nerve sparing.
The night in the hospital after the procedure was a little difficult but the staff
was great. I was up walking around as soon as possible and left the hospital the
next afternoon. The catheter was not a fun experience but it was tolerable.
When
I arrived back to Dr Tewari to have my catheter removed and get my results I thought
everything would be fine and all I would be facing going forward would be blood
tests. However that was not the case. My margins were negative, as was the seminal
vesicles and extraprostatic extension. However 2 out of 6 lymph nodes on one side
were found to have metastatic carcinoma. This is rare to happen and some doctors
would not have even biopsy the lymph nodes based on my situation. Of course my
wife and I were extremely upset and concerned. I was tested early and had two
biopsies right away but somehow the cancer has jumped to the lymph nodes. Dr Tewari
saw how upset both of us were and his bedside manner could not have been better.
He told us this was not an immediate death sentence and that we may or may not
start treatment any treatment. After calming us down by talking about the future
and all the many treatments we agreed that nothing would be done until at least
after my first PSA reading in 6 weeks. I am a positive person so I focused on
living my life. I was skiing 5 weeks after surgery and back to my normal schedule.
In
January 2010 I came if for my six week evaluation. The good news is my PSA was
undetectable. Also my incontinence at six weeks was very good. One pad but mostly
for an event (sneezing). ED was not awful. I would say with the use of Cialis
I was a 5-6 out of a 10 of were I was before surgery. Hopefully both will continue
to improve. The conversation centered around what if any treatment I should begin.
Although the so-called books say that I should begin Hormone Therapy because of
Lymph Nodes we decided to see an oncologist, wait another 4 weeks to see what
the next PSA will be before any decision is made. I am also contemplating removal
of more lymph nodes. Currently I feel better than I have in years. I am scheduled
to meet with Dr Tewari again in February and will update then. If there is anyone
that has had a similar situation as mine I would like to hear from them.
Larry's
e-mail address is: le602010@hotmail.com
