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Rich Brown and Pat live in Illinois, USA. He was 48 when he was diagnosed on April 18, 2008. His initial PSA was 3.5 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6 (3 + 3) and he was staged T1c. His choice of treatment was Robotic Prostatectomy. Here is his story.

My story begins at my annual Physical Exam in February of 2008. My GP had been checking my PSA and doing a DRE since I turned 46. My Dad was diagnosed with PC when he was 65, had radiation therapy and is doing fine at 79. I received a call from my Doctor's office a few days later saying he wanted to put me on an antibiotic for 10 days and recheck my PSA to see if I had an infection. After about 8 days of the Antibiotic I ended up in the hospital overnight with an enlarged Prostate and Colitis. I was scheduled with a Urologist that my GP referred me to. He checked me over and re-tested my PSA. It came back at 3.5 and he scheduled me for a Biopsy.

I had a biopsy on April 11th, and was called back to the office on April 18th, 08. I now know what people mean when they say they felt that they were hit by a 2 x 4 in the gut. I couldn't believe that my Doctor was telling me I had Prostate Cancer. I was only 48 years old. PC to me was the old guys' cancer. Even my Dad was 65 . He did tell me the good news was that it was caught very early and was very treatable. I only had involvement in 2 out of 12 cores, with a Gleason of 6 and staged a T1C.

I left the office and called my wife as soon as I got in the car. She was shocked as well. We set up an appointment to go back in and discuss the options with the Doctor. We met with him later that day. He explained the options with us, but recommended surgery to be the best option at my age. We scheduled surgery for later in May before we left the office. A couple of weeks before the surgery I went back in to get some more answers, and I ended up cancelling the surgery. I decided that I wanted to investigate the options, plus I wasn't comfortable with the experience of my Doctor for this surgery.

After doing a lot of research, talking to a lot of people, and praying a lot, I found a very good Doctor in Indianapolis. I still felt that for long term survival at my age, surgery was the best option. My wife and I went to see Dr. John Scott in Carmel Indiana. We were very impressed with him. He actually sat and talked to us and answered our questions for an hour. That is pretty rare these days. I scheduled the surgery for Sept. 8th, and began to try to get in good shape for the surgery.

I am 2 weeks past surgery as of this writing. The robotic surgery went pretty well, although it was harder on me than I expected. The good news is that all my path reports came back really good. My margins were clear with no outside involvement. My Gleason score stayed at (3 + 3) 6.

My recovery is coming along pretty well. I have already had my first follow-up, and an rid of the Catheter. I am getting out and walking and increasing my activity a little more each day. I do have a little stress incontinence, but not bad for only having the Catheter out for 5 days.

I haven't started to think much about the ED. My Urologist sent me home with a pump and recommended that I start using it soon, to keep blood flowing. I am looking forward to life returning to normal. That is the main reason that I chose a Doctor with a lot of experience. He has done over 1,400 robotic surgeries.

I will update after my next follow-up appointment.

Later: I returned to Dr. Scott's office on Oct. 9th for a follow-up. He was happy with my progress and released me to go back to work the following Monday. They took blood for my PSA. I received a call from his nurse the following Tuesday telling me that my PSA came back at .01 undectectable. Wow, talk about relief. Praise God!

Other things are coming along OK. I have only a little stress incontinence. I wear a light pad during the day and nothing at night. Some days it stays completely dry, and some days just a few leaks.

As far as the ED, Dr. Scott sent me home with a pump, and I am beginning to see some progress. He also wrote me a prescription for Cialis to take a half of one twice a week. I haven't started that yet. I am waiting for my bladder to settle down a little first.

I am back to work, happy to be Cancer free, and hopeful that life will return to normal soon.

 

UPDATED

January 2009

 

 

Just another quick update.

I had an appointment with a new local Urologist last Friday. He said that things look fine. I will continue with the PSAs every 3 months for the next 2 years, then 6 months, most of you know the drill. They called me today and my PSA is still less than .01, undetectable. Praise God for that.

The incontinence is almost completely gone. I am still having some trouble with the ED. I am using a pump and Viagra to keep blood flowing in the penis, and am seeing slow improvement. I am getting a little impatient, but my wife keeps reminding me that it has only been 4 months since my surgery and the Doc said it would take awhile for the nerves to heal.

Being Cancer free is still the most important thing.

 

UPDATED

May 2009

 

 

I just got a call from my Doctor's office to let me know that my latest PSA test came back at less than .01 undectectable. Praise God.

When I had my surgery my Surgeon told me that all my Path reports came back good and there was a better then 95% chance that I would never have to worry about PC again, but those of you that have been through this know that you sweat a little every time you have to have a test. This is my 3rd test since surgery. I was diagnosed a little over a year ago, and surgery was in September.

As far as side effects, I have very little incontinence, only when lifting heavy objects, laughing really hard, or sometimes passing gas. I don't usually even wear a pad anymore.

ED is showing slow improvement. I am seeing some growth, but still not quite enough firmness. I recently have had success with Levitra 20, but when I take them I wake up with something like a hangover.

I am glad to continue to be cancer free, and for life to be getting back to normal.

Rich

 

UPDATED

September 2009

 

 

Well, it has been one year ago today since my surgery. Things are going pretty well.

The first thing that I need to report is that I had my latest PSA last week and it came back at less than .05. Praise God, Again!!!

Besides that good news things are going pretty well. The incontinence is almost nonexistent. It is the typical, trying to hard to pass gas, or lifting something heavy. It happens so rarely that I don't really think about it, so those few times it does are when I don't prepare for it. I still occasionally do my Kegels, but not consistently. If I do have leakage it is literally just a few drops.

As far as ED goes, I am making progress, but it is not what I am hoping to end up with. I can get an erection, mostly with the help of Levitra or Viagra. I am not wild about either one of these, but they help. They usually give me some type of "hangover", either a headache or gutache. I am looking forward to the time when things work all by themselves, but I am thankful for what I have, and confident that it will get better. I am also using a vaccuum pump, just to keep the blood flowing. My Doc said that it could take up to 24 months for things to return to normal, but I am impatient.

All in all though, I am glad to be Cancer free. I am happy that I have been able to help a few other men that have been diagnosed, some through this website, and some just from word of mouth.

Thanks Terry for all you do.

Rich

 

UPDATED

February 2010

 

 

I am 18 months out from my Robotic surgery. I am mainly updating because I just got back another good PSA at 0.05. That is good news and my Doc has said that it is OK to cut back to every 6 months for testing. I have been doing the every 3 month thing until now.

Other than that, I am still dry 99% of the time. Passing gas can still be tricky at times. As far as ED, things are working, but not like the old days. When I use Levitra things work pretty good, but sometimes I have side effects (headache, congestion, stomach issues). I have side effects with all the Big 3, but have the least with Levitra. Without anything I have growth, but sometimes not enough firmness. I don't know if I can expect much more improvement at this stage. I was hoping to have things return to normal without any drugs, but that may not happen. I am still glad to be cancer free, and am dealing with the other stuff.

If anyone has any tips and experience on any herbal alternatives for ED I would be interested to know about them. Continuing to Praise God for healing.

Rich's e-mail address is: richnpatb@comcast.net