Roger and Dianne live in Australia. Roger was 61 when he was diagnosed in
December 2003. His intial PSA was 9.0 ng/ml and his Gleason was 3+4=7. He was
staged T1c. His choice of treatment was surgery. Dianne tells his story:
This
is Dianne telling our experience. 2001: PSA 7 ng/ml. Roger had digital exam by
specialist (he felt nothing unusual) and needle biopsy which was also negative,
so we were not worried. No one explained to us at the time that the biopsy could
miss the cancer. We now know because of the degree of the post op pathology that
the tumour must have been there at the time.
Nov
2003: PSA now 9 ng/ml, but we were still not concerned as Roger at no time had
any symptoms whatsoever (not even have to get up to the toilet once during the
night) but as his doctor wanted, he went to another urologist and had the examination
and biopsy again. This doctor said he couldn't feel anything abnormal either.
He had the needle biopsy about a week before Christmas and the diagnosis of PCa
came just a few days before Christmas 2003. GG was 3 + 4 = 7 and the urologist
recommended surgery - a Radical Prostatectomy.
Roger had a cat scan and a bone scan to check that the cancer had not spread.
They showed no problems other than an enlarged prostate, which alone is not so
unusual in a man of that age. It all seemed a little unreal at this point as Roger
seemed in perfect health. He is a very fit, young looking man for his age.
I
studied the Internet for all the information I could find on Prostate Cancer as
we knew very little. This is how I came across Yana (I found all the Mentors stories
very helpful) and Terry Herbert, who has been a wonderful support through our
whole journey. I was also able to send Terry all test results (to interpret for
us) and discuss with him what the doctors told us. I also searched the Net to
find who was the best doctor I could find to help us make the right decision as
far as treatment was concerned.
We
found Dr Phillip Stricker who practices at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, he
was so busy though we had to wait for over a month for an appointment, which was
probably worse because of it being Christmas holidays. He recommended a second
opinion of the biopsy (which Terry Herbert had also told us we must do) and said
he could arrange it for us.
At
this point we were still hopeful that the second opinion would be better than
the first. This was not to be and it was even a little worse. Now we had a 4 +
3 = 7 instead of a 3 + 4. We had been strongly leaning towards brachytheraphy
as our treatment of choice at this time. Dr Stricker would only do it with a GG
of 6 or under. He said he might have considered it with a 3 + 4 as there were
no other symptoms, but not at all with the 4 + 3. He recommended the nerve sparing
Radical Prostatectomy which he had a lot of experience with and a lot of success.
Roger
wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible and the operation was
scheduled for the end of March. He had a very good attitude to the surgery even
though it was not his first treatment of choice. Once he realized the brachytherapy
was out, he accepted the surgery very well. He said he wasn't nervous at all and
he certainly didn't appear to be. I was with him all the way to the operating
room doors. I was waiting in his room when he came back from recovery and he was
bright and talking clearly. He had had a spinal and a general and the doctor said
all had gone very well, we just had to wait a few days for the pathology to come
back.
His
recovery was very good, surprisingly so, except for a surface infection of the
wound. The wound started to weep a few days after we returned home, Roger was
put on anti-biotic and it took a couple of weeks to heal completely. It was unexpected
and worrying at the time, but overall a minor hiccup. Overall his pain was minimal
and easily controlled though he was a little weak and nauseous when he was allowed
up on the second day after the surgery.
He
tired easily after walking up and down the corridor for the first few days, after
that he was very good. The catheter was in for seven days (came out the day he
came home) and was a bit of a nuisance and he was glad to see the end of it, but
didn't cause him any pain. He was immediately continent, but did need to get up
at night to go to the toilet a couple of times at first, but not at all now. A
little bit of stress incontinence (just a couple of drops), with a big cough or
a big laugh, but that is all.
The
pathology was a real shock, he had a post op Gleason Score of 4 + 5 = 9 and the
doctor said he was a very lucky man, that with such a high Gleason that the cancer
had not spread outside the gland. I had thought that when the post op tests came
back they would show a lower Gleason because Roger seemed so well, I could not
believe his Gleason could be as bad as 7 and it was even worse at 9. How wrong
can you be!
He
had a PSA test at 2 months of almost zero. His next PSA and check up with Dr Stricker
is the end of November and I will give an update at that time.
Extract
from mail from Dianne:
Roger
had a psa test recently (one year post op) and it was still 0.01 ng/ml so we are
very happy.
Extract
from mail from Dianne:
Roger
continues to be well and his last PSA was again negligible.
Some
people who mail me have had quite a few problems with incontinence and blockages
which we were lucky not to have. I really believe we have Dr Stricker to thank
for that, he is a very confident man in his ability not to cause incontinence.
He said pre-op only 2% (and not all permanently) of his patients suffered with
it and those were due to the cancer being in a position where he couldn't help
doing some damage. To me that seems very low from reading other men's stories,
it seems more the norm to have some problems. Roger doesn't even get up to go
to the toilet once through the night and has no leakage.
Roger and I went to Hong Kong for a week last March and are going to Singapore
for a cruise next month and then on to Bangkok for a few days after, so life is
treating us pretty well and we don't think we have much to complain about, Roger
will be 65 next March, old enough for the old age pension :).
Extract
from mail from Dianne:
Roger has been on the old age pension since March when he turned 65. He continues
to do well. He had a PSA test not long ago and it was still negligible. Roger
and I were going to New Zealand on a 14 day cruise in November and we have now
convinced my Dad (86) to come with us, reluctantly. I am sure he will enjoy it
when the time comes.
Dianne's
e-mail address is: dianneprice47@hotmail.com
