Ron
Marshall and Bertha live in California, USA . He was 52 when he was diagnosed
on January 5, 2009. His initial PSA was 10.4 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 7 and
he was staged T2a . His choice of treatment was Laparoscopic Robotic Assisted
Surgery (Da Vinci). Here is his story.
My story started in June/July of
2008 when I was informed by both of my brothers, one older 59, and one younger
50, that they had both tested positive for prostate cancer. The youngest brother
was the first to inform me of his test results and his choice of treatment, at
first, to be Open Radical Prostatectomy in June. Then my oldest brother results
came back and his treatment of choice was Laparoscopic Robotic Assisted Surgery
(Da Vinci).
Seeing that we are very close brothers we talk to one another
a few times a week which caused my two brothers to compare their options only
to find out that the procedure that my oldest brother was having was available
to my youngest brother also, seeing that they both have Kaiser. The Da Vinci procedure
was not offered to my youngest brother because they did not have the machine at
the Kaiser that he was going to have the procedure done at. The Kaiser that my
oldest brother went to did have the Da Vinci machine therefore it was offered
to him.
After both brothers did their own research of their treatment
of choice the youngest brother also decided to go with the Da Vinci method which
was at the Kaiser an hour from where he lived. My youngest brother made an appointment
to see the same Urologist that my oldest brother seen in West Los Angeles Kaiser,
Dr. Kirk Tamaddon, for a consultation at which time he made the decision to have
Dr. Tamaddon do his procedure also.
Now comes the big decision for both
of them, when would they have it done seeing that I was getting married September
13 and they both are in my wedding. After talking with the doctor they was informed
that if they had it done soon there would be no problem with them being in my
wedding. Keep in mind we are now in late July, my wedding is in September. To
show you how God works they was given appointments for the surgery on August 12th
on the same day, one after the other. On August 12 first my oldest brother was
wheeled into surgery and after approx. 2 hrs the doctor came out and informed
us, the family, that everything went well. Then my youngest brother was wheeled
into surgery and once again after approx. 2 hrs the doctor came out and informs
us that everything went good with him. After a little time in the recovery room
both brothers was put in the same hospital room. My youngest brother went home
the next day and my oldest brother wasn't able to go home until two days later
because of some complication that he had after the surgery. My youngest brother
was able to be my Best Man for my wedding but my oldest brother was unable to
attend the wedding because of his complications.
Well you know what that
did for my mood leading up to my wedding, I'm going to be next, but I was not
going to let it get me down on my special occasion coming up seeing that it was
going to be my first marriage.
After my wedding my wife scheduled me a
complete physical in November. On November 10th I started my complete physical
at which time during my DRE (Digital Rectal Exam) my doctor felt my prostate was
enlarged. He then scheduled me to have complete lab work done including PSA. My
PSA test came back a couple days later with a level of 10.4. My doctor then scheduled
me an appointment to see an Urologist. Well I live in the same area as my younger
brother and I also have Kaiser so you know what I was going to do. Yes, I scheduled
an appointment with Dr. Tamaddon in West Los Angeles. I went in for a consultation
with Dr. Tamaddon on December 9, 2008.
At my appointment the doctor did
his own exam and informed me that he wanted me to have a biopsy which was scheduled
for December 26, 2008. I had the biopsy, where 12 samples were taken, and was
given another appointment for me to meet with Dr. Tamaddon for the results on
January 5, 2009. My appointment with Dr. Tamaddon went as expected that being
him informing me that the biopsy came back positive for prostate cancer. I was
prepared for that news seeing the history with my brothers. Of the samples taken
4 samples came back positive. The left base cores samples came back Gleason score
6 (3+3) comprising approx. 40% of submitted tissue. The right base samples came
back Gleason score 7 (3+4) tumor present along the entire lengths of 2 submitted
cores. After informing me of the results of the biopsy he gave me my options of
treatment and what he recommend based on my age and health. He informed me that
it is a slow growing cancer so I didn't have to make a quick decision on my choice
of treatment. Please note that my health other than this PCa is very good. I had
never been in the hospital for anything. I left the doctor office thinking that
now I have to decide on what treatment that I am going to go with.
I than
start my journey of gathering all the information that I can find on the different
treatments that is available to treat prostate cancer. Even though my brothers
had made the decision to go with the Da Vinci, I had to do my own home work. In
my search I found this site, YANA. I think anyone that is going through this should
know about this site for support. I spent a lot of hours on my computer gathering
info on the treatments that were available. During this whole time I must say
that my wife was right there with me supporting me with whatever decision I/we
made, she just wanted it taken care of soon.
In February I decided to go
with the Da Vinci procedure and contacted my doctor to schedule an appointment
to have it done. My surgery was scheduled for April 29 at 8am and I could not
wait to get it over with now that I had made the decision. On April 3rd I went
in for my pre-op, which went well. The days leading up to my surgery I think I
started to suffer a little anxiety and I ended up catching a virus of some kind.
The day before my surgery I went to the doctor in my area to make sure that I
was well enough for surgery, which turned out I was ok.
The day of my surgery
started at 4am because I live an hour from the hospital and I have to be there
by 6am. Me and my lovely wife got to the hospital faster then we had thought we
would, based on the L.A. traffic. At approx. 7am I was taken in to be prepped
for surgery. I was wheeled into surgery about 7:45 and that was all I remember
until I woke up in my room. I felt no pain from the surgery, just a little tightness
from the staples in my stomach. I knew from my brother's procedure they wanted
me to walk as soon as I felt up to it, so I went for a walk about 4pm, around
the floor of the hospital. I asked the nurse if they had a track that I could
go on, I felt that good. I took several walks before my doctor came in that evening.
My doctor came in at about 7pm and told me that everything went well with the
surgery and asked me and my wife if I want to go home tonight, which at that time
we said yes. I went home to my own bed the same day that I had the surgery, 12
hours later.
My first 2 days after surgery were more uncomfortable then
pain from the air/gas, and the catheter. I was given pain pills and only had to
use them the first 2 days a couple times for the gas. By Saturday, 3 days after
surgery, I was feeling so good that I went outside and washed my wife's car. I
wouldn't recommend that to anyone so soon after surgery. I had my staples and
the catheter removed a week after surgery at which time my urologist informed
me and my wife that the cancer was not contained within the prostate and that
we would have to see what my PSA result say in 30 days. I must say that when I
saw my urologist this day I had to ask him if he performed surgery on me because
I didn't feel like it. I was not sure what to expect as far as continence but
I must say I had very little leakage on the way home from the doctor.
June
5, 2009 - It has been 5 weeks since my surgery and everything has gone well. As
far as continence the only time I have a little leakage is when I strain myself
doing something or I'm fatigue from everything that I do in a day. I have been
walking 2 miles a day, 3 days a week, since 2 weeks after surgery. On June 2nd
I went to the doctor for my 30 day PSA test and the next day I was called by my
Urologist with the good news that my test results came back undetectable. God
is good. I have not been able to get an erection as of yet but I know it will
come in time.
I know this has been a long story but I felt I had a lot
to contribute to this site with what I have been through.
I want to thank
all my family and friends for there support in dealing with this condition. I
would also like to thank Dr. Tamaddon for making it his passion of fighting prostate
cancer with keeping up on new technology. I would also like to thank Yana for
having this site available for me to go to when I had questions. I will be updating
my story as new information develops.
I would also like to add that both
of my brothers are doing fine in their recovery from the surgery.
Ron's
e-mail address is: Rastabart@aol.com
