YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

SILVER

Tim Canney and his wife Marshell live in Savannah, Georgia in the US. He was 47 when he was diagnosed on May 8, 2003. His initial PSA was 4.59 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 3+3=6 and he was staged T1c. He elected Watchful Waiting as his treatment of choice. Here is his story:

It has now been over 1 year since my diagnosis of prostate cancer on May 8, 2003. Now is a good time to evaluate this interesting year.

The week following my diagnosis was the worst week of my life. I got very depressed. My wife got depressed too but we managed to pull through. The week following my PSA spike was almost as bad. When I decided to test again in another 3 months things got better. I think I was fortunate to find a doctor who was somewhat supportive. This WW webring has also been very helpful. I think the worst thing about having Prostate Cancer is having a constant sense of the shortness of life. I think I will have this even if my PCa is cured.

There have been some improvements in my life:

1. My relationship with my wife has got better in every way. We have achieved a closeness I don't see in many couples.

2. I have discovered reserves of courage in myself I was not aware of and that I really am somewhat of a rebel non-conformist. Not many men would do what I have done in my situation. By the way, I am a member of the Libertarian Party and a Confederate Civil War re-enactor - both "rebel" activities.

3. I have learned a lot about PCa. I am sharing what I have learned with others. Ken, a 60 year old co-worker was diagnosed with Pca about a month ago. The details of his diagnosis are very similar to mine. He contacted me and I shared as much info and experience with him as possible. He has had lymphoma 3 times. I have told him to consider WW because the lymphoma is likely to get him sooner than the PCa. His urologist (my first urologist) is recommending a radical. So far he is still considering options.

4. I have been thinking about that recent W atchful Waiting study. Taking the numbers at face value you can get an idea about your chances. According to the study if you are a young man (41-70 yrs old) and choose WW:

- You have a 55% chance of getting through the 1st year without treatment.
- You have a 43% chance of getting through the 2nd year without treatment.
- You have a 32% chance of getting through the 3rd year without treatment.
- You have a 27% chance of getting through the 4th year without treatment.
- You have a 0.6% chance of dying from PCa within 4 years.
- You have a 1% chance of the cancer metastizing within 4 years.
- You have a 7% chance of dying from a non-PCa cause within 4 years.
- If you get through the 4th year without getting treated you probably won't need treatment.

Here is my Watchful Waiting history (for the "newbies"):

2/28/03 During blood work due to a medication change my PSA was discovered to be 4.25 ng/ml. I was referred to a Urologist.
3/21/03 I met with the Urologist. He recommended a biopsy. I requested a repeat PSA.
4/21/03 I met with the Urologist. The repeat PSA was 4.59 ng/ml. He recommended a biopsy.
5/8/03 Biopsy reveals prostate cancer. Tumor comprises 10% of right mid prostate and 5% of left prostatic apex biopsy. Gleason is 6 (3+3) in both sides. The nurse calls me at work and tells me at 2 pm. I get very upset and go home for the day.
5/21/03 I met with the urologist about the results. He recommended a radical prostatectomy. We also discussed other options: radiation therapy, watchful waiting and cryotherapy. I decided to investigate other options.
5/24-5/31/03 Vacation in Virginia. Nothing to do with prostate cancer but good fun and stress relief. I adopted a "use it before you lose it" philosophy. My wife agrees.
6/03 I intensified my study of treatment options. I started taking Vitamin C, E, and Selenium. I(mostly) quit working overtime. I started eating more fish and processed tomatoes. I started to drink green tea.
6/13/03 I met with a radiation oncologist. He recommended radiation seed therapy.
7/11/03 I decided to try Watchful Waiting and joined the Watchful Waiting Mailing List. I sent my first e-mail to the List. Over the next several days I got many replies. Terry Herbert's was especialy helpful. I started looking for a Doctor to assist me.
7/25-8/2/03 Vacation in New Orleans. Nothing to do with pc but great fun and stress relief. My best vacation ever. Our hotel was in the French Quarter only 2 blocks from Bourbon Street. We even had a balcony. Drank and smoked cigars on the balcony. Thank God for time-shares. I tried Viagra. It produced a little of the desired result but it produced too much nausea to be enjoyable. Successfully tried to avoid the "p" word.
8/6/03 I met with an oncologist. He recommended a radical prostatectomy with hormones. I told him I wanted to Watchful Wait. He said he did not have the means to assist me and recommended another urologist.
8/18/03 I met with another urologist. He recommended a radical prostatectomy. I told him I wanted to Watchful Wait. He said he would not assist me. He also said "you won't find a doctor to help you (with WW) in this town (Savannah, Ga.)". I heard there was a Doctor in Brunswick Ga. who was assisting someone WW. I started to investigate doctors in Brunswick Ga.
9/2/03 I met with the urologist recommended by the oncologist. He recommended a radical prostatectomy. However, he agreed to assist me with WW or in anything else I decided on. He said he would sometimes "nag" me about getting treatment. The WW will consist of a PSA test every 3 months. The nurse took blood for my PSA test.
9/4/03 PSA results (drum roll): 4.1 ng/ml. I am very pleased.
12/9/03 PSA results 6.1. The Doctor says I have to make a treatment decision before our meeting on 12/11.
12/11/03 Meeting with Doctor. I decided to check my PSA again to see if this is a "spike". My Doctor reluctlently agreed. We scheduled another PSA for March 11, 2004. I also discovered that I am the only man in my age range he is "WW" with. He is providing no advice about diet, excercise or any thing else. Can anyone out there help me control this beast? If my PSA continues to climb I am considering High Dosage Radiotherapy.
3/19/04 PSA results 5.3. Not bad.

Thanks to all for your assistance in this trying year.

Tim in Savannah

 

Tim has update us with his latest results:

7/19/04 PSA results 6.4. Some increase but it doesn't seem too scary to me.

10/27/04 PSA results 4.5. Very good!

1/24/05 Had my blood sample taken for PSA test and met with my urologist. He told me I should get treated because the tumour could metastasize. I refused. I think the risk of metastasis is low based on the studies I have seen.

2/14/05 PSA results 4.9.

5/27/05 PSA results 6.0. My PSA doubling time is about 5.6 years based on this measurement and my 4/28/03 measurement. This is within Klotz's WW guidline: Max PSA DT of 3 years.

9/12/05 PSA results 6.1.

1/24/06 PSA results 5.1. Pretty good.

11/07/06 My latest PSA result is 5.7 from a sample taken 6/30. My previous PSA was 5.9 on 5/12. Hummm, I didn't realize the samples were so close together till I wrote this e-mail! Usually my PSA's are 3-4 month's apart. It's always good to see a decrease, especially after a prior increase.

It turns out that I cannot be in the HIFU clinical trial because I live in Georgia. Only patients who live in daily driving distance of Duke University Hospital in North Carolina can get HIFU in this trial. I don't know if the trial rules changed or not. My Dr. did all the prep work on another patient for this HIFU trial including a biopsy and now he cannot be in it. The nurse told me she would try to get him the HIFU treatment anyways. However, his results would not be counted in the report. Looks like the FDA has screwed up again.

Be Well

Tim in Savannah .

 

UPDATED

February 2008

 

 

On 4/12/07 by PSA was 5.3. On 11/19/07 my PSA was 6.1.

In November of 07 I had a consult with my urologist. The DRE was unremarkable. A young female intern was present during the DRE. I told her "The show is free.".

Tim's e-mail address is tcan4@comcast.net