Prostate Cancer - What’s You’re Experience

[oink]

OK, I had a RRP about 14 years ago. Cancer in margins, nerves taken. PSA slowly creeping up to 0.3. PET scan found nothing but salvage radiation was recommended so a year ago I got that 5 days a week for I don't remember how long, but it was a bunch. The facility had cyber knife but the Doc said I wasn't a candidate for that as they needed to hit the whole "bed" where the prostate once resided. PSA is now .05. Lower would be nice. My brand new Uro asked if they zapped my associated lymph nodes also. I told him that not that I was aware of. We'll have to discuss that later. For me I think the RRP was the correct choice. Immediate follow-up radiation probably would have been good. I'm still plugging along.

The immediate after effects of the original RP were pretty common. Leaks were significant for several months. Leaks are still possible in physical stress or fatigue situations but not enough to warrant a pad. If I was a working plumber or other physical trade I'd need a pad. Having a sling put in would possibly address that issue. ED and associated symptoms are ongoing and permanent but there are options for treatment that work for us but would be less ideal for a younger single man.

If you want to talk you can PM and we can exchange phone numbers. You have my prayers.

 

[johnbeaver]

Diagnosed in '20. Aggressive form they said. Was offered choice of surgery removal or radiation. Just happened to know two that had the surgery and two that had radiation, I chose the radiation route. MD Anderson Proton Center. Also had the Lupron.
39 treatments of radiation and Lupron for a total of 18 months. Forget how many shots. The last PSA was .01 and testosterone is back in the normal range.
This was during the China Virus Plandemic and they would not let anyone else in with me so I drove myself down there every treatment day which were during the week. Had to drink two bottles of water on the way because the bladder had to be at certain fullness for the treatments. Sometimes that was a struggle. The radiation did leave some burn on the hips but not bad.
The Lupron was not fun. It will change your mind from ass to grass and did shrink the junk somewhat but everything will return to normal.
The hotflashes were the worst for me. Sometimes four or five an hour. That was kind of crazy.
If you decide to do the proton radiation schedule early. Sometimes the machines have issues later in the day.
I wish you the best with whatever treatment you chose.

 

[Alton]

My Father in Law got it after he turned 70. Did the radiation treatments. He is 91 going on 92

 

[Oldengineer]

I had prostate cancer - 7 Gleason score. Was treated with radiation and follow-up seeds. It's been 15 years and no cancer. That's the good news.

The bad news is that leakage and impotence are with me for the rest of my life. I'm 80 and seriously wonder if I would have been better off doing NOTHING. Age is definitely a key variable. A young man with a family to raise is much different than an old guy that doesn't have a lot of time left. I don't believe my cancer would have killed me.

Tom H.

 

[Pointblank2U]

I got the seed implants in January 2016. My PSA slowly went down. After about five years itt became undetectable. My GP does a PSA blood test once a year. No real complaints. I'm almost 77 now. If you had an enlarged prostate before any procedure, it ain't gonna get any better and might get a little worse.

 

[Kinman]

I had been getting digitally checked for prostate cancer for years. I missed a year and needed an prescription refilled, she needed to see me to OK it so I went in to see the doctor that always checked me out. She gave me her handshake and didn't like the way it felt, checked my PSA which was at 25. I was only 53 so those numbers alarmed her, I had no indication I had a problem. She referred me to a highly recommended urologist who also gave me his handshake and gave her credit for her assumption that there was a problem. He recommended that I get a Gleason Score biopsy which came back a 9. According to him I had a virulent form of Prostate cancer that was still probably incased in the gland itself but in a rather short time period could metastasize somewhere else. This was twenty-two years ago, all that was available at the time was cryogenic treatment, radioactive seeding and radical removal. I asked him what his opinion was and he told me that as a surgeon he has removed hundreds if not a thousand and more. He told me that the problem with the other methods is that after they are completed and your PSA continues to rise there is no option for a surgeon to go in and remove the gland as everything in that area has been cooked. He then went on to say that with radical removal if the PSA continues to rise it has metastasized and taken up light housekeeping somewhere else, likely bone or lymph glands and that is when targeted radiation can be used. I had a good friend that had to go to L.A. a couple of times for targeted radiation to get the stray cells, it worked for him. After a couple days of talking things over with my wife and studying alternatives I elected to have it removed. After removal Oncology reported clean margins where the gland was cut out, which is a good sign that everything is still in the gland. As it turned out after about six months I had and have continued to have a 0.0 PSA twenty two years.
A friend of mine just had his prostate done in the latest, greatest method which basically cored out the interior of the gland, leaving him with the ability to get an erection which used to be the major downside of radical prostatectomy. Back when I had mine done my doctor told there were some surgeons that make an effort to avoid destroying the nerves that are commonly severed on removal. He told me that in his opinion anything other than the removal of the gland leaves open the possibility of leaving behind cancerous tissue.
I will say that having been a survivor for twenty two years I have had more than a dozen friends and people I know casually come down with prostate cancer and elect to have seeding or other methods. Few of them are alive today, enough time hasn't passed for my friend that had his cored out, although he said he still had a measurable PSA. I have one friend that is playing the watching and waiting game, he is ten years younger and I get that but for me life is more important than the ability to get an erection. There are downsides, like my inability to 100% control my urine and other issues in that area that limit my ability to travel extensively which is no loss to me because I don't care to travel.

 

[Chuck Edwards]

I opted for radiation treatment. IIRC, it was 44 treatments in all, five times a week until it was done. That was about ten years ago. About five years ago, my PSA was in the undetectable range. No issues with ED or leakage.

 

[Jebus35745]

There is a lot of good information here, if anyone needs some real life info, it’s here. A lot better than searching the web and seeing %’s of good procedures or problems after whatever people decide how to treat their cancer.

Good luck to those that are diagnosed with prostate cancer and with your decision on treatment. Seems like either way could be mostly a smooth fix or problematic. I know the next couple years for me will be full of Dr visits for both bladder and prostate cancer. For my bladder I will get the initial 6 weekly treatments and more over the next 2 years. He will also be looking inside the bladder every 3 months, then every 6 months and hopefully yearly after time passes. Larry

 

[Phenix]

Cyber knife is a gimmicky name for a concentrated and localized gamma beam treatment. It is useful for certain treatments. My wife had it for the inoperable aneurysms in her brain. She died about a year and a half later when one of them burst. Still, it was worth a shot.

My FIL had that several years ago. Doctor recommended the gamma beam treatment. Said success rate was 90%.
Something went wrong with the treatment. (gamma beam machine partially missed the target) and a bunch of surrounding tissue was fried, and they didn’t quite get all the cancer.
He got worse, and had diarrhea attacks 12 to 15 times a day. Pain got so bad that maximum doses of morphine weren’t enough. Passed live tissue often. He was miserable and died a couple of years later.
I would shoot myself before I would suffer like he did.
He was 6’ 3” tall and weighed 123 pounds when he died.
Not the typical results at all, but there is some risk.

 

[Jebus35745]

Hope a few more people will share their stories, Larry

 

[ISCS Yoda]

My surgery is on July 29th,

All the best!!! Be well!!!

Just FYI, my next series of BCG, and hopefully the last, will start in mid-July if my cystoscopy is clear next week.