Hello again
My 8th post on this journey. Well if you have read my previous posts then you will know I had a suspected recurrence of cancer in my prostrate 12months after My nanoknife procedure. My 12 months post op PSA blood test came back with a rise from 0.3 to 2.7 next came an MRI scan and another guided biopsy. In May 2019 it was confirmed that I had cancer cells left behind after my nanoknife op. Same grading as before. It seems that prof Emberton hadn’t got everything on first attempt.
I have always been cautious about praising nanoknife as it’s long term effectiveness is still up for debate. So it didn’t work for me. what to do next. I went to see another consultant in Edinburgh to get a second opinion on my way forward. The second opinion was that I should just have the whole remaining prostrate gland removed and live with the side effects of 100% ED and leaking for the rest of my days. After lots of thought and the knowledge that I still have a little fight left in me I decided to op for a further non invasive treatment, this time HIFU. I again stuck with pro Emberton in London.
September 2019 I returned to the princess grace hospital to have HIFU on my very small cancerous area. 3mm 3+4 = 7
luckly my health insurance covered this procedure. Nanoknife was not covered previously and cost a small fortune, HIFU was covered, so my only costs were travel, hotels and room service. Today I feel relaxed and I am still positive in my outlook. I find that I can just take each bit of this journey in my stride as long as I take it in small chunks. Post HIFU has been easy, very similar to post nanoknife. A little fatigued, a little subdued, a little less gung-ho in my outlook, chilled out is a good way to describe approach. My ED thankfully still not an issue, no toilet issues either. I have just had my 6 months PSA blood results and it is the lowest it has ever been at 0.3 so that is good news.
Again I’m cautiously optimistic about what will come next. If cancer does return then my last option will be total removal of prostrate gland and that prospect I am not dwelling on at all as I have many sunny holidays to plan, some great meals to enjoy and a wonderful partner and family to hold onto. Still got a little fight left in me yet. My next move is to just have fresh PSA blood checks every month for the next 6 months and then evaluate where I am at.
I’ll will continue my blogs for anyone who is considering nanoknife or HIFU
glasgow1964
