Hi
I am 65 and have been diagnosed with Gleason 3+4 psa5.9 and have been offered the choice of active surveillance, prostatectomy or radiotherapy, with no particular recommendation from the consultant. He did seem to steer away from RT. But did say I would need something doing at some point so not AS forever.
I have had bilateral inguinal hernia with mesh via keyhole previously and wasnt sure if that will be an issue for robot prostatecomy. Has anyone been through surgery with existing hernia mesh.
So I have to make a decision whether to have AS for a while then surgery or surgery now, bit worried that waiting may negate the benefit of early diagnosis, Any thoughts?
Welcome to this forum.
Most of us wish we weren't here, but once you get over that it is a great place to be.
You can get answers to the questions about the hernia mesh (probably) here: 0808 808 00 00. This line takes you through to the MacMillan Cancer Specialists who are significantly better at providing information than I am, on account of actually being qualified.
Looking at your cancer, you have a relatively low grade cancer, and a not all that high PSA. It is unlikely to run away with you, so that you do not have to rush the decisions. You have time to make the right decision.
You also have all the choices; surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, any mixture of the above.
This web page has good information on making treatment choices - https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information-and-support/treatments/choosing-a-treatment - you would appear to be in the localised cancer bracket.
From a purely personal, unqualified, point of view, even with your results I would be in the "let's do something about this" group.
It seems to me that it is a good idea to explore all the sources, work out the side effects, and decide which ones you hate least. You have all the choices. I recommend a spreadsheet (
).
None of them are disabling, most are mainly annoying.
Again, you have enought time to really go through this and make the right choice.
Steve
Changed, but not diminished.
Hello Kmay26
A warm welcome to the club you didn't want to join - and with the right treatment you will leave it with a clean bill of health.
On your journey you will be offered advice by a urologist (surgery) and an oncologist (radiotherapy) there is also another treatment the oncologist may be able to offer - brachytherapy. The latter isn't offered everywhere but if it's suitable you can have it at the nearest NHS Trust that provides this service.
Personally I am not a lover of Active Surveillance as it's cancer and it's not going away - get it sorted whilst you are able to deal with it.
Steve (mstev2 ) in his post above says get a spreadsheet (I am a pen and paper man myself0 research each treatment from trusted sources, Prostate Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK and Macmillan (not Dr Google) and list the pros and cons as to how each treatment would affect you AND any partner.
I will start you off with 3 links:
You will have to check with both urology and oncology if the hernia mesh will affect the treatment choice.
I hope the above helps, feel free to ask any questions, nothing is too trivial.
Best wishes - Brian.
Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm
Strength, Courage, Faith, Hope, Defiance, VICTORY.
I am a Macmillan volunteer.
