Prostrate cancer

Hi and welcome

You are at a very unsettling time in your journey.

Can you share your stats with us - PSA etc and I'm sure that we can help. 

Stuart

Hi

i am 54 yrs old and currently lying in a ward after having radical robotic prostate removal including pelvic lymph nodes and non saving nerve procedure. It was my best option as I had a Gleason score of 5+4=9 and PSMA of 29.4, I had 30 stabs during biopsy showing 26 being highly aggressive 3 types of cancer. I am currently in Lincoln pilgrim hospital being treated by Toni my specialist nurse who is very knowledgeable, sympathetic, caring and energetic for your cause. Hope this little bit of info helps. Keep in touch and try and stay positive.

Andy

PSA 3.6, Gleason 3+4=7, T2,NO, . I have got appt date for surgery 28/7/22. Am worried about the surgery but l have no choice , is got to be done, God will take control.  What can l do before surgery that can help my recovery process?, how long do the side effect of surgery last, is it months or years? I need any advice that can help me am really scared. 

Many thanks. 

I’m 69 and had the operation with no complications , except ED  , but there are signs of hope there . I would certainly have been able to work very soon afterwards (but retired )

However , it seems almost incredible that you were not offered a non operative treatment as an option , which would probably be as effective ( probably radiotherapy with or without androgen deprivation ( hormone) treatment. 
Surgery is rarely ( or never ) the only option .

I chose to go for surgery, l was advice on different options l decide to go for surgery  because the cancer is still within the postrate. What do you think?

Once you’ve made your choice there’s no point in agonising over it . The surgery itself is low risk with minor discomfort.

Hi King

Maybe it's a bit late to change your mind but Radiotherapy is there as another treatment option. Surgery does sometimes look a bit daunting, but there are people on here who had a successful treatment with surgery.

Sure you will be OK, your stats are really quite low, def potentially curable

best wishes

Steve

With a Gleason 3+4 in 2018 I was offered treatment or Active Surveillance. I opted for AS with follow up regular checks: PSA, MRI and biopsies. I'll have an appointment in one week for the results of the early June MRI but in a letter to my GP it says that the medical team was in favor of treatment already 6 months ago. So my guess is that AS is coming to an end. What I learned in the past 4 years: 

- if your cancer is intermediate risk and confined in the prostae, we are lucky because there are treatments with the aim to cure it. 

- prostate cancer is slow growing, so don't put yourself under pressure to do something about it in a rush. It has certainly been growing for 10 years so a few weeks will not change your prospects

- surgery vs radiotheraphy: i posted a message on this board 2 weeks ago: it's a difficult one but it seems that for younger patients surgeons tend to go for surgery.

- recovery: it depends on your general health. If they tell me in one week that it is time to go for surgery I would say that I consider I will not have any other plans for the following 4 months. Some guys get back to normal in one month, others 6 months.

- side effects of surgery: difficulty to control urine flow. You can start building up your pelvic floor muscles (nhs squeezy app) , erectile disfunction depends on how much they damage the area around the prostate if they identify some suspicious cancer growth during the operation. Did you have an MRI? In my next meeting with the team Iwill ask if with MRI and biopsies they can predict before the operation how far they need to go and how it will influence the side effects

- there is lots of info available on this site and Prostate Cancer UK with detailled information about surgery. Prostate surgery is now a very common operation and lots of guys with a successful operation will not post here because the move on . 

It seems we are on a very similar ride so all the best to us.

Eric

Wot Eric said ️

Many thanks