Tulsa Pro Experience, Mayo Clinic MN – July 2024

Hi, read your journey, very interesting. Hopefully, you're on a permanent mend. One question, when you were initially diagnosed at 77 yo, why was a Prostatectomy out of the question? 🤔

It has to do with age. I believe age 70 or early 70's is the maximum age for surgery. As it was explained to me, men have two sphincters that control starting and stopping of urination. One is located between the bladder and the prostate. The other is located on the other side of the prostate toward the perineum. When the prostate is removed during surgery the surgeon also takes the sphincter near the bladder. So one is left with only one sphincter to control urination. I am told that at that age a man will have difficulty gaining enough muscle control of that single sphincter to adequately control the stoppage of urination, hence incontinence and diapers. This was the reasoning given to me by my urologist as well as a radiation oncologist at Mayo. So I tend to believe it to be factual and accurate. Hope this helps.

I commented previously on this forum that the USA is behind the curve in performing Transperineal Biopsies . Certain EU countries have or are considering banning Transrectal Biopsies . Some urologists , even the the USA will not perform the Transrectal . Canada , the UK plus other Asian countries have been using it for years . Now we see Real Time Biopsiess - " In - Bore or Gantry Biopsy " , thus eliminating the " MRI Fusion " problem .

Agreed. Thankfully if I need any future biopsies they will be done at Mayo - Rochester and I was assured Mayo does transperineal. While I didn't like the transrectal fusion biopsy I will credit my urologist for hitting the target at least twice. It was the other 12 or 13 core samples he also took which were not pleasant. We can credit the FDA for keeping us behind in this country.

In general " YOU ARE NOT BEHIND " . My Urologists are at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto , ranked as the 5th Top Reasearch & Treatment Centers of Excellence in the world . Plus "Sunnybrook Hospital " also in Toronto .

Just had my 6 month follow up. PSA at 0.96, MRI summary:
No definite residual/recurrent tumor in the ablation zone. No new findings suspicious for additional clinically significant cancer in the prostate gland.
Doctor said my results at this point are excellent

That seems a little high for after procedure PSA. Is it supposed to continue to go down over time, after Tulsa Pro, like radiation treatment works?

You did have a PSMA Pet scan, that’s how you know there’s no tumor?

Doc said no issue. PSA does not go to zero as I still have 70% of my prostate. At this point the trend will become the important indicator. I will continue with the three month PSA‘s and six months MRI for at least another 18 months I was at 8.6 prior to procedure. And I was at 2.1 twenty years ago! Pet scan was clear 6 months ago.

Greetings all, I am scheduled for Tulsa Pro end of February in Texas. Gleason 3+3(6), TP biopsy, low risk, Decipher and Prolaris show low risk for mets, recent PSMA shows no prostate cancer cells anywhere, prostate volume is 45cc, age 69. The TP biopsy was a saturation biopsy with 30 cores, 9 of which were positive, mostly 1 percent levels except for where the tumor is. Gone from 1 to 3 tumors, all around 1cm and frankly should have done TULSA in November of 2024 but put it off due to holidays. I am using a concierge facility which means my medicare advantage plan will only pay about 8000 of the 35,000 cost. If I use a hospital, then it is virtually all covered with the new medicare code.

I have been reading about TULSA and its use for about 5 months now and what I see is the more experience the doctor, the better the outcome. Also, it seems to be better to leave the catheter in for at least 10 days (which my doctor is doing ). My doctor is also doing meds that I see other physicians are not using so, I feel like I have a 'leg up' on this compared to some others.

My ablation will be a total ablation. I have 3 tumors, 45cc prostate, and at 69 don't care to sire any children. Though the dry ejaculation that results from a total ablation mentally and emotionally bothers me. Still, I just want this cancer gone and gone before the prostate grows larger or I get mets. I will post back my results from the procedure and let everyone know how it went.

I think I would fly to Mayo in Rochester or Jacksonville. I had my 45 cc prostate ablated (30%) there in July. My total bill was six dollars. I am on original Medicare though. Dr Woodrum in Rochester has done thousands of ablations. Not all Tulsa Pro but he is very experienced with ablation and the use of MRI. I was a Gleason 7 and at six months my MRI shows no sign of cancer.