Thank you for relating your experience. In my posted question, I failed to state what my post-surgical report revealed. It was as follows:
- Extra Prostatic Extension ("EPE")
- "Surgical margins" - yes/positive...cancerous tissue remains in my body, but my urologist gave me a big caveat which is: "You may have surgical margins, but that cancerous tissue left behind, needs blood supply to survive. The surgery involves removing the blood supply it would draw from, so...you may have surgical margins, but the tissue left behind, may in fact "die" from lack of blood supply. He did add though that musculature that is close by has a lot of blood supply. You have to hope that the cells...even one...didn't attach to your pelvic floor musculature.
- Cribriform glands - yes/positive
- Left seminal vesicle partial invasion. All cells were grade "3", and there was no evidence of tumor or nodule(s) in the seminal vesicle. But the fact that it was invaded instantly made me a pT3b with a minimum 25% likelihood of the cancer recurring "within" five years. "How" this can be, still boggles my mind: the prostate is removed, both seminal vesicles are removed, and both vas deferens are removed, and blood supply to any cancer cells left behind (surgical margins) have no blood supply available to survive. So "how" doe the cancer come back?!?!?

This is all exasperating...all of the "unknowns", "ya but..." uncertainties are difficult to handle when I am a very black and white person.