Question on delaying RARP surgery by 1 month

Posted by troxel @troxel, 13 hours ago

Hello new to the group.

I have surgery scheduled at Mayo Phoenix (Dr Jack Andrews) in the middle of July. I have been diagnosed via biopsy of Gleason score 3+4 with Intermediate Favorable Prostate Cancer Group 2.

Problem is my wife has a wedding to go to in Europe and I would like to reschedule on month later so she can go. Is there any risk with this diagnosis and month delay? Thank You.

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With a 3+4 you could easily go three or four months without doing surgery. Ask your doctors to delay it. An extreme thing you could do would be to go on ADT to prevent from spreading but with a 3+4 it’s not going to Spread or grow very fast. Even waiting six months would probably be no big deal.

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I would say not a problem. I delayed for two months while daughter home during summer from college. We dropped her back at school on a Sunday and went into surgery on Thursday.

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I wouldn’t give it a 2nd thought.

Delay surgery and enjoy the summer and the wedding.

I have the same 3+4 biopsy results. I am delaying surgery until September to be able to enjoy the summer. Surgeon had no issue and thought it was a good decision.

If you haven’t started daily Cialis, get your Doctor to prescribe daily cialis and viagra as needed. Someone else recommended starting before surgery to enjoy the benefits before surgery and prepare area for post-surgery recovery.

Best wishes

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I was diagnosed with 4+4 in August 2022, scheduled for RARP in November but came down with the flu 2 days before surgery. I was rescheduled for the end of January and pathology was downgraded to 4+3. No lymph node involvement and have had no additional treatment. PSA remains undetectable @ 3+ years out

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Jeff Marchi is probably right, but I’ll give my history as an “against the odds” example.

March 2014 - PSA rises to 4.5

April 2104 - Biopsy reveals adenocarcinona in right lateral apex, 10% involvement, Gleason 3+3. Active Surveillance recommended.

September 2014 - PSA rises to 5.2

January 2015 - I seek a second opinion, followed by another biopsy. Adenocarcinoma found in Right Apex with Gleason 3+3. Cancer in Right Lateral Apex is upgraded to 3+4. I opt for RARP, but delay until April because of three weeks of overseas work in March. My urologist had no issue with that.

April 2015 - Successful RARP. Pathology reconfirms Gleason 3+4 in Right Lateral Apex, and shows positive margin on Right Apex (Gleason 3+3). Prolaris score gives 53% chance of biochemical recurrence in ten years. My urologist states that it’s a good thing we didn’t delay further and says in hindsight, he wishes we operated sooner.

June-July 2025 - After ten years of undetectable PSA (<0.1), my PSA rises to 0.11. A small nodule detected in my prostate bed in 2023 lights up like a Christmas tree on a PSMA PET scan. No evidence of distant mets. Am diagnosed with a local recurrence.

Fall 2025 - Eight weeks of IMRT to treat local recurrence.

May 2026 - Six months after finishing IMRT, my PSA is still 0.1. Now am doing monthly PSA testing.

What started off as a presumably low grade, indolent PCa has become a life long issue. I don’t spend much time looking back on decisions I’ve made, but moving quicker on my surgery may have saved me from this current relapse and further treatment.

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