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Living with Prostate Cancer: Meet others & introduce yourself
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Sep 10 6:24pm | Replies (648)Comment receiving replies
I am 71 years old and was diagnosed with Prostate cancer in April, 2022. Gleason of 6, grade group 1 on 5 of 12 cores, largest amount of cancer in right apex of prostate, but hopefully all cancer contained in prostate. I am "favorable risk/ intermediate level" (according to National Comprehensive Cancer Care Network). Bone and CT Scans were negative. Am trying to decide between Radiation or Surgery. I already have some issues with urgency and frequency of urination, but I like the fact that radiation treats wider margins than surgery generally, since my largest volume tumor so far is right apex located and closer to lymph nodes. I have an "MRI prostate with endorectal coil and IV contrast" scheduled for next month which may tell more in terms of treatment. Two Radiation oncologists have said proton beam side effects and results are about the same as any other current "cutting edge" external beam radiation treatment especially with the space OAR gel (ie, SBRT, IMRT, etc). I welcome any comments going into this. Thanks.
Replies to "I am 71 years old and was diagnosed with Prostate cancer in April, 2022. Gleason of..."
Hi, lots of good questions. There isn’t a one-best path. I’m 73 and had surgery on January 7th, 2022. I had 4/12 biopsies with Gleason scores of 6 and two biopsies with 7s. Note, 7 is cancer, below 7, you do not have cancer.
My PSA was 4.3; it had double in the past year. I was thinking I wanted to have radiation treatment. It was the least invasive and you recover quickly. I got three opinions: surgery from all three doctors. I was experiencing urination urgency and frequency. I decide to have robotic surgery. I was in good health and physical condition; therefore, I was a good candidate for a good recovery. They did an MRI the day before my surgery and found a large tumor, which of course had to be removed too. The surgeon had to cut “wide” on one side in order to remove the tumor. My surgery lasted almost 4 hours: I was discharged the same day.
After my surgery, I was totally incontinent for a month. I’m about 98% continent now. I have no erectile function. In theory, is should it improve after 18 months. I had a PSA test after 6 weeks. My PSA level, was undetectable: <0.01. My next PSA test will be this month.
One of my hobbies is running. I ran a 1/2 marathon last month and got on the podium. Good luck with your decision. It’s not an easy one. Keep us posted. Thanks.
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Wait for the MRI before doing anything. Although surgery, especially robotic, is perhaps better than what I had 21 years ago, I would avoid it. Have you had a second opinion? Has anyone suggested watchful waiting? If you’re cancer is truly Gleason 6, I wouldn’t think you have much to worry about. If you do treat, highly focused radiation guided by the MRI would be the way to go. But I am not a doctor. I’m just a guy who wishes he had an option to surgery when he was first diagnosed. Best of luck.