Living with Prostate Cancer: Meet others & introduce yourself

Treatment (tx) options exist, and there is good reason to be positive.
There are recognized Centers of Excellence for PCa, as well as excellent local community resources for tx.
And, I am not medically trained.
Best wishes.

sbassmeister - I agree with the other comments, definitely recommend doing your homework before making a decision. For myself, I was relatively young (57), very active, and have hopes of 3 more decades of life. I had Gleason Score 7 (4/3) and cancer was confined to the prostate, based on scans. Thus, I decided to go with a radical prostatectomy because of several issues - More options if cancer came back, personal feeling that removal of prostate would do more to prevent BCR, and not wanting potential negative LT side effects of radiation treatment. I did not see the potential for ED and Incontinence as important as removing the cancerous organ from my body - This is obviously very personal and something you will need to weigh.

Best of luck with your decision and future treatments,

Jim

Hello all-
My husband is just beginning his journey with this. He has a PSA of 6.9, biopsy with 12 taken and 3 cancerous. Two with gleason of 6 and one with a 3+4(7) score. Have appointment with dr. on Monday to go over results, but was just looking for advice. I also read that how many cores that are affected is also important. Any experience with this? Thank you.

ldhusband:
I had 10.2 psa and worst was 3+4. This site was very helpful. Keep coming back. Research is a big word with prostate cancer. Many different opinions but here are some links that may help.
Nccn.org: Many doctors follow their guidelines, and it is there for doctors and patients. Under the patients area, there is some really helpful information.
Decipherbio.com: Takes a slice of the biopsy which helps evaluate aggressiveness and modes of treatments
Viewray.com: MRI/Radiation machine combination unit
Mevian.com: Proton therapy radiation machine
Globalroboticsinsititute.com: A doctor I looked into when I was considering prostate removal in Celebration Fl.
Try and get backup opinions on everybody you can as there are differences of treatment opinions that can vary.
I chose the decipher test and the MRIdian machine. 5 Treatments completed in February. Best of luck and don't forget to take care of yourself in the process of taking care of your husband.

It's important to trust your doctors and communicate with them. Is the cancer is localized to his prostate only or has it been found in lymph nodes or bones? There are different treatments to balance out his quality of life.

Thank you so much. We are in Phoenix so we are going to Mayo. I feel like we are in good hands, I am so happy to have found this support. Hopefully, my husband will hop on as well.

I am also at Mayo Phoenix and couldn't be more impressed with the professionalism. I was WAY WAY WAY undeserved at the start of my journey in a town in Northern AZ. I am 75 and 1 year since diagnosis.
Good luck.

Mayo is really the best or one of the best. I lived in Phoenix for more than 50 years ( now live on the beach north of LA ) but my relatives and I have had excellent experience with Mayo, Phoenix. Count Mayo and Phoenix as 2 of your blessings.

Thanks hammer101. I am leaning toward the same decision. I am active and otherwise pretty healthy. I'm an avid bicycle rider and had been hoping my bike riding had only irritated my prostate....no such luck! I was originally thinking about waiting for surgery until after my scheduled fishing trip in mid-May. However I am thinking now of contacting my urologist and if I can schedule quickly getting in and getting it done. The mental part of it is beginning to consume me.

I am at the beginning of my journey as well. My PSA is 9 and my biopsy had two positives, one at 3+4 and one at 4+4. Your husband will likely get scheduled for a bone scan and CT Scan or something similar, which is what happened ot me anyway. I had to get a CT scan as I have a pacemaker that is not MRI compatible. Those tests are to see if the cancer has spread to bones or other organs. It is after those results that you will begin to evaluate your options. Hopefully it is confined to the prostate. The more research you do online the more ads and opinions you will begin to see. I have found comfort in many friends who have been through what I am going through and are happy to discuss their journey with me. However, each case is different. Age, gleason scores, overall health can all add up to different action plans for each person. Onc of my best friends decided on radiation only. But his circumstances don't line up with my circumstances. Weigh your options.