New diagnosis at 50

@heavyphil
Yes Ryan Sanburg died recently of PC-however, I believe many of the recent fatalities ( OJ Simpson, Wm Hurt, Dennis Hopper) famous and unknown, do not seek treatment early and often are too busy to take the medications or commit to radiation schedule...they are not having real symptoms ( yet) and /or dont trust the doctors etc...where I get radiation, we had one come for 1 session and never came back ( that I know of)..they roll the dice and some live a good while longer, some do not..

My dad had non Hodgkins lymphoma -diagnosed in 1990 or so- he had surgery and then took 4 of scheduled 12 chemo sessions. He never went back..we were upset with him, as was his oncologist. However Pa stood firm...he lived 28 more yrs before it came back ferociously and took him in about 6 months..he again didn want any treatment ( which prob would have extended his life) Pa out lived his oncologist and never looked back on his decision.. he said he didn like the way chemo made him feel and that was that..he had once been 2 pack /day Lucky Strike smoker ( 30 yrs) worked 50 yrs for oil company ( which is prob how he got lymphoma from benzene contact)...at any rate, some do survive cancer all by themselves, most do not..Pa did eat lots of broccoli and salmon and rode his stationary bike 7 mi/day and took vitamin C...thats it..he enjoyed life up until 101 or so..then downhill. ( below pic is Pa on 100 birthday- wanted to smoke some pot and then we got ice cream.he said" best damn ice cream I ever had !)

I was just recently diagnosed with 3+3=6. Waiting on genetic testing to come in to help guide my next decision. My doctor is proposing active surveillance, but like you, I am finding it hard to live with. Not to mention, I still have blood in my semen from the biopsy that was 6+weeks ago and I can't imagine having to continue doing biopsy's and having the blood for this long afterwards. Once I get my genetic marker test back, I will meet with my doctor again. I am also planning on meeting with another doctor to get a second opinion. I feel overwhelmed and not sure what to do. I am glad that I found this board.

I was just recently diagnosed with 3+3=6. Waiting on genetic testing to come in to help guide my next decision. My doctor is proposing active surveillance, but like you, I am finding it hard to live with. Not to mention, I still have blood in my semen from the biopsy that was 6+weeks ago and I can't imagine having to continue doing biopsy's and having the blood for this long afterwards. Once I get my genetic marker test back, I will meet with my doctor again. I am also planning on meeting with another doctor to get a second opinion. I feel overwhelmed and not sure what to do. I am glad that I found this board.

Thank you everyone! Jeff, I will watch those videos tonight. It’s tough, as you all know. I fully understand that I am “lucky” with my diagnosis and am as grateful as I can be with a cancer diagnosis. I understand AS protocol and believe the science, hopefully I have the bandwidth to be patient and try to live with it. As my buddy said to me, “you’re not 8 years old, no one is making this decision for you”. And that what’s tough, the decision. Damned if you do damned if you don’t. In regards to what my Dr stated about prevalence of worse cancer post removal. He stated that the commonly referenced stat of 20-30% is relatively outdated and that the study that produced those numbers had participants that already knew there GS had changed. Dunno, it’s just what he said…. Again, thank you all!!

Welcome and so sorry you had to find your way here. My experience is completely different from yours in that mine was full blown metastatic at diagnosis, so take this with a grain of salt but...

If, knowing what I know now, I found myself in your position that early on, that damned thing would have been gone faster than a fat kid can eat a Snickers.

" My Dr said the info that 20-30% of post removal biopsies coming back a higher score is dated and skewed? " My biopsy was 3+4, Prolaris test put me on borderline to treat or watch. Sent biopsy slides to John Hopkins they confirmed 3+4. I went to Mayo, had an MRI, then surgery, and thank God I did. Once my prostate was out and the pathologist could thoroughly examine the whole thing, I was actually 4+3, tertiery 5, cribriform, and perinural invasion. This was in Sept of 2023 so in my case my pathology DID result in a higher score after RALP. I wer as upgraded. Now, maybe your doctor made that statement assuming everyone gets a guided targeted biopsy. However, unfortunatly, Trus random biospies, which I had, because I didn't know any better, are still very common. I don't think Mri guided targeted biopsies had been around long enough to have a RCT's to prove that doctors statement of skewed and dated.

@mtcoastie, checking in. There's so many phrases in your post that I'd like to pull out like the words "lucky and grateful". Yeah, that might be feelings you can feel at some point. But in the moment of hearing the news that you've got cancer and reading the information to sift through to make decisions about your life -- lucky and grateful are not top of mind, right?

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't." True...maybe. But decisions have to be made with the best information you have at the time. Luckily (damn, there's that word again), you have support here and the guidance of your medical professionals.

So, now my question. How are you doing with the treatment decisions? How are you doing with the emotional roller coaster?

Hello,
I was 46 when I was diagnosed. I am 65 now. Biopsy resulted in 3+3 Gleason. Had my prostate out Gleason was 3 + 4. 17 years of undectable PSA last year posted a 0.1, so now getting more sensitive tests.. bouncing around .1 for the last 18 months. Dr. says I shouldn't worry.

I had an "open" surgery not robotic at Mayo by a highly renowned surgeon. Bladder control very little issues. Sexual function reduced significantly.

I am thankful I had access to testing at an early age.

All the best to you. It's rough stuff at times, but you will have good days ahead.