Second guessing or being sure.

Posted by kjacko @kjacko, Oct 31, 2023

I am scheduled to have my prostate removed next week. In the past few days I have received comments from a number of men who have a similar situation to me. They ended having additional testing on their cancerous prostate and were told they didn’t need surgery, either because their Gleason score was lower than first reported or their cancer was determined to be very slow growing. I started wondering if I should get another opinion. I know it’s close to surgery time but I want to do what will provide me with the best outcome. My biggest fear is that if I do get another opinion and they agree surgery is best, I might regret doing it in the first place. I don’t know if this is being smart or as the day of surgery gets closer, I’m having “buyer’s remorse”. Any of you ever felt this way? Thanks for responding.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

@maxvt

At age 72, I was faced with choice of radiation or surgery. Many in my family lived to 90 or beyond. My cancer was confined to Prostate gland according to PSMA test. After lots of research, I chose RALP as I found that radiation after surgery was a doable option, but the radiation affected the tissue making surgery after radiation not a good option.

I had 3+4’s and some 4+3’s. After the RALP, the pathology reported an as yet undetected cancer that would have survived radiation.

I am now very happy with my decision.

Jump to this post

Great decision, so glad men are not just using the average lifespan to make these life limiting decisions. The average life expectancy includes all those that abuse their bodies and unfortunate deaths of the young (we were all young at one point and made bad decision, but fortunately we survived). I am 57 and have several friends in their mid to late 80's. They are doing great, have excellent attitudes, and God willing, will make it another 10-15 years. At the young/healthy age of 72 with confined cancer, I would always recommend a radical prostatectomy. This is the only procedure that allows for removal of the cancer and a full pathology to be performed. Other procedures use imperfect imaging tools to focus the treatment, but in the end, you can only hope that all the confined cancer was addressed. Even with a radical prostatectomy, unknown metastasis can occur - Cancer is cancer, and you never know if it has metastasized. For me, going with a radical prostatectomy was doing everything I could do to minimize the likelihood of reoccurrence, keep future options open in case of BCR, and get the best possible understanding of cancer stage in my body with a post RP pathology.

Good luck to everyone and as always - Just my thoughts/opinions, everyone if an individual and needs to make this personal decision based on their life expectations and personal research.

REPLY
@hammer101

Great decision, so glad men are not just using the average lifespan to make these life limiting decisions. The average life expectancy includes all those that abuse their bodies and unfortunate deaths of the young (we were all young at one point and made bad decision, but fortunately we survived). I am 57 and have several friends in their mid to late 80's. They are doing great, have excellent attitudes, and God willing, will make it another 10-15 years. At the young/healthy age of 72 with confined cancer, I would always recommend a radical prostatectomy. This is the only procedure that allows for removal of the cancer and a full pathology to be performed. Other procedures use imperfect imaging tools to focus the treatment, but in the end, you can only hope that all the confined cancer was addressed. Even with a radical prostatectomy, unknown metastasis can occur - Cancer is cancer, and you never know if it has metastasized. For me, going with a radical prostatectomy was doing everything I could do to minimize the likelihood of reoccurrence, keep future options open in case of BCR, and get the best possible understanding of cancer stage in my body with a post RP pathology.

Good luck to everyone and as always - Just my thoughts/opinions, everyone if an individual and needs to make this personal decision based on their life expectations and personal research.

Jump to this post

I had my RP yesterday. Everything went better than they imagined. Recovery is going well. Doctor said I was one of the best conditioned 70+ patients he worked on. He said it allowed him to spare some nerves and removed my enlarged prostate easier. Too much belly fat makes removal more difficult. DO NOT underestimate the importance of physical fitness, regardless of age

REPLY
@kjacko

I had my RP yesterday. Everything went better than they imagined. Recovery is going well. Doctor said I was one of the best conditioned 70+ patients he worked on. He said it allowed him to spare some nerves and removed my enlarged prostate easier. Too much belly fat makes removal more difficult. DO NOT underestimate the importance of physical fitness, regardless of age

Jump to this post

Awesome news and so glad everything went well. You obviously did your homework and chose a center of excellence and a competent surgical team for your RP.

Keep up the Kegels and I look forward to hearing how everything is going as you progress through recovery.

Jim

REPLY
@hammer101

Awesome news and so glad everything went well. You obviously did your homework and chose a center of excellence and a competent surgical team for your RP.

Keep up the Kegels and I look forward to hearing how everything is going as you progress through recovery.

Jim

Jump to this post

Thanks for the support Jim. I’ll keep you informed.👌

REPLY
@kjacko

I had my RP yesterday. Everything went better than they imagined. Recovery is going well. Doctor said I was one of the best conditioned 70+ patients he worked on. He said it allowed him to spare some nerves and removed my enlarged prostate easier. Too much belly fat makes removal more difficult. DO NOT underestimate the importance of physical fitness, regardless of age

Jump to this post

Congrats on the successful surgery. May you have a quick and complete recovery.

REPLY
@kjacko

I had my RP yesterday. Everything went better than they imagined. Recovery is going well. Doctor said I was one of the best conditioned 70+ patients he worked on. He said it allowed him to spare some nerves and removed my enlarged prostate easier. Too much belly fat makes removal more difficult. DO NOT underestimate the importance of physical fitness, regardless of age

Jump to this post

I'm glad your surgery went well. You'll have a rapid recovery for sure being in such good shape. Great news!

REPLY
@perrychristopher

Congrats on the successful surgery. May you have a quick and complete recovery.

Jump to this post

Thanks for the support Perry. On day 3 of recovery. Starting to eat liquid foods. My abdominal pain is minimal. I’ve found that wearing the catheter is not the end of the world; I just have to be careful with my dog.
Health and happiness!

REPLY
@kjacko

Thanks for the support Perry. On day 3 of recovery. Starting to eat liquid foods. My abdominal pain is minimal. I’ve found that wearing the catheter is not the end of the world; I just have to be careful with my dog.
Health and happiness!

Jump to this post

I made the mistake of eating salmon and a salad immediately following the surgery. Wow, what a mistake, that meal did not stay down for very long :)... However, it was a good lesson learned.

Hope you are continuing well with your recovery!

Jim

REPLY
@kjacko

Thanks for the support Perry. On day 3 of recovery. Starting to eat liquid foods. My abdominal pain is minimal. I’ve found that wearing the catheter is not the end of the world; I just have to be careful with my dog.
Health and happiness!

Jump to this post

I hung my cath bag in a 5 gallon bucket that I just carried around. To keep the dog out, I put a lid on it with a notch cut out for hanger and the tube to run in.

REPLY
@kssteve

I hung my cath bag in a 5 gallon bucket that I just carried around. To keep the dog out, I put a lid on it with a notch cut out for hanger and the tube to run in.

Jump to this post

I have a leg bag and a night bag. The leg bag has worked good enough that I haven’t changed them at night. My dog realizes something is wrong with his papa and has been really good. Thursday it comes off. 🙏🤞

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.