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Tulsa Pro Experience, Mayo Clinic MN – July 2024
Gleason 7 (4+3). I was treated Wednesday July 17, 2024. I checked in at 7am, entered the MRI/Tulsa suite at 8:15, and woke up in the recovery room around 11:30am. Approximately 30% of my prostate was ablated. I woke up with no pain and catheter in. The first 5-6 hours of the catheter were a little tough as I felt an urgent need to pee, but you can’t because you have the catheter in. Was fine after that. I did take Oxybutynin for bladder spasms at night. At 12:30pm, I walked out of the hospital and 2 blocks to my car to be driven home to Minneapolis.
Over the course of the next 40 hours, I just needed to regularly empty the catheter bag and continued to have no pain. Didn’t even take a Tylenol. The morning after TULSA I took my normal 2 mile walk. Catheter was removed at 7:45 Friday morning and I was good to go home. Catheter removal was not bad and they had to ensure I could pee on my own before release. Urine stream is about half of normal but will improve as inflammation of urethra declines. No medication needed at this point.
I did a ton of research before deciding on TULSA Pro. I talked to 7 different doctors. 4 current and 3 retired (1 had RP and another had radiation). The technology and low risk of side effects made this an easy choice for me. I was also fortunate to have the cancer contained in a fairly small lesion.
I couldn’t be more pleased with the procedure and my care at Mayo.
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My Mayo Doctor told me all options are on the table if it returns. Really depends on how and where it comes back.
Normally, what you would do is radiation. The question is what does the PSMA PET scan show. Does it find any metastasis if so, they can be radiated with SBRT normally. If nothing can be found, they might want to radiate the prostate bed and the lymph nodes. This type of radiation usually works for a few years at least.
Another option is you just can wait until something pops up and then zap it. Some doctors believe in that strongly.
It’s the focal treatment concentrated on the prostate then it’s not there to do surgery on or have continued spread from that spot. It’s more likely that mini metastasis got away before the focal therapy was done, Could not be seen so they could not be treated.
One other question regarding TULSA. If cancer does return what do we do? Also is monitoring possible?
More focal?
Whole gland treatment?
(Essentially like a Rad. pros. ?)
Radiation?
Da Vinci Rad Prosectomy? (Sounds iffy)
Appreciate your input.
Thanks so much.
Regardless of what treatment you choose, you’re going to have the 20 to 40% chance of recurrence that Jeff mentions in his reply. I asked Doctor Woodrum that question about Tulsa at my one year follow up. He had just come back from an ablation conference and said the early results look very good with a 15 to 20% recurrence. I know that is not long-term data yet, but it is right in line with what other treatments are at three years out. I have never heard about any unreliable PSA test after Tulsa. My extensive monitoring after the procedure is what gave me complete confidence in trying Tulsa.
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2 ReactionsAround 30% (the rule is 20-40%) of people have recurrence after initial treatment for prostate cancer, But that is a number based on all different types of treatments.
A few people in here have had Tulsa-pro And have commented how much they liked results. Long-term results are not really available since it’s not been around for all day long.
Yes, a PSA test after Tulsa is just as useful.
You are correct, Many people that have surgery find out their Gleason score is higher. For myself, I was told 3+4 after biopsy and 4+3 after surgery. I’ve heard from a lot of people that have had upgrades to 4+4 or 4+5 after surgery. The prostate biopsy after surgery can find many other things in the prostate that are not known because a biopsy only hits about 1% of the prostate.
I am 66 and considering the TULSA as well. I am a little concerned as some of the report of unreliable post treatment monitoring ie. is PSA still accurate after treatment. Also, how do you know the biopsy done is not missing cancerous tissue? I have on spot Gleason 6 and one spot Gleason 3+4=7. I am a good candidate by recommendation of Dr. Woodrum's Team.
Worried about post treatment assessment and return for possible other cancer. Curious about percentage of people who have recurring cancer but like minimal side effects.
I know this is a newer therapy.
Appreciate any feedback.
Had my 1 year check up today at Mayo Rochester. My PSA has remained steady at 0.7 for 4 straight quarters (it was 8.6 prior to treatment). MRI shows no sign of cancer. Doctor said everything looks like they would expect successful treatment to look like. Doctor also said I can consider myself cancer free and can start giving blood again.
I was 4+3 with cribriform. A few people on the forum were surprised I qualified for TULSA with cribriform, so I asked the Doctor. He said Mayo is treating any Gleason 7 as long as all the other criteria are met (size, location, lack of calcium deposits, etc). I remain completely free of side effects at this point.
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4 ReactionsThank you, it is good to know your experience is similar as mine. My biggest indicator of improvement is the first morning 'pee'. At first very, it was very weak but now has improved. I have also noticed the stream is now better when sitting on the toilet that what it was right after the procedure. I am making improvements and healing so I am happy. I just need to be patient. 🙂
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1 ReactionIt was a couple months for me. But I always had full control which is better than some of the other procedures out there! Be patient. You likely still have swelling and some ablated tissue keeping stream restricted. Good news for me is I only have to get up once per night now vs twice before procedure.
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