Who has had surgery?

[2confused2choose]

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I was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was told I should decide which treatment I want. My PSA is 7.4. My Gleason is 3+4=7. The cancer was only on 1 side of the prostate, and my DRE was OK. I am 54.

I have lots of research from the internet, but I cannot find ANYONE who had surgery. Can anyone tell me about their experience? Good? Bad? or Something in between?

Thanks.

[Myer's patient]

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I was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was told I should decide which treatment I want. My PSA is 7.4. My Gleason is 3+4=7. The cancer was only on 1 side of the prostate, and my DRE was OK. I am 54.

I have lots of research from the internet, but I cannot find ANYONE who had surgery. Can anyone tell me about their experience? Good? Bad? or Something in between?

Thanks.

My husband had a robotic prostatectomy in January 2008. He was back at work in 10 days. He is fully continent. He had a high gleason 4+5. My best advice for you is to explore all your options before deciding on surgery. You may want to consult with a radiologist, and urologic oncologist before making the decision. If you do decide to have surgery, try to find a surgeon who has done at least 250 or more of the proocedures.

[Nathan.R PCRI]

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I was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was told I should decide which treatment I want. My PSA is 7.4. My Gleason is 3+4=7. The cancer was only on 1 side of the prostate, and my DRE was OK. I am 54.

I have lots of research from the internet, but I cannot find ANYONE who had surgery. Can anyone tell me about their experience? Good? Bad? or Something in between?

Thanks.

***************************** Below from Nathan Roundy - PCRI Helpline ****
Suggestions for men Newly Diagnosed
1. Collect all your medical records - you need these for yourself, and for giving copies to medical professionals
PSA History
TRUS ultrasound report
Biopsy Pathology Report
Written dictation copies of any scan reports
2. Get the latest imaging to rule out locally advanced disease.
Multi-parametric MRI with 3 Tesla machine and endo-rectal coil - T1, T2, Contrast, Diffusion analysis
Color Doppler Ultrasound by a specialist in prostate cancer diagnsis
If you have PSA less than 10, Gleason 3+4 or less, bone scan and CT may not be useful
3. Get a second opinion of the biopsy pathology slides done by a lab with emphasis on urologic pathology
15% of the time the diagnosis will be changed
4. Do a risk analysis - click Shades above.
5. Evaluate the active surveillance option for low risk diagnosis
6. Take into account your risk level when evaluating treatment options. See the Patient Outcomes Report here http://www.prostate-cancer.org/pcric...14-2_p3-11.pdf
7. Consult with a surgeon, external beam radiation oncologist, and brachytherapy oncologist. Also consider cryotherapy.
8 If you decide to treat, seek out expert doctors who have performed hundreds of treatment cases.
9 Read about Newly Diagnosed here http://www.prostate-cancer.org/pcricms/node/126

[caringwife]

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My husband and I would be interested in hearing more about surgery too. My husband is 57. PSA 6.89, Gleason 7 (4+3), and the clinical Stage T1.
Thank you

[icepilot]

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I am new to PC and this site. It is all very overwhelming at first, especially to those of us in this "intermidiate/Teal" zone!

I am also signed up at the cancercompass forum. There are many who have had surgery...good luck in your investigations and decision!

[El Woody]

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I had RRP at 44. Surgery was the right choice for me and I am generally happy with the outcome.

[Dave Rist]

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As I, you probably feel that your body has been violated, there is a dirty disease growing inside you. The first thing is to get it out of me, make my body clean again.
Don't over react but get your wife or other personal care support and together - RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. There is sooo much you need to learn and you do have time. As Nathan suggested, go to that link, it is one of the best places for research. I would also consider starting Hormone treatment right away while you are doing your research. Don't be afraid to get second opinions and referals to specialists, your Dr would probably be relieved that you are taking a proactive approach.
I have never had my PC removed because it was already to my bones when diagnosed 12 years ago. An RP was not a choice for me back then, but there has been so much new technology and improved technics since then. I know there are success stories of having an RP, but there are also some very sad stories as a result. I know where you are right now, and it is a big blow to recieve this kind of diagnosis.

[fwashburn]

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I was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was told I should decide which treatment I want. My PSA is 7.4. My Gleason is 3+4=7. The cancer was only on 1 side of the prostate, and my DRE was OK. I am 54.

I have lots of research from the internet, but I cannot find ANYONE who had surgery. Can anyone tell me about their experience? Good? Bad? or Something in between?

Thanks.

I had robotic (ie. Da Vinci) 3 weeks ago and would make the same decision if I had too. I had a PSA of 4.0 which was rising over the 9 years we been 'watching'...and the 2nd biopsy showed one core with 15% cancer...met with oncology urologist...and 2 surgeons........best option when caught early on was removal. no complaints at all.....most functions are back....just dealing with bladder control which is normal.

[ChuckG]

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I had robotic prostate surgery in June 2010. My PSA was 4.76, Gleason score 4+3=7 and the tumor was felt with the DRE. After surgery there were positive margins. I also had bad incontinence. Nine months later my PSA was high enough that I needed further treatment. I started on 12 months of Lupron and Casodex. Then I had a Fluoride 18 Pet/Ct scan and bone mets were found and I had to undergo both radiation and chemo.
If I had it to do over I wish that I had undergone the F 18 scan before surgery and also one of the newer multi-parameter MRI's for Pca and a C11 Acetate Pet scan. The surgery did not work for me. The normal bone scan is not sensitive enough to catch small bone mets. I also through my prostate support group know many people who's surgery failed also.
Chuck