Re: Hey Guys...anyone having prostate problems?
Over a year ago, while in my ts on Kauai, I thought I'd call my home phone to check on messages. One was from my Kaiser doctor who said that my PSA test went from 32 last year to 48 this year (or something like that) and, as it's an indicator for cancer and that's a big jump in one year, "I'd like you to call the Urology Department and schedule a needle biopsy." That's not something you want to hear while on vacation.
Another message was from the Urology Department telling me to call back and schedule a needle biopsy. I decided that, since Kaiser appointments can be pretty distant, to call from Kauai and make the appointment for a few weeks later. Two words I don't especially ever want to hear together are Needle and Biopsy.
The biopsy itself was unpleasant, but I'm a big boy. I was to return the next week to hear the results, which would be when they come back from the lab (so the Urologist wouldn't know any sooner than that).
I showed up for that appointment from the lab and, as the first thing the Urologist asked was if my wife was with me, I knew the results were not good. The biopsy is not one sample but MANY. In my case, only about 1/4 of them had a CA (that's the abbreviation that hospital employees say instead of the dreaded word) type of cell.
Next, there's a measurement of the agressiveness of the CA type. With prostate cancer, a Gleeson score less than 7 can be ignored for awhile. A score of 8 or more should be acted on immediately. Mine was 7, right in the middle. My choices were: Watchful waiting; surgery--prostatectomy; Androgen Suppression (drug that stops you from making testosterone, which encourages prostate CA); External Beam Radiation and Radioactive pellet implantation. The urologist said I could take a month to decide, after absolutely refusing to pick one for me.
I did a lot of online research and, because the type of cancer in prostates is called Adenocarcinoma, and as that in the lung is what killed my Dad, I decided not to go with Watchful Waiting. I didn't like the surgery because of the probability was high for impotence and/or incontinence. The androgen suppression had side effects that didn't appeal, so that left me with pellets and external beam radiation.
The e-beam radiation is five days a week for seven weeks, which sounded pretty limiting, whereas the pellets were one visit and maybe a follow-up visit. So that did it for me: pellets. Then I kept on researching and learned that, with modern imaging, the e-beam radiation is much more accurate than before and skin fistulas are not a problem nowadays. Also, the pellets have a half-life of 45 days, so the side effects of them could be much longer than the 35-day e-beam treatments. So I elected the e-beam treatments.
They started out a piece of cake but gradually I noticed that my bladder was being affected by scatter of the radiation hitting the prostate. I liken this to putting a flashlight on my palm and noticing that the other side of my hand glows. My large intestine also got affected, so things got a little runny at the back door, with more visits to the throne than were normal.
The last week of treatment I was going to the bathroom every night maybe five times because the bladder couldn't take the pain of much fluid pressure and woke me up. After treatments stopped, that stopped being a problem in less than a month. Maybe 2 weeks, I can't remember.
The Radiologist said that when I ever have a colonoscopy, the specialist would know that I had radiation, even though the intestine would not be a permanent problem for me. The bladder is absolutely back to normal, from my viewpoint, UNLESS I hold off from using the toilet for some reason, and let it fill to high pressure. Then it will take several weeks to lose that sensitivity again. The back door function is virtually normal now, maybe a little softer than before, but hard to tell.
The radiation was a little more than a year ago. My last PSA was less than 1, I think. I take it every six months or so. Would I do the radiation again? Probably. Of the five choices, every one has drawbacks. I still have erectile function and no incontinence, though those things can happen with radiation treatment up to three years later, I found in researching.
Exposure to radiation is a known cause of cancer, so I may only have bought a few more years. I vowed never to regret a decision, so I don't. Life will deliver what it will.
My very best wishes in this exiting time of life.
Oh boy, blood in my urine, not a good sign...off to the doc at my wife's insistance...physician finds small lump on my prostate....now I'm off to urologist....has anyone had this problem? Is this the beginning of prostate cancer???? Should I start making out my will??? Blood test results have not come back, and I'm being pre-mature, but my wife swears by this site and how helpful everyone is...any advice? Any holistic methods in the meantime?
Thank you Tuggers, you have been so helpful. My appt with the urologist is next week at 2:30 and yes, my wife will accompany me. She asks lots of questions that I neglect to do...so, hopefully, all will be well, but I shall keep you posted. I took the blood test last week and should get the results back before I go to the urologist. Whew! This will put a scare in me!
