[2006] Hey Guys...anyone having prostate problems?/Merged

[Jaybee]

Alan, I pray for positive results from your biopsyl I intend to preach th importance of the PSA tests to our sons, and any other adult male who is dumb enough to come within my range. LOL!

There should probably be a campaign as effective as the Susan B. Koman campaign against breast cancer, for the prostate check. They are certainly as important as a mammogram, ya' think? Jean

 

[AwayWeGo]

I Am Positively Hoping For Negative Findings.

Alan, I pray for positive results from your biopsyl I intend to preach th importance of the PSA tests to our sons, and any other adult male who is dumb enough to come within my range. LOL!

There should probably be a campaign as effective as the Susan B. Koman campaign against breast cancer, for the prostate check. They are certainly as important as a mammogram, ya' think? Jean

Thanks, Jean. Every good wish is much appreciated.

I positively am going to get results -- in a week or so. Till then I am avoiding wrapping myself around the axle with anxiety. That is, the tissue samples are what they are & the cell examination -- if done accurately -- will show what it shows. If it's something bad, I'd be a major serious fool to let whatever that is get me down prematurely. One day at a time is just about the right pace for taking whatever life has in store.

So the question is, will the test result be negative for anything bad on the 1 hand, or on the other hand will it be positive for something that means trouble?

That is to say, the most positive (i.e., favorable) finding will be a test result that's negative for abnormal cells, torqued tissue, wrecked organs, etc.

Remember on the Seinfeld show when George Costanza was worried over a tiny white spot on his lip? After suffering major serious anxiety, George went to a doctor, who biopsied the questionable spot. In time, the doctor's office phoned George with the news that the test result was negative. George was beside himself. "Negative? My God! Am I going to die? Oh no, oh no, oh no! My test was negative! What am I going to do?"

"George, you idiot," Jerry said. "Negative means they didn't find anything bad. You're OK."

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Dang.

Not negative.

I'm supposed to get treatment recommendations next week.

Nothing like a little cancer diagnosis to reinforce my gratitude for Medicare & Blue Cross (& everything else).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Kay H]

Good luck with your decision making. I believe you will have several options to choose from. Time to scour the net for latest info.

 

[JudyH]

Surviving Prostate Cancer: What You Need to Know to Make Informed Decisions
by E. Fuller Torrey, E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. - Health & Fitness - 2008 - 304 pages

This book is great. I heard him on the Diane Rehm Show when it came out. He had it also. I got it for hubby.

Wishing you lots of luck.

 

[taffy19]

Good luck with your decision making. I believe you will have several options to choose from. Time to scour the net for latest info.

One thing is good that they are constantly advancing with better treatments that do less damage in the surrounding area. We have a dear neighbor who had prostrate cancer and he is alive and well at least five years later because they found it early.

Thank goodness you can scour the Internet for many answers and you can get a second opinion too. I wish you the best, Alan. I am glad you are well covered by insurance so you don't need to worry about big medical bills.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Thank You.

Surviving Prostate Cancer: What You Need to Know to Make Informed Decisions
by E. Fuller Torrey, E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. - Health & Fitness - 2008 - 304 pages

This book is great. I heard him on the Diane Rehm Show when it came out. He had it also. I got it for hubby.

Wishing you lots of luck.

Thanks for the good wishes, & thanks also for the book recommendation. I just now ordered a copy from Amazon Dot Com.

The dilemma now is whether to put myself in the hands of my doctor & follow whatever the doctor recommends on the 1 hand, or on the other hand to try to get semi-informed myself -- which could put me in the position of having that "little knowledge" which can be such a dangerous thing.

I feel like the man with the mouthful of scalding hot coffee, in that whatever I do next will be the wrong thing -- that I'll be risking doing the wrong thing, making the wrong decision(s), following the wrong advice, etc. And unlike buying a full-freight timeshare, there's no rescission period.

Yet I've already been told that I'll be OK, that what I have is not only treatable but curable. For that I am extremely grateful, & I wish everybody on TUG-BBS facing medical bad news could say the same.

Here's to living 1 day at a time.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Gramma5]

Alan,

I have been following this thread closely as my BIL also just got the news that his PSA is now an 8 after being a 4 in Mar. He is awaiting a biopsy on the 16th and we have been investigating options, in case, the news means surgery. They are assuming it will be that outcome. Anyway, since a close friend of ours just went thru this, they came to us for input.
Our friend did extensive research especially once he decided to have surgery. His opinion was that the fairly new(last 10 yrs) Da Vinci Procedure robiotic surgery is getting excellent results with sparing nerve damage and quick recovery. The more challenging problem seems to be having his insurance cover this surgery by the best MD in NY that has been doing this surgery for years. He is still young..58 and is in the medical field and is wondering about his hospital's medical insurance company, now that he has to probably use it for a significant surgery. It's a very challenging journey to walk. We will be thinking of you and praying for wisdom as you make the necessary decisions you have to make.

 

[MRSFUSSY]

Prostate treatment

has anyone had Thermatrx Office Thermo Therapy? Hubby has enlarged prostate & has had the usual treatments for many, many years. Lately it has been the norm for him to get up during the night every hour to use the bathroom. No fun. He saw an advertisement in the newspaper for the above mentioned treatment. Anyone ever heard of/or had this done. Looking for more comfortable situation for him. Thanks.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Short Guys Get Less Prostate Cancer.

That's according to a story in The New York Times.

Who knew ?

Full Disclosure : I stand 6 feet & zero inches. My father was six three. His father was five five. Before that, who knows ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Charlie D.]

I would like to ask you guys that have had those biopsies a question. Do they put you to la-la land while they do it? My dad is 80 and has a sky-high PSA result but none of the normal symptoms. Three years in a row they have snipped samples and they come back negative. None of those times they even offered him a pain pill. Dad has a high threshold for pain but he says it still hurts. I had that scope thing done at about 55 (five years ago) and the doctor asked me if I wanted to be out and I told him I wanted to be dreaming. No pain – no problems – see you in 10 years.

Charlie D.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Ouch.

Minimal sedation, yes. Anesthesia, no.

That is, I was instructed to swallow 1 valium an hour before the biopsy & another 15 minutes before -- just to take the edge off, I suppose.

The procedure started with 2 small injections of pain killer, administered via the same apparatus employed throughout the whole process.

Then, after administering a half-dozen little semi-automated computer-controlled & sonogram-guided snips, the urologist said, "OK, halfway done. You're doing great."

Only halfway done ? Jeezy peazy !

When I look back, it wasn't all that bad but at the time it left me semi-shaken. After just a few minutes of catching my breath, I was OK -- changed out of my paper robe & back into regular clothes & was out of there.

Even so, of the events that mark the stages of life, this is the 1 in mine that signifies the official start of Old Age any way you shake it. Till now, geriatric decrepitude has merely been incipient. Now it's here for real.

If just the biopsy was such a thrill-ride, I can hardly wait for the surgery.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[isisdave]

I live 100 miles from UCLA, and go there for my annual prod.

If I lived in McLean VA, I'd get my second opinion at Johns Hopkins.
http://www.usnews.com/directories/hospitals/index_html/specialty+ihqurol

Remember that surgeons tend to recommend surgery, and radiologists recommend radiation. It's complicated.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Have You Had This Before? Well, You've Got It Again.

Remember that surgeons tend to recommend surgery, and radiologists recommend radiation.

I never ask the barber if I need a haircut.

I never ask the psychiatrist if I'm crazy.

I never ask the tailor whether I need a new suit.

I never ask H & R Block whether I should do my own taxes.

I never ask the insurance agent if I have enough coverage.

I never ask the guy at Firestone whether I need new radials.

Etc.

That puts me in a bit of a bind when I need medical advice.

For complicated cases Hopkins might be best, no question. But for a straight-ahead case Hopkins will just assign me to some resident rather than their world-famous expert. Apparently Hopkins is perfectly capable of bungling the routine cases just the same as Greater County Regional General.

So my dilemma now is whether on the 1 hand to stick with my local doctor, who's part of a practice that comes highly recommended by other physicians including 2 at NIH who have what I have, or on the other hand to stiff the local guy & head on up to Johns Hopkins in search of whoever is The Best at treating this. Could be hunting a rabbit with an elephant gun, I don't know. In this quandary, I am like the man with a mouthful of blazing hot coffee in that whatever I do next is apt to be the wrong thing.

Not only that, my highly regarded local doctor also happens to be the urologist who treated my father -- did a couple of transurethral resections on the old man, kept him going long enough to be killed by something else. Loyalty to people who have earned it is not lightly to be set aside.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Jaybee]

Are you talking about a Colonoscopy? That isn't the same as a biopsy, as I'm sure you know. I think the discomfort of THAT procedure would vastly exceed that of a biopsy.

 

[Jaybee]

Alan, you have such a wonderful outlook on life, and a most beautiful, fair, and logical attitude about things. I know you'll make the decision that's best for you, and I wish us all a wonderful outcome.
Hmmm, I may be applying for a membership in your fan club. I enjoy your insightful posts very much.
Jean, waiting for the next episode......

 

[mamiecarter]

Screening is important. Young men should do testicular self exams

Testicular cancer typical hits young adult males, not older ones. Testicular self exams should be taught to all males at puberty.

A new lump inside the testicular sack attached to a testicle is usually the first sign. Testicular cancer caught early by regular self exam is almost 100% curable. More medical practices and even people like high school gym teachers are now teaching self exam to young men. It needs to become part of universally available health care education.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Giblets.

Testicular cancer typical hits young adult males, not older ones. Testicular self exams should be taught to all males at puberty.

A new lump inside the testicular sack attached to a testicle is usually the first sign. Testicular cancer caught early by regular self exam is almost 100% curable. More medical practices and even people like high school gym teachers are now teaching self exam to young men. It needs to become part of universally available health care education.

An old friend for life had that -- got successful surgical treatment (i.e., he had 1 cut off). Afterward, he was cancer-free for 25+ years.

Then recently he turned up with cancer in 1 kidney -- well contained, no need for radiation, chemo, etc., following laparoscopic surgery in which he had the bad kidney taken out through a smallish incision near his navel.

Via E-Mail I told him I won't worry too much about his having various redundant parts of his body cut off unless next time I see him he's sporting an eye patch & peg leg.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Quick Delivery.

Thanks for the good wishes, & thanks also for the book recommendation. I just now ordered a copy from Amazon Dot Com.

That was fast. Wow.

I ordered the book Thursday. The letter carried delivered it Saturday.

Now I've got to lay aside the sports book I'm halfway through & steel myself to read up on prostate cancer -- not my idea of fun reading.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Out Like A Light -- Never Felt A Thing.

Are you talking about a Colonoscopy? That isn't the same as a biopsy, as I'm sure you know. I think the discomfort of THAT procedure would vastly exceed that of a biopsy.

Colon cancer is what killed off my father & his mother, so even though I'm slow to catch on to some things I make sure I get the gastroenterologist to run that TV camera in through that garden hose & take a detailed look up where the sun don't shine at 3- to 5-year intervals.

Each time, they've administered some powerful intravenous sedative -- they don't call it an anesthetic, just a sedative -- that completely wipes out any recollection or sensation of anything that went on.

That is, they do the injection, they tell me to lay my head on the pillow & relax, & the next thing I know I'm in the recovery room & the whole thing has been over with for 45 minutes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Charlie D.]

Yes, it was a colonoscopy when I was knocked out. The doc asked me if I wanted to be out or just at the state that I didn’t care what was happening. I told him I wanted to be dreaming throughout the procedure. It may have made a difference on how much of that stuff he injected into the line that they had in the back of my hand? My first recall of anything after it was over was after I had my clothes on and my wife Pat said that I had done most of that myself. I kidded her a little and asked if I had mentioned any women’s names during that period of time? I am supposed to have it done again at the 10-year interval.

I know very little about what you guys are going through. My dad did some research and talked to his doc and what I could understand from him is that there was something about a slow spreading versus a fast spreading type? He had already decided that at age 80 if he did have the slow variety that he wasn’t going to do anything about it. Hopefully you have caught it soon enough that it can be knocked out in a hurry. All of us are pulling for you!!

Charlie D.

 

[Jaybee]

Thankfully, the worst part of a Colonoscopy procedure is the preparation. The rest is a piece of cake...so to speak.

.
That is, they do the injection, they tell me to lay my head on the pillow & relax, & the next thing I know I'm in the recovery room & the whole thing has been over with for 45 minutes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Colonoscope Prep.

Thankfully, the worst part of a Colonoscopy procedure is the preparation. The rest is a piece of cake...so to speak.

My late father's gastroenterologists made the old man drink a gallon of chalk dust mixed with RV-antifreeze -- at least that's what the concoction looks like. That stuff cleans out the alimentary canal pronto -- no waiting.

My G.I. specialist puts patients on a starvation diet for several days consisting of only clear liquids, followed by a regimen of powerful laxatives the day before going in to get scoped. That also cleans out the alimentary canal.

Either way, the prep is worse than the procedure.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Jaybee]

Well, I wuz robbed! Obviously, it must depend on what HMO or other insurance one has. I thought my Gastroenterologist was a sadist, and now I'm sure of it. I had to do the 3 day liquid diet, the laxatives, the Fleet enema AND the freaking chalk dust/RV anti-freeze, besides. That has to be overkill!
OK, I guess I'm through kvetching, until I think of something else. Happy new week, everyone.

 

[Charlie D.]

Yes, the prep was not fun.

Charlie D.