Radical Prostatectomy

[Richard22]

Anyone had experience with it? An MRI shows a PI-RAD 5 but with everything normal outside the prostate sack. So it appears whatever I have was found early. Having a needle biopsy performed early this week. Just want to be prepared if my doctor recommends removal of my prostate.

Get those annual checkups and ask about the new 4Kscore blood test that checks for the potential to develop Prostate Cancer.

TIA

 

[ismith]

No idea but I wish you the best of luck. This getting old stuff can get rather tiresome. It’s like waiting for a bad enough prognosis so you can start chewing and smoking tobacco like you’re nineteen again and I hate it.

 

[brymoore]

Best of luck.

A family friend had his prostate out several years ago. Doc didn’t give him any warnings of potential side effects. He lost his ability to have erections. Our wives would chat and last I knew the problem hadn’t been corrected after a few years. Tough situation.

Coincidentally, the guys Dad had the same prostate issue and had a different type of prostate procedure that didn’t cause sexual issues.

I’d ask your doc about the potential sexual side effects.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I had the biopsy two years ago. Took seven samples. Doc was explaining the procedure to me and I stopped him. “Doc, so your going to gut shoot me with seven little arrows, he laughed yep, thats the idea then we examine the samples to see what’s going on. “Shit Doc I stick seven arrows in an elk, I can tell you what’s going on, I’m packing meat.”
My Dad, one of my younger brothers, one of my grandfathers and a couple uncles all got prostate cancer. I’ll be 70 this elk season. My PSA are a little high but they’ve been that way for a couple years now. Doc, wife and I have elected active monitoring, PSA every six months. Next visit with the Doc is early may.
So far I’m a little lower than you. If you haven’t get smart on what your options are at your age. It is one thing being 70 quite another to be 45 like my son in law.
Good luck

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Best of luck.

A family friend had his prostate out several years ago. Doc didn’t give him any warnings of potential side effects. He lost his ability to have erections. Our wives would chat and last I knew the problem hadn’t been corrected after a few years. Tough situation.

Coincidentally, the guys Dad had the same prostate issue and had a different type of prostate procedure that didn’t cause sexual issues.

I’d ask your doc about the potential sexual side effects.

Friend worked for a med device company and for a while worked with the penile pump side of the business. This is exactly what they made devices to correct.

Super interesting from the engineering side imo

 

[Richard22]

I had the biopsy two years ago. Took seven samples. Doc was explaining the procedure to me and I stopped him. “Doc, so your going to gut shoot me with seven little arrows, he laughed yep, thats the idea then we examine the samples to see what’s going on. “Shit Doc I stick seven arrows in an elk, I can tell you what’s going on, I’m packing meat.”
My Dad, one of my younger brothers, one of my grandfathers and a couple uncles all got prostate cancer. I’ll be 70 this elk season. My PSA are a little high but they’ve been that way for a couple years now. Doc, wife and I have elected active monitoring, PSA every six months. Next visit with the Doc is early may.
So far I’m a little lower than you. If you haven’t get smart on what your options are at your age. It is one thing being 70 quite another to be 45 like my son in law.
Good luck

It was an elevated PSA of 4.6 over two checks that got the ball moving for me. I also have a PI-RAD 2 and 3 that I'm not so much worried about but it means more needle samples just to be sure. Thankfully, my doc said I can take laughing gas to lessen the pain, which according to what I've read works really well. And if he can work that needle as quickly as he can pull a stint out after kidney stone surgery, I'm thinking the biopsy won't last as long as I fear.

For those that may be interested...

1. An elevated PSA indicates a potential problem. Mine ran 4.6 over two consecutive tests.

2. A 4Kscore test is done to determine if there's a potential to develop Cancer. A low score indicates no need for an MRI and closer look. A score of 7 and below is normal. My score was 30 (moderate risk) with 100 being "high risk" or top of range.

3. An MRI is performed to look for abnormalities after a high 4Kscore. My MRI showed three areas scored 2, 3, and 5, with 5 being the highest chance of Cancer. The MRI can also see if there is evidence Cancer has spread outside the prostate. Thankfully, there was no evidence of that in my case.

4. A biopsy is performed to check tissue samples from areas that appear on the MRI. These are scored from no Cancer to slow to fast growing or aggressive.

 

[utah400elk]

Probably a little TMI but…

I had a prostatectomy in 2013. I did a ton of research and had a actual surgeon do the procedure vs the robotic. I had mine done in Denver. The Dr had done over 4000 when he did mine. He explained a surgeon can actually feel cancer while doing the surgery. He explained that cancerous tissue is actually sticky (like I said probably TMI).

It sucked for a while. However, I recovered with no side affects. I credit my surgeon for the no side affects.

They caught mine very early. I hit it off with my Dr during my annual work physical. Her husband was a hunter and we talked about hunting. She actually called me right about 1.5 months before we we’re supposed to move to AK. I was going to get to spend 5-6 years getting a few dream hunts then move somewhere warmer for retirement. We were at Disneyland getting a last Disney trip in with my son before the move when she called a few months after my physical. She said she had read an article about PSA levels and thought about my last physical. My PSA was only 2.6. It had gone from 2.4-2.6 in three years. The threshold was 4.0 before They tell you to get checked.

I was going to ignore it. The Dr could tell and called my wife. My wife refused to move unless I had a biopsy. Nobody in my family had ever had prostate cancer and I was 39 when I was diagnosed.

My local Dr said I was being paranoid and not to worry. I hated the biopsy but really my work Dr and Wife made me do it. Well, I had cancer.

Like I said, the surgery was rough but I got through it with a great surgeon and no side effects. The pathologist determined that the cancer was less than .1 MM from escaping and if I had waited until my PSA had hit 4.0 I would have had a much different prognosis.

I always tell my wife that hunting saved my life. She simply shakes her head and says that two hunting wives actually saved my life.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or I can help in any way.

 

[longbow51]

There are lots of options other than prostatectomy. I had stereotactic radiation, which focuses beams from different directions which coincide on the spots of cancer, minimizing radiation damage to other tissues; 5 years out and so far so good. Proton beam therapy is even newer and lots of major centers have it.

I had fatigue during therapy, but it was only a few treatments over 10 days and no other side effects.

Good luck!

 

[gouch]

www.hunttalk.com/threads/cancer-fight-begins.328187/

 

[Bob-WY]

Friend of mine had the proton therapy and it worked. No side effects

 

[Richard22]

All the comments are very much appreciated.

A lot of men die from Prostate Cancer every year when many if not most of them could have been saved had they simply had routine checkups. It seems it's one of those diseases that by the time you wait for the flags to start appearing, beating it is far more difficult.

 

[recon6036]

Cancer fight begins

I know this is nowhere related to hunting and I’m not looking for sympathy in any way, but I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer recently and thought I’d reach out to others who have experience with the different treatments, side effects, lifestyle changes, etc. I’m 55 with a Gleason (3+4)=7...

www.hunttalk.com

Scheduled for R.P. May 27th at Mayo in Rochester MN.
Gleason (3+4) cancer.
Get at least 3 opinions.
Be aware, radiation will probably work, but may have a higher chance of Cancer returning or showing up elsewhere in the Prostate. After radiation, removal is much harder.
Radiation side effects may also show up years after.
ED and urinary incontinence are 100% with R.P., however based on age and health going into it, both are highly likely to return. If not, medication or other procedures can help.
Again….get opinions.

Biopsy wasn’t fun, but is easily manageable without meds….imo

 

[Richard22]

Had my biopsy this morning so I should know my treatment options in a few weeks.

I've never smoked pot but suspect I was sucking on that laughing gas tube in much the same way. Inhale deep and exhale slow. Strongly recommend it. Very little pain at all.

 

[longbow51]

Oh wow, I got nothing for pain. If you have the SLIGHTEST fever go to the ER; sign of sepsis, which I had.

 

[Richard22]

Oh wow, I got nothing for pain. If you have the SLIGHTEST fever go to the ER; sign of sepsis, which I had.

Thanks for the heads up. Yes, I was given those instructions at the first sign of fever and chills. I started taking antibiotics yesterday and was given a shot of them again right before the biopsy today. I believe I have enough pills to last a couple more days.

 

[Gynaroo]

Best of luck. Hopefully the biopsy results come back favorable and you have many choices.

I’m not a Urologist but still a surgeon. I would choose to have the surgery by a skilled high volume robotic surgeon. There are still risks with the traditional open techniques vs robotic. But for me robotic surgery allows for the ability to visualize anatomy and hopefully preserve abilities to have sex or pee without minimal intervention.

 

[Richard22]

Best of luck. Hopefully the biopsy results come back favorable and you have many choices.

I’m not a Urologist but still a surgeon. I would choose to have the surgery by a skilled high volume robotic surgeon. There are still risks with the traditional open techniques vs robotic. But for me robotic surgery allows for the ability to visualize anatomy and hopefully preserve abilities to have sex or pee without minimal intervention.

Thank you very much for that feedback. Thankfully, my doctor has performed over 1200 robotic cases, including the first one in my area.