Prostate Cancer - My Story - Detection and Preparing for Surgery/Radiation
By way of introduction, I’m a white, obviously a male, age 72 in good shape except for the normal aches and pains of aging. I just quit teaching high school computer/technology courses last August and had settled down to a routine of substitute teaching, playing tennis 3 times a week, swimming laps whenever feasible and traveling as much as the budget allows. I had retired from 20 years in the navy prior to 23 years of teaching. My wife sells real estate which supplements the retired military pay and social security.
Just last month (February, 2009), my doctor (GP) had me have another PSA because my number had recently gone over the cutoff number of 4.0 six months ago during my annual physical. It now reads 4.7 and justified going to a urologist to see if there was a problem i.e. cancer. After a physical examination, the urologist said I had cancer and scheduled a biopsy to confirm what he thought. The biopsy consisted of taking 12 samples from different areas of my prostate, having the samples sent away for evaluation and the results returned to my urologist.
In early March, My wife and I met with the urologist and he interpeted the results of the biopsy for us. Knowing I had cancer, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind, but I did remember a couple of key words from the discussion such as aggressive and surgery. I had expected to have several weeks of radiation like one of my acquaintances did and then go on with my life, but that wasn’t to be.
I was then scheduled to have some blood work, a bone scan, CT scan, and a chest xray to see whether the cancer had spread to other parts of my body. This Thursday, my wife and I meet with the urologist to see just how bad off I am and what is to be done next.
In the meantime I had talked with a gentleman who had had the prostate surgery 3 years earlier and his words eased some of my anxiety. He explained how his cancer was discovered - PSA, the recouperation period, why he selected surgery and his doctor and generally how he coped with the procedure. A couple of differences between us; he was about 20 years younger and his cancer seemed to be less aggressive. I recommend talking with someone who has been through surgery or radiation as a patient to everyone who is considering one of those procedures.
The results of the scan, blood work and xray were negative so that was a load off my back. I was indescribably happy to know that the cancer hadn’t spread to other parts of my body i.e. it was localized to the prostate. If the cancer had spread it would have been an entirely different ballgame, perhaps without a happy ending.
I had made a list of questions to ask the urlogist (surgeon) prior to our next meeting. The questions related to robotic surgery, nerve sparing, second opinions, patient references, sex, incontinence, and his prevous experiance with robotic surgery. All my questions I had at the time were answered - my next step was to have a general discussion with my GP with whom who I have been a patient of 25 years. I’m also reading Doctor Patrick Walsh’s Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer.
My wife and I visited my GP at the end of March to receive some moral support and confirmation that the decision to go with robotic surgery and having the surgery done locally as opposed to going to John Hopkins or any other larger scale medical facility was the correct way to go. The GP agreed upon my plan of action. Knowing which procedure to have done and its location is another relief. Now I need to continue losing weight, get into better shape, interview one of the surgeon’s former patients and set a date for the operation. (this would be fascination if it was happening to me 
)
Early April - my wife and I met with the urologist and decided to go with the robotic surgery. He gave me an brief overview of the procedure and some of the consequences. So the decision is made to go with laparoscopic/robotic radical prostatectomy. Now, the next step is to make an appointment with the hospital in the area that has the robotic facilities (this is a multimillion dollar facility including equipment and maintenance). Sounds easy enough, but I found out that I have to be cleared by a GP to be in good enough health for the surgery. I have an appointment April 17 to have this done. This seems to drag on - I hope I’m still around for the surgery .
I was checked out by the Doctor (GP) to be ready for surgery. Essentially, he listened to my heart, conducted an ekg and asked how I felt. After I found out I was OK, I immediately called the hospital the find out when my surgery would be. They stated the earliest would be 2 June. This late date for the surgery upset me a bit and I tried to make it earlier, but to no avail. This is going on since the end of January and my surgery is in June??? I don’t feel like anyone other than my wife is sharing this frustration of the slowness of this system. It is now the middle of May.
Chronology:
Jan 29 PSA taken
Feb18 Physical by Urologist
Feb 27 Biopsy by Urologist
March 6 Discussed biopsy results with Urologist
Maarch 26 Discussed results of furthers tests with Urologist
March 30 Consultation with my GP
April 10 Consulation with urologist and decision to go with the robotic surgery
April 17 Pre surgery physical by GP
June2 Scheduled for surgery
Stay tuned!
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