No Cancer diagnosis, prostate problems, new, hope not to offend

Heya,

I have been a member of the crohns forum here since about 2005 or so, and as we all know, it seems that our illness's tend to morph and criss-cross forums, which brought me here.

I will surpass my whole 15 years of crohns history story, suffice it to say, more er visits, surgeries, procedures and drugs then you can shake a stick at, sound familiar? :)

This last 3 years I contracted c-diff, which took 1 1/2 years to beat then candida, which I am still taking difulcan for, 3rd try, have'nt beat it yet, guess that is what ya get when ya got a messed up bacterial lining in your guts (yes I take VSL#3 probiotic ever day, have for years, still doesn't keep it balanced, bacteria wise)

Anyway, the last 6 months I began having symptoms, mass abdominal pressure like I needed a bowel movement, inability to pee on command, not able to fully empty bladder.

I always thought it was related to and of my crohns drugs, or bacterial infections, I went to see a urologist and it turns out I have a bladder stone blocking my urethra, have to have some procedure called TURP to get it out.

Thing is, the urologist also told me my prostate was enlarged and he could cut it down and biopsy it during the TURP, but that would require more risk, longer stay in the hospital and so on.

I have been checked for many other forms of cancer over the years and tested neg, is there a way to test the prostate without a direct biopsy? I really don't want to lie around with a catheter for 3 days if I don't have to.

The bladder stone procedure is in/out, barring complications. I would rather go home after the stone is gone and see if my pressure symptoms go away before committing to something more invasive like the prostate surgery.

The surgeon does agree, which is cool, he doesn't want me to suffer any more then I have to.

My concern, goes back to "Is there another way to test prostate cancer"

If the biopsy is the only way and I don't do this during TURP just cause I am being a sissy I am a fraid I could have prostate cancer with out even knowing just because I was to chicken-crap to deal with a catheter.

If I could get any feedback from you guys that would give me peace of mind it would be helping me match my symptoms

Front abdominal constant pressure

difficulty telling difference between bowel movement pressure and urine pressure till I go push.

When I asked The urologist how enlarged was my prostate he did say the prostate wasn't grossly enlarged, he said it was just "enlarged", he didn't seem extremely concerned.

So it is this pressure thing, I know having a kidney stone blocks your bladder and causes pressure, but I just wondered if any of you guys had a similar pressure feeling stemming from you prostate instead.

Anyway, thanks so much in advance for any help, I am sure I will have more questions

Thanks

Blue Velvyt

Post Edited (Blue Velvyt) : 8/16/2013 6:27:42 PM (GMT-6)

thank you, will definitely research and ask my uro about it

It may be once the stone is removed you won't have any more issues. The enlarged prostate only becomes a problem if it's constricting the urethra. So surgery may not be necessary.

I'm a little confused, a TURP is the procedure to reduce a portion of the prostate, so I guess you mean it's the same procedure used to obliterate the stone, and while they are there in , they will roto-rotor your prostate, kinda like a 2 for 1?

There is the potential for some unpleasant side effects from TURP to reduce the impinging prostate tissue, so I wouldn't add a surgical procedure just to test for cancer, unless it was absolutely necessary. I'm pretty sure that can be determined with tests prior to committing to it.

I've been told that if you do have cancer located in the part of the prostate being "shaved", you can spread the cancer into your blood stream. I am not 100% about that, but it's worth looking into that aspect of it.

There are less invasive tests, to see if you need a biopsy that should be done prior. In my limited experience, there are no symptoms from prostate cancer until it escapes.

If they would only be able to check the center area of the prostate (surrounding the urethra), any cancer found there would very possibly be a low Gleason score, such as less than 6. Slower growing PC tends to grow in this section of the prostate and would not likely cause any problems in the future.

The more aggressive cell types tend to form further out from the middle of the prostate. So it would seem (that is IF I am correct in my above assumptions) that it would not be necessary to do a biopsy while removing the stone.

Perhaps you can wait a few months after this procedure and then check your PSA. The results of this test could then suggest whether a standard biopsy would be called for.

Chuck

Resident of Highland, Indiana just outside of Chicago, IL.
July 2011 local PSA lab reading 6.41 (from 4.1 in 2009). Mayo Clinic PSA Sept. 2011 was 5.7.
Local urologist DRE revealed significant BPH, but no lumps.
PCa Dx Aug. 2011 at age of 61.
Biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma in 3 of 20 cores (one 5%, two 20%). T2C.
Gleason score 3+3=6.
CT of abdomen, bone scan both negative.
DaVinci prostatectomy 11/1/11 at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), nerve sparing, age 62.
My surgeon was Dr. Matthew Tollefson, who I highly recommend.
Final pathology shows tumor confined to prostate.
5 lymph nodes, seminal vesicles, extraprostatic soft tissue all negative.
1.0 x 0.6 x 0.6 cm mass involving right posterior inferior,
right posterior apex & left mid posterior prostate.
Right posterior apex margin involved by tumor over a 0.2 cm length, doctor says this is insignificant.
Prostate 98.3 grams, tumor 2 grams. Prostate size 5.0 x 4.7 x 4.5 cm.
Abdominal drain removed the morning after surgery.
Catheter out in 7 days. No incontinence, occasional minor dripping.
Post-op exams 2/13/12, 9/10/12, PSA <0.1. PSA tests now annual.
Semi-firm erections now happening 14 months post-op & VERY slowly getting a bit stronger.

yeah, the uro was pretty clear he was not doing the prostate, simply removing the stone....

is there a reason you guys are hesitant about the turp, is there another procedure or a different procedure which is better designed for removing stones from your bladder?

Normally when Dr's explain why they choose a certain procedure it is due to the location of where they have to go and what they have to do, not that that helps explain things, as we get close to the date, I am sure he will explain everything