Intro and my story so far

Hi All,

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to find this group but happy to be here now. I thought my first post should tell my story which I’m sure is similar to many of yours. In Dec, 2016, at my annual physical, my PSA was found to be elevated at 6.3, up from 3.8 just a year earlier. My GP referred me to a urologist just to be safe even though I had no symptoms and DRE was negative. My urologist monitored my PSA level for about 6 months and, after no significant change recommended I have a biopsy which came back positive for PCa in 3 of 12 cores with Gleason score of 6 in all cores. Obviously not great news but at that point my urologist was optimistic that I was a good candidate for AS. To verify, he ordered a MRI which showed 2 fairly large lesions with PI-RADS of 4 (high risk for clinically significant cancer). Given the MRI results, I was advised by my urologist and GP to have a radical prostatectomy.

So, on October 30, a little over 2 months after diagnosis, I underwent RALP using the da Vinci robot. I spent the night in the hospital and went home to start my recovery with the help of my wonderful wife who has been a rock during this entire ordeal. A week later, at my follow up appointment, X-rays of my bladder revealed that it was safe to remove the Foley catheter which was a huge relief. My surgeon also had the final pathology report which was more good news: no positive margins and no lymph node involvement. It was the best news I had received in more than a year.

Now I’m almost 4 weeks post op and recovering nicely. Since the removal of the catheter, I have been fortunate that incontinence has been a very minor issue for me and I haven’t worn a pad in about 2 weeks now. ED is definitely an issue, but I’m hoping that will improve over time. My doc put me on sildenafil 40mg a day just 2 days ago and I guess we’ll go from there and see what happens.

So, that’s my story. I’m glad to be here and hope to be an active contributing member of the community. I’m happy to answer any questions for anyone who may be where I was a few months ago.

Jeff

Thanks Saipan. My first PSA test is 3 months after surgery so about 2 months from now.

JeffM-

I hope your recovery goes well. Be sure to ask for an ultrasensitive PSA test at 3 months.

Jeff, welcome to our club that we didn't choose to join. I'm another guy who got an upgrade after surgery. I think it happens about 25-30% of the time. Lots of docs do the first PSA at 6 weeks, like mine did..and he told me it was for the trend only, and the last word would be at 3 months.

Keep at it, and it may be that you'll get some glimmers of activity down below at any time. If you do...feel free to take appropriate (but gentle) action.

Thanks for the welcome guys. Yes, my final pathology was an upgrade from the biopsy with 30% of my prostate Gleason 7 tumor. My surgeon was actually concerned that may be the case when he saw the MRI. After seeing the final results, I was happy with my decision to opt for surgery.

Lapilot, yes both nerves were spared and my surgeon felt that it went well so fingers crossed.

Allen, I will be sure to ask for the ultrasensitive PSA.

Thanks for the stats halbert. My doc plans to do PSA every 3 months for a year and then annually after that if everything looks good. Will be on the lookout for glimmers of activity and put it to good use if the opportunity arises haha.

Upgrade happened to me as well, huge jump from initial biopsy.

Welcome, and glad your recovery is going well. I am a couple of months behind you. Meet with the surgeon in a couple weeks to get scheduled. Denis