PSA 5.5 , Gleeson Score 3+3, Age 58 and its local confined
All scans show up clear, and am in general good health with always been active
I been give the choice of either Robortic Assistence Surgery or Brachytherapy Seeds.
I am not sure which one to go for. My head says to me less chance of it coming back if its removed, but I also think brachytherapy works well, but it may well return in a few years, and my options will be limited, to treat.
Your situation is very similar to mine. I was 3+4 on diagnosis, PSA 5.6, age 56, local confined. After my prostate was removed and the organ examined, it was reclassifed as 3+3. That was nearly 9 years ago and my PSA has been < 0.1 ever since.
Brachytherapy was less widely available and I probably wouldn't have been suitable anyway, so I had robotic surgery. I also wasn't suitable for bilateral nerve sparing; I could have sparing on one side only, which has affected my erections.
The upside of surgery is that with a good team and bilateral nerve sparing, most men come through with few side effects. My urinary continence is just fine. The whole organ is removed and the diagnosis can then be confirmed. For an early case of 3+3 or 3+4, the chance of recurrence is known to be small. The downside is that a very few men don't fare so well with side effects, and recovery after the operation is lengthy. I took about 3 months to return to work, but I was in no hurry.
Hi I was just diagnosed with prostate cancer I'm only 52. My Psa was 13 and my Gleason was 4/3. I've advised to have the robotic surgery to remove the prostate but I'm really worried about the side effects of the operation such as problems with erections and continence. I've only been married for 3 years and am troubled by issues that might occur. If it's not to traumatic could you tell how you felt pre and post op. Please be as detailed as you can. I'm finding it hard to gather positive information so I can at least get a good nights sleep
I was diagnosed in 2010 at age 56. PSA 5.6 Gleason 3+4. Since surgery my PSA has been < 0.1 and I've not needed any further treatment. I could only have one sided nerve sparing so my erections have never returned to normal. I didn't get on with viagra. Cialis didn't help, but I might try it again. I didn't find anything else helped much either. So pretty bad you might think, but paradoxically actual orgasms are really great. Unlike popular myth, you don't need to have an erection to have an orgasm. They're more intense and last longer, so there is definitely a consolation prize :D
My continence was at 99% after 6 months and I stopped wearing pads. Since then it's improved to 99.999%. I only get problems like now when I've got a bad cold and I have a coughing fit. Then I'll lose no more than 1 drop of urine into my underpants. That's probably because I haven't done the pelvic floor exercises for a while and I've got lazy. I'll have to start them again which should stop further problems. Most of the time I have absolutely no continence issues - I don't need to wear pads - just normal boxers.
I returned to work after three months but to be honest my heart was no longer in working. As soon as I reached 60, I went half time and drew half my occupational pension. Then a couple of years later I fully retired and spent my time learning Latin (everyone needs a hobby) and playing my mandolin in various bands.
Hi thanks for the reply and all your information. I have just this morning received the bone cancer scan so I suppose it's all go now. Hopefully it will be clear and I can the. Go ahead with the robotic surgery. Did you have the robotic surgery ? And if so was it painful post op ?
It was immediately painful after the operation, so I needed Oramorph, but that phase only lasted a few hours. Most men don't have much pain after the op so I was somewhat unusual.
For after the op, I'd laid in a supply of paracetamol and some soluble paracetamol+codiene. You can't have aspirin or ibuprofen because they thin the blood. These were enough to control the pain. To the best of my recollection I don't think I had much pain after the first few hours. If you have severe pain then contact your GP who can prescribe something stronger.
I recall that I was very sleepy after the operation. For the first two weeks I'd get up, shower and have breakfast at around 9am. Then watch TV (I saw a lot of TV!) then after lunch I'd crash out and sleep until about 6pm. Then evening meal and more TV until about 10pm, then sleep the night through.
You'll wear a catheter, with which I didn't have any problems at all. However, at night you have to change over to a night bag. PUT THE NIGHT BAG IN A BUCKET OVERNIGHT. Everyone at some point makes a mistake with the taps on the night bag, and you don't want to wake up to a carpet soaked with pee! If the bag is in a bucket then it'll catch the pee - and yes, it did happen to me but the bucket caught it.
