Between the Wednesday 6:30 PM and Friday scheduled return to the urologist, after getting over the normal reaction of hearing the "C" word, I started to research the topic.
What became very apparent is that there is lots of controversial discrepancies as to what would be done.
This time my appointment was scheduled 45 minutes later at 4:45 PM, so I had less of a wait. The nurse came in with her blood pressure testing apparatus, saw that it was me, and turned around to leave! The doctor entered at 6:00..."I'm sorry about.." I cut him short..."Doctor I'm used to the waiting game...it's modern medicine as usual!"
"As promised, I have your image and data printout from the your biopsy. Your "Gleason Score" is six...three plus three. This along with your (9.7) under 10 PSA result indicates VERY early cancer. It appeared as a left base 1.2 mm (10% of the tissue) and 0.7 mm (5% of the tissue) two spots out of 12 cores taken in the biopsy. This is prostate cancer in its very early stage and is slow-growing. You have a choice of treatment to make based on your personal "comfort level" with one over the other. I would not recommend the first, "watchful waiting", because of your relatively young age, general healthy lifestyle and great physical condition; and due to your early detection. You can take action now that will reduce you having to deal with a larger problem in the future. Hormonal modification that curtails your testosterone production is not recommended at this stage. I am a surgical urologist by training so I would lean toward that method of treatment. Traditional surgery uses a long incision in the front of your torso, and has possible complications that have been reduced by the robotic procedures. Of these, the urologist who is one of the top in the country for successfully completed procedures using the DaVinci system, in a relatively short operation time (less time under anesthesia) with a short hospital stay (overnight), and quick recovery, and a record of less complications (incontinence, lack erection ability, etc) is a doctor who works out of Celebrations Hospital in Orlando. Although I do the DaVinci procedure, I take 6 hours while he takes 1.5 hours and I would use him! Radioactive seed implants into your prostate is a choice that I would recommend for patients older, and external radiation is another choice to investigate. Take some time to research the alternatives...you really can take 6 months before deciding with hardly any risk for the spread of the cancer..."
This was a lot to absorb in one meeting, so I left with the mindset to talk to many people, and to continue to read about, and research the topic online...
"As promised, I have your image and data printout from the your biopsy. Your "Gleason Score" is six...three plus three. This along with your (9.7) under 10 PSA result indicates VERY early cancer. It appeared as a left base 1.2 mm (10% of the tissue) and 0.7 mm (5% of the tissue) two spots out of 12 cores taken in the biopsy. This is prostate cancer in its very early stage and is slow-growing. You have a choice of treatment to make based on your personal "comfort level" with one over the other. I would not recommend the first, "watchful waiting", because of your relatively young age, general healthy lifestyle and great physical condition; and due to your early detection. You can take action now that will reduce you having to deal with a larger problem in the future. Hormonal modification that curtails your testosterone production is not recommended at this stage. I am a surgical urologist by training so I would lean toward that method of treatment. Traditional surgery uses a long incision in the front of your torso, and has possible complications that have been reduced by the robotic procedures. Of these, the urologist who is one of the top in the country for successfully completed procedures using the DaVinci system, in a relatively short operation time (less time under anesthesia) with a short hospital stay (overnight), and quick recovery, and a record of less complications (incontinence, lack erection ability, etc) is a doctor who works out of Celebrations Hospital in Orlando. Although I do the DaVinci procedure, I take 6 hours while he takes 1.5 hours and I would use him! Radioactive seed implants into your prostate is a choice that I would recommend for patients older, and external radiation is another choice to investigate. Take some time to research the alternatives...you really can take 6 months before deciding with hardly any risk for the spread of the cancer..."
This was a lot to absorb in one meeting, so I left with the mindset to talk to many people, and to continue to read about, and research the topic online...
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