Wow!! Three months already. I got to go talk to a cute 30 something young lady about my test results and "sex life".
In her words, "The PSA is perfect!" The continence is great! Really was early and has improved. The Viagra therapy is okay.
It can take months and months. Then she explained that the musculature heals pretty quickly. The Viagra will promote revascularization in a few months. Nerves can take a long time to recover. They suffered a pretty big insult. It is all attached to the prostate and had to be carefully separated before the prostate was removed. Even though they were very careful and had very good nerve sparing experience with me, nerves don't respond well to being disturbed. It was as if they really whacked my prostate 'funny bone' and it will take a lot of time for them to recover.
The good news was very outstanding, I thought. If this is my life, I can live with it. And what guy doesn't like the opportunity to talk to a cute 30 year old who really cares about his petty problems? And then I get to go home to my lovely lady who knows me like a book. Three great kids and their spouses and families all in the turmoil of busy, happy lives.
This is what makes the autumn bountiful! I am having a great harvest of what I sewed in the Spring of my youth and loved through the Summer of my life. I often wonder why I deserve such riches.
Another three months and I can do this again. Just to catch anything that might recur early.
The minutia of a very lucky fellow in the battles of life.
Blog Archive
Links That Relate
About Me
- Greg
- Wauconda, Illinois, United States
- A young man, suddenly very, very old who will never see 150.
Followers
Saturday March 31, 2007
About two years ago I had an elevated PSA (prostate specific antigen) result, which led to a biopsy. It was negative. Since then I have had PSA re-run every six months.
In November of ’06 it was elevated again and I was referred to my urologist again. He was reluctant to do another biopsy since he did the last one. We ran a course of broad spectrum antibiotic to cover the chance it was caused by prostatitis. It was only of minor impact and he did another biopsy two weeks ago.
Well, Sally and I are facing another test. Wednesday I was diagnosed with Prostate Adenocarcinoma (prostate cancer). Doctor Goldrath said it is “a good cancer” to have.
The doctor is rather certain it is localized and of medium grade. We are weighing our options for treatment now. He said I was young (imagine that) for prostate cancer and should consider going for a cure now. The leading option (it seems to me) is a radical prostatectomy. It’s like an appendix; I don’t need it for anything.
If it is actually contained within the prostate envelop when they operate I will likely be cancer free, at least from the prostate aspect. If in the future I have a recurrence I will have more options after surgery than from External Beam Radiation or Seeding or Cryosurgery.
Although I really trust my urologist, I am going to get a second opinion in due diligence. Hopefully that can be done quickly and we can get scheduled right away. We will keep you up to date with our progress, if you like. If you prefer not just let us know. I tend to not see these things as big secrets and share in hopes that others can be familiar with how we find these things. I have worried in the past about how I would know if I had heart disease, skin cancer or lung cancer. We just don’t talk about our symptoms, or how we are feeling. If it is TMI (too much information) just say so; but take care and be watchful. It is good to catch these things early.
In November of ’06 it was elevated again and I was referred to my urologist again. He was reluctant to do another biopsy since he did the last one. We ran a course of broad spectrum antibiotic to cover the chance it was caused by prostatitis. It was only of minor impact and he did another biopsy two weeks ago.
Well, Sally and I are facing another test. Wednesday I was diagnosed with Prostate Adenocarcinoma (prostate cancer). Doctor Goldrath said it is “a good cancer” to have.
The doctor is rather certain it is localized and of medium grade. We are weighing our options for treatment now. He said I was young (imagine that) for prostate cancer and should consider going for a cure now. The leading option (it seems to me) is a radical prostatectomy. It’s like an appendix; I don’t need it for anything.
If it is actually contained within the prostate envelop when they operate I will likely be cancer free, at least from the prostate aspect. If in the future I have a recurrence I will have more options after surgery than from External Beam Radiation or Seeding or Cryosurgery.
Although I really trust my urologist, I am going to get a second opinion in due diligence. Hopefully that can be done quickly and we can get scheduled right away. We will keep you up to date with our progress, if you like. If you prefer not just let us know. I tend to not see these things as big secrets and share in hopes that others can be familiar with how we find these things. I have worried in the past about how I would know if I had heart disease, skin cancer or lung cancer. We just don’t talk about our symptoms, or how we are feeling. If it is TMI (too much information) just say so; but take care and be watchful. It is good to catch these things early.