Newly diagnosed at 43

Benilana

Hi. My 43yo husband had no symptoms or family history and his prostate is not enlarged. He had a PSA test before a hernia operation in Jan 07 and it came back 7.4, five weeks later it was 8.6. Biopsy last week showed cancer in 6 of 12 samples (percentages 5, 7, 30, 35, 40 and 50), with 5 of the 6 on the left side. His Gleason is 3+4=7, clinical stage is T1c-Def.
We are trying to gather all the info and boy there's a lot out there! His urologist only does the open surgery and said my husband isn't a good candidate due to the hernia mesh. He set us up for appointments with a radiology oncologist at Providence Holy Cross MC in Valencia, and with a surgeon at City of Hope in Duarte. We will listen to what they say, maybe get another opinion elsewhere while gathering more info online. At this point we're thinking laparoscopy, probably robotic, and have checked out City of Hope's website plus some others.
Any thoughts?
Has anyone heard about laparoscopy when there's a hernia mesh?
Thank you!

rogermoore

Benilana,

It appears that you have caught the cancer at an early stage. Although the thought of having Cancer is extremely scary, there are a lot of us survivors out here leading a normal life. Myself, I had open surgery 6 yrs ago and have been cancer free since. There are numerous survivors that visit this site, who have undergone the robotic procedure. I am sure they will have suggestions on how you should move forward.

Good luck and our prayers are with you. Keep us posted on your husband's decision and progress.

Roger

Tasch

Benilana,

I am 45 and was diagnosed last Aug (then 44) with VERY similar numbers.
After weeks of research, I decided on the robotic procedure and had it done by one of the finest Drs there is-ASH TEWARI.
Dr Tewari is located in NYC at Cornell Med Cntr.
You can google his name for more information.
He has performed about 3000 robotic procedures and travels the world teaching it to other Drs.
You can email him with questions or concerns and he will reply within a day.
I am 5 months cancer free and feel great.No after effects.
Much like rogermoore said,it is very scary but you have many options AND you are not alone!!!
If you would like more info, or just want to talk to someone who went through it, dont hesitate to get in touch with me.
Do your homework-this is a big decision-ALWAYS keep a positive attitude and you'll do fine .

Tasch

DrHelpU

Benilana,

There has been some good news in treating prostate cancer recently, check this page:

latest prostate cancer news

it has articles like:
Aggressive Prostate Cancer "Potentially Curable"
Curecumin(TM) May Be An Effective Treatment For Prostate Cancer
Vitamin E, multivitamins, high serum selenium reduce prostate ...

hope it might be helpful

Peter51

Hello Benilana. Don't be too scared at this time. My First PSA (age 48) was 8.6 and rose to 13.6 in nine months. We had a delay because the first biopsy didn't show any cancer. They did a second one after the PSA rose and discovered it. I had open surgery by an excellent Massachusetts doctor that only does this proceedure and had been doing it for 22 years before doing me. I'm 2 1/2 years out and have never had a detectable PSA reading since the surgery and my doctor says I'm going to be around for a long time.

I did see three specialists but am not familiar with the hernia mesh. Second and third opinions would probably be very helpful.

Good luck and write to me if I can be of any help.

Peter

RLR64

Sorry I didn't see this earlier! My husband was diagnosed at age 54 with a very similar situation. He had a hernia mesh that was all entagled with his intestines and needed repaired. They did the Da Vinci procedure and fixed the hernia first then removed the prostate. It took over 5 hours but they said the hernia was the part that was difficult due to the entanglement! My husband's was a 3+4 (7) before surgery but turned out to be a 4+3 (7) afterwards. He did well with the Davinci and has no urinary or erectile dsyfunction. I would highly recommend this surgery.

gotogary

Hi, I'm 49yo and just had the DaVinci procedure 2/12/07 and am doing incredibly well. I highly recommend it. Do the research, find a doctor that has at least done over 200 procedures using the DaVinci. Good Luck!