Newly diagnosed Prostate Cancer

qjenxu

Hello everyone

My husband just had his 55 year birthday and found out that he has Prostate Cancer. His PSA is 5 and Gleason score is 6(3+3). He had biopsy done recently and just took X-ray to find out what stage he is at.

I am new on how to fight prostate cancer and want to find out all the information that would help him. The first thing I am looking for is what kind of diet helps fight prostate cancer: soy been? tomato?

Thanks a lot!

Jennifer

lewvino

Jennifer,Sorry to hear
Jennifer,
Sorry to hear about your husband. I just turned 55 this month and had the Davinci Surgery in August.

There are foods etc for fighting prostate cancer but don't forget that you should also look into Surgery, radiation or other treatments. My Gleason was 7 (3+4) and PSA of 5.1.

It sounds like they have caught your husbands cancer early so don't ignore it.

Soy bean and tomato's are good for fighting prostate cancer along with what they call a heart healthy diet. There are several excellent books out on Prostate cancer and would recommend reading Dr. Patrick Walsh's book on Prostate Cancer and the book Saving your sex Life by Dr. John P Mulhall. You can get both books online at any of the major booksellers. They will also talk about Diet in Dr. Walsh's book.

I have drastically changed my eating habbits since being diagnosed. Is it helping? I do not know but figure it can not hurt. I have eliminated red meat from my diet, Eating more fish and chicken. Also eating more TOFU in tomato sauce. I also have read that Pomegranite juice is great and that ACAI berry is. I take both of those in a pill format that I got a a health food store. I was buying Pomegranite juice at grocery but it is expense to get 100% pure. Most of it is watered down and mixed with other juices so the pill format is better.

Also Vitamin D is good for fighting prostate cancer and Green tea. I take my Green tea also in a capsule format since I can get it de-caf that way and am avoiding caffeine and drinking lot's of water instead. I have stopped all soft-drinks, coffee, alcholol...etc. Just water and fruit juices. Yes, I know not much fun but that is what I'm doing pre and post surgery!

My first post surgery PSA test is on Oct. 19th so am hoping for a very low number.

If you or your husband want to chat offline feel free to email me at lewvino@yahoo.com

I'm sure other's on the forum will be chiming in and also giving you their ideas.

Just remember, You and your husband are not alone, there is ton's of information to shift through. My dad was treated for his prostate cancer back in 1996 and is doing pretty good still 13 years later.

Larry

qjenxu

lewvino said:

Jennifer,Sorry to hear
Jennifer,
Sorry to hear about your husband. I just turned 55 this month and had the Davinci Surgery in August.

There are foods etc for fighting prostate cancer but don't forget that you should also look into Surgery, radiation or other treatments. My Gleason was 7 (3+4) and PSA of 5.1.

It sounds like they have caught your husbands cancer early so don't ignore it.

Soy bean and tomato's are good for fighting prostate cancer along with what they call a heart healthy diet. There are several excellent books out on Prostate cancer and would recommend reading Dr. Patrick Walsh's book on Prostate Cancer and the book Saving your sex Life by Dr. John P Mulhall. You can get both books online at any of the major booksellers. They will also talk about Diet in Dr. Walsh's book.

I have drastically changed my eating habbits since being diagnosed. Is it helping? I do not know but figure it can not hurt. I have eliminated red meat from my diet, Eating more fish and chicken. Also eating more TOFU in tomato sauce. I also have read that Pomegranite juice is great and that ACAI berry is. I take both of those in a pill format that I got a a health food store. I was buying Pomegranite juice at grocery but it is expense to get 100% pure. Most of it is watered down and mixed with other juices so the pill format is better.

Also Vitamin D is good for fighting prostate cancer and Green tea. I take my Green tea also in a capsule format since I can get it de-caf that way and am avoiding caffeine and drinking lot's of water instead. I have stopped all soft-drinks, coffee, alcholol...etc. Just water and fruit juices. Yes, I know not much fun but that is what I'm doing pre and post surgery!

My first post surgery PSA test is on Oct. 19th so am hoping for a very low number.

If you or your husband want to chat offline feel free to email me at lewvino@yahoo.com

I'm sure other's on the forum will be chiming in and also giving you their ideas.

Just remember, You and your husband are not alone, there is ton's of information to shift through. My dad was treated for his prostate cancer back in 1996 and is doing pretty good still 13 years later.

Larry

Thank you so much Larry for all the information!
First all, I wish all my best to your new PSA text.

Yes, PC is not new for us because my husband's dad and his uncle had it. Seems it is family history. But both his father and uncle had PC at their 70s.

Yes, Surgery, radiation or other treatments are all in our consideration. We will find out what his urologist would recommend to us. We live in Columbus Oh area. Does anyone know who are good urologists and good surgeons in the area? Thanks very much for advance!

Now I hate myself for not point a gun to him to force him go see doctor earlier. With new job new home new baby to a new area, he hasn't had his annual check up for 3-4 years due to stress. What a bloody lesson. I just wish we are able to fix it.

Thanks Larry for all the diet and supplement information. I will go get those from store in no time. My husband hates soy bean product and OK with green tea. but I'll let him read all these helpful posts.

Larry thank you for your email address and we will keep touch with you!

lewvino

qjenxu said:

Thank you so much Larry for all the information!
First all, I wish all my best to your new PSA text.

Yes, PC is not new for us because my husband's dad and his uncle had it. Seems it is family history. But both his father and uncle had PC at their 70s.

Yes, Surgery, radiation or other treatments are all in our consideration. We will find out what his urologist would recommend to us. We live in Columbus Oh area. Does anyone know who are good urologists and good surgeons in the area? Thanks very much for advance!

Now I hate myself for not point a gun to him to force him go see doctor earlier. With new job new home new baby to a new area, he hasn't had his annual check up for 3-4 years due to stress. What a bloody lesson. I just wish we are able to fix it.

Thanks Larry for all the diet and supplement information. I will go get those from store in no time. My husband hates soy bean product and OK with green tea. but I'll let him read all these helpful posts.

Larry thank you for your email address and we will keep touch with you!

I hated soybean at first but
I hated soybean at first but have gotten to actually enjoy the TOFU. My wife makes it with tomato sauce, Onions, Green peppers etc to 'spice it up'. Actually had two helpings for lunch today. I used to work for a company up in the Dublin Ohio area but was based out of Tennessee where I live now so not familiar with any of the doctors up that way.

Don't beat yourself up over the physical's. A gleason 6 is very treatable with good outcomes.
If you decide on Surgery with the Davinci robot look for a surgeon with LOTS of experience. I had a choice between 1 with about 250 here local or a Doctor up at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tn who had done 2000+ I went with experience.

I'm sure another man on this forum named Sonny will be sending you some thougths soon. He just had his Davince Surgery on Sept. 17 up at Henry Ford in Detroit. Sonny is having great results post surgery.

If you like to cook I believe Michael Milkin at http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org/
has a cook book out on things that he has researched and used in his fight against an advanced form of prostate cancer.

Larry

qjenxu

lewvino said:

I hated soybean at first but
I hated soybean at first but have gotten to actually enjoy the TOFU. My wife makes it with tomato sauce, Onions, Green peppers etc to 'spice it up'. Actually had two helpings for lunch today. I used to work for a company up in the Dublin Ohio area but was based out of Tennessee where I live now so not familiar with any of the doctors up that way.

Don't beat yourself up over the physical's. A gleason 6 is very treatable with good outcomes.
If you decide on Surgery with the Davinci robot look for a surgeon with LOTS of experience. I had a choice between 1 with about 250 here local or a Doctor up at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tn who had done 2000+ I went with experience.

I'm sure another man on this forum named Sonny will be sending you some thougths soon. He just had his Davince Surgery on Sept. 17 up at Henry Ford in Detroit. Sonny is having great results post surgery.

If you like to cook I believe Michael Milkin at http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org/
has a cook book out on things that he has researched and used in his fight against an advanced form of prostate cancer.

Larry

Thanks Larry!
Glad that there are so much information and website that I can learn from.

How do you find out which doctor is right for you, as far as how many surgery they had done? Just go interview them and ask question? Does urologist do prostate cancer surgery too? Our family doctor recommend a urologist in Central Ohio Urology Group to us but my husband is not crazy about him because he has to wait very long to see the doctor for just 10 minus of talking.

Thanks

Jennifer

MCSmith44

qjenxu said:

Thank you so much Larry for all the information!
First all, I wish all my best to your new PSA text.

Yes, PC is not new for us because my husband's dad and his uncle had it. Seems it is family history. But both his father and uncle had PC at their 70s.

Yes, Surgery, radiation or other treatments are all in our consideration. We will find out what his urologist would recommend to us. We live in Columbus Oh area. Does anyone know who are good urologists and good surgeons in the area? Thanks very much for advance!

Now I hate myself for not point a gun to him to force him go see doctor earlier. With new job new home new baby to a new area, he hasn't had his annual check up for 3-4 years due to stress. What a bloody lesson. I just wish we are able to fix it.

Thanks Larry for all the diet and supplement information. I will go get those from store in no time. My husband hates soy bean product and OK with green tea. but I'll let him read all these helpful posts.

Larry thank you for your email address and we will keep touch with you!

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
I don't think you or your husband should feel bad about missing his annual checkups. I'm 65 years old and have had annual physicals for as long as I can remember. Five years ago my PSA reached 4, at which time my doctor referred me to a urologist. I saw the urologist every six months for three years with my PSA remaining around 4. Eventually when my PSA jumped to 5, my urologist recommended a biopsy, which revealed two cancerous tumors each with Gleason score 6 (3+3). My urologist stated that it was rare to find a Gleason score 5 and that detection of my prostate cancer did not rate an A+ but did rate an A. My point is that your husband's cancer may very well not have been detected after earlier physicals and that his prognosis is excellent due to the early detection he has experienced.

Last year I had brachytherapy treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with very satisfactory results. Early detection left me with a range of treatement options, and your husband has the same advantage. The two of you have the opportunity to select a form of treatment primarily based on your evaulation of potential side effects, with the likelihood of cancer recurrence reasonably small.

qjenxu

MCSmith44 said:

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
I don't think you or your husband should feel bad about missing his annual checkups. I'm 65 years old and have had annual physicals for as long as I can remember. Five years ago my PSA reached 4, at which time my doctor referred me to a urologist. I saw the urologist every six months for three years with my PSA remaining around 4. Eventually when my PSA jumped to 5, my urologist recommended a biopsy, which revealed two cancerous tumors each with Gleason score 6 (3+3). My urologist stated that it was rare to find a Gleason score 5 and that detection of my prostate cancer did not rate an A+ but did rate an A. My point is that your husband's cancer may very well not have been detected after earlier physicals and that his prognosis is excellent due to the early detection he has experienced.

Last year I had brachytherapy treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with very satisfactory results. Early detection left me with a range of treatement options, and your husband has the same advantage. The two of you have the opportunity to select a form of treatment primarily based on your evaulation of potential side effects, with the likelihood of cancer recurrence reasonably small.

Thanks!
That makes me feel better. My husband had his PSA test 4 years ago at 1.9. I have been told that PC is slow growing cancer. However in his case, jump from 1.9 to 5 in 3, 4 years is pretty dramatic. He just had X-ray yesterday and I pray for nothing worse then stage1.

by reading poster here, seems Da vinci is a pretty good option.

I wish you the best!

MCSmith44

qjenxu said:

Thanks!
That makes me feel better. My husband had his PSA test 4 years ago at 1.9. I have been told that PC is slow growing cancer. However in his case, jump from 1.9 to 5 in 3, 4 years is pretty dramatic. He just had X-ray yesterday and I pray for nothing worse then stage1.

by reading poster here, seems Da vinci is a pretty good option.

I wish you the best!

Prostate Cancer Treatment Options
As you and your husband learn more about his particular diagnosis and begin to consider treatment options, please feel free to contact me about my brachytherapy experience. My email address is marvin.smith@domtar.com.

WHW

qjenxu said:

Thanks!
That makes me feel better. My husband had his PSA test 4 years ago at 1.9. I have been told that PC is slow growing cancer. However in his case, jump from 1.9 to 5 in 3, 4 years is pretty dramatic. He just had X-ray yesterday and I pray for nothing worse then stage1.

by reading poster here, seems Da vinci is a pretty good option.

I wish you the best!

Welcome to the I didn't want to be here club
My name is Sonny and I have been a member here since I was diagnosed in June. All of my numbers are contained in my signature.

I was not a candidate for doing nothing and selected surgery as my route to deal with it. I am from Orlando and after much searching I selected Dr. Menon at Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit.

Dr. Menon took my prostate out 6 days ago on September 17th. You can see my day to day posts under Sonny Day 2, etc.

Did a lot of research about the alternatives and then the Dr. You fill find that there are guys here that have gone with either surgery or one of the many forms of radiation. Just ask them and they will tell you why. The surgeons used have been some of the best there are. Sometimes the surgeon was selected because of travel limitation, insurance benefits or because they were considered as one of the best by the peers

Take your time, get all of the facts and just get your collective heads wrapped around this thing. My wife was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago and we took our time and made our decisions about her treatment and it has resulted in a pretty good outlook for life and the future. My decision was based on these same goals.

There are a lot of quality of life issues that go along with surgery or radiation. Take your time, know them and consider them in your decision process.

This is an extremely knowledgeable and supportive forum. Ask the questions and you'll get the answers or at the very least a direction of where to start looking.

The supportive part has already started, you have already been added to the prayer lists of many.

Good luck and may God bless you, your husband and your family,
Sonny

60 years old
PSA November 2007 3.0
PSA May 2009 6.4
Diagnosis confirmed July 9, 2009
12 Needle Biopsy = 9 clear , 3 postive
<5%, 90%, 40%
Gleason Score (3+4) 7 in all positive cores
CT Organ Scan - negative
Nuclear Bone Scan - Negative

Surgery done on September 17th by Dr. Menon, Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Medical Center, Detroit.

qjenxu

WHW said:

Welcome to the I didn't want to be here club
My name is Sonny and I have been a member here since I was diagnosed in June. All of my numbers are contained in my signature.

I was not a candidate for doing nothing and selected surgery as my route to deal with it. I am from Orlando and after much searching I selected Dr. Menon at Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit.

Dr. Menon took my prostate out 6 days ago on September 17th. You can see my day to day posts under Sonny Day 2, etc.

Did a lot of research about the alternatives and then the Dr. You fill find that there are guys here that have gone with either surgery or one of the many forms of radiation. Just ask them and they will tell you why. The surgeons used have been some of the best there are. Sometimes the surgeon was selected because of travel limitation, insurance benefits or because they were considered as one of the best by the peers

Take your time, get all of the facts and just get your collective heads wrapped around this thing. My wife was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago and we took our time and made our decisions about her treatment and it has resulted in a pretty good outlook for life and the future. My decision was based on these same goals.

There are a lot of quality of life issues that go along with surgery or radiation. Take your time, know them and consider them in your decision process.

This is an extremely knowledgeable and supportive forum. Ask the questions and you'll get the answers or at the very least a direction of where to start looking.

The supportive part has already started, you have already been added to the prayer lists of many.

Good luck and may God bless you, your husband and your family,
Sonny

60 years old
PSA November 2007 3.0
PSA May 2009 6.4
Diagnosis confirmed July 9, 2009
12 Needle Biopsy = 9 clear , 3 postive
<5%, 90%, 40%
Gleason Score (3+4) 7 in all positive cores
CT Organ Scan - negative
Nuclear Bone Scan - Negative

Surgery done on September 17th by Dr. Menon, Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Medical Center, Detroit.</p>

Thanks WHW!
I wish you the best for your recover from surgery!

I am digisting a lot of inforatmion right now so please forgive me if I ask some beginner questions.

1, is the urologist who proferms da vinci surgery or open surgery? or we need find a surgeon to do that?

2, after you finish the surgery in henry ford hospital, are you go back to Orlando see your regular urologist in the future?

3, there is a very good urology clinic in cleavland OH, which about 3 hours away. I am thinking may be see a urologist from there. is it doable? (we have a two years old)

Thanks!

Jennifer

lewvino

qjenxu said:

Thanks WHW!
I wish you the best for your recover from surgery!

I am digisting a lot of inforatmion right now so please forgive me if I ask some beginner questions.

1, is the urologist who proferms da vinci surgery or open surgery? or we need find a surgeon to do that?

2, after you finish the surgery in henry ford hospital, are you go back to Orlando see your regular urologist in the future?

3, there is a very good urology clinic in cleavland OH, which about 3 hours away. I am thinking may be see a urologist from there. is it doable? (we have a two years old)

Thanks!

Jennifer

Jennifer,I'll answer some
Jennifer,
I'll answer some of the questions since it is the same for most guys.

My local urologist only did open surgery. He gave me the name of two men that did robotic (one local and the one at Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tn). As mentioned earlier I went with the one at Vanderbilt. My local urologist spent over 1 hour with me and my wife discussing all the treatment options and said even If I chose robotic he would still provide my follow up care. His office actually removed the catheter post surgery. I am having my first post-surgery PSA done back in nashville but then will be having future blood work drawn at my local urologist and most likely just be going back to Nashville on a yearly basis.

My main reason for chosing robotic where as follows:

1. If you have robotic or open surgery first you can have radiation as a backup treatment if needed. Most cases if you have radiation first you can not then have prostate surgery due to extensive scar tissue from the radiation.

2. I looked at two different types of radiation. A. Was proton beam radiation and my insurance company would not cover it. This is only offered at about 6 centers in the USA (My dad had proton beam radiation back in 1996 and is doing fine today) B. I then looked at a combanition of radiation with radiation seed implants. In my case they only gave me a 56% chance of being cancer free in 10 years where the surgeon gave me a much higher number.

3. I also looked at HIFU treatments but you have to go out of the country to either Mexico or Bahamas for this since it is not approved yet in the USA. Also some insurance companies will not pay since it is not approved.

4. Once I decided on Surgery then it was either traditional or robotic. I chose the robotic for numerous reasons.
a. 6 small incisions rather then 1 big one.
b. less blood loss
c. Surgical field is magnified so the surgeon can see better
d. Shorter hospital stay
e. when they remove the prostate they actually have to cut the urinary tube in two places and then stitch together. With the robotic surgery the camera can show all angles so the surgeon can actually see the bottom of the tube for his stitching. This is up under the pubic bone and in traditional surgery I read the surgeon does this part by 'feel'. That means two large hands inside of you rather then small robotic tools.
f. With less blood loss the surgeon has a clean view of the erection nerve bundles for performing nerve sparing. This is important since I'm sure you and your husband want the best chance for future sexual relations. With the magnification of the robotic the surgeon also has a better view of these nerve bundles to spare if possible. That's assuming cancer has not got into them. In my case the doctor estimated he spared 100% on the one side and 50 - 70% of the nerves on the other side. Tommorrow will be six weeks post surgery for me and am having some success using the Erection drugs all ready.
g. I did lots of research and prayer also in making my decision

6. Also in my mind I thought I'm young and can get over the two impacts of surgery quickly which are urinary issues and erection issues. With radiation you won't get those side effects until several years down the road since the scar tissue builds.

You and your husband will need to of course make your own decision as to what is important to you but you want to of course beat the cancer and look at quality of life issues.
The two big issues that your husband will face are 1. urinary leakage and 2. erections

I've been one of the lucky ones and have had no need for any type of urinary incontent pads post surgery. Some men take many months to get over the urinary leakage.

On the erection front talking frankly...it will be impacted...which is why you want a very skilled surgeon if you choose surgery. They say the farther out from surgery that you are the better the erections typically will become as the nerves settle back down since they will be subject to trauma in surgery. As I said earlier my wife and I have had success with using Levitra but it is definetly not like it was pre-surgery but am happy so far.

If you like I can email you some charts comparing open surgery to traditional surgery.
again my email is lewvino@yahoo.com

The hospital I chose was 3 hours from where we live so yes it is doable though you may want some one to watch your young one for you for a couple days.

Sonny actually travelled from Florida to Michigan for his surgery ----by HIMSELF---- since his wife is also battling cancer. As you can see we are almost like a second family on these forums and everyone is VERY HELPFUL!

Don't be afraid to ask since that is how we learn and share and there is a ton of information on this site from men in early cases to some that are battling very severe cases of the prostate cancer.

Larry

WHW

qjenxu said:

Thanks WHW!
I wish you the best for your recover from surgery!

I am digisting a lot of inforatmion right now so please forgive me if I ask some beginner questions.

1, is the urologist who proferms da vinci surgery or open surgery? or we need find a surgeon to do that?

2, after you finish the surgery in henry ford hospital, are you go back to Orlando see your regular urologist in the future?

3, there is a very good urology clinic in cleavland OH, which about 3 hours away. I am thinking may be see a urologist from there. is it doable? (we have a two years old)

Thanks!

Jennifer

Jennifer in answer to your questions
There are Urologist that do surgery but the one you want is the surgeon that specializes in da Vinci if that is the route you select. You want a surgeon that has done hundreds if not thousands of this type surgery. The learning curve is steep and the best of them have done at a minimum 750-1000 surgeries. My doc has personally done over 3000 surgeries. I am fortunate to have great insurance and the where with all to be able to come to him. By many in the field his surgical procedures and skill with the da Vinci is considered the Gold Standard.

I belong to another PC forum and I have seen the Cleveland Location mentioned a number of times as really good and the guys have gotten great results.

As Larry mentioned my wife could not come with me. I came by myself and have had no issues at all. All who come here stay for one week before going home because of the specialized type catheter they use. My thoughts are that they put it in, I want them to take it out. Mine is coming out tomorrow and then I will stay 1 additional day to make sure every thing is okay.

I will see my local urologist for follow up PSA testing, but I will come back here in January for the 4 month post surgery follow up. Again, they are the ones that did it, I want them to that follow up.

I know that this all is a lot to digest. Just remember to take a deep breath, take your time and try not to get overloaded and overwhelmed with the information.

Anything you need to ask, just post it. There is an awful lot of experience here and those of us who have been down the path are committed to lighting the path a little brighter for those that follow.

Sonny

qjenxu

qjenxu said:

Thanks WHW!
I wish you the best for your recover from surgery!

I am digisting a lot of inforatmion right now so please forgive me if I ask some beginner questions.

1, is the urologist who proferms da vinci surgery or open surgery? or we need find a surgeon to do that?

2, after you finish the surgery in henry ford hospital, are you go back to Orlando see your regular urologist in the future?

3, there is a very good urology clinic in cleavland OH, which about 3 hours away. I am thinking may be see a urologist from there. is it doable? (we have a two years old)

Thanks!

Jennifer

Thanks so much for both of you, Larry and Sonny!
Those information are very helpful. I will let my husband read them all.

The urologist he has seen twice, was recommended out family doctor. Every time my husband had spent lots of waiting time but only got talk to the doctor a little. That’s why we may want find someone better. Sonny, if you don’t mind. Could you please tell me what is the other PC forum you belong to. I like to go there see if I can get more information for the Urology Group in Cleveland Clinic. You can drop to my email box if you perfect not say it here. My email address is qjenxu@hotmail.com. Thanks in advanced! Also, if you don’t’ mind, can you tell me the doctor who did your da vinci in Detroit? We lived in metro Detroit over 14 years and pretty familiar with that area. I don’t know how our insurance work but defiantly, it will be one of the options. Thanks again!

Larry, your case is pretty similar with my husband’s, I cross my finger praying not getting worse. Thank you for sharing all those thoughts and information with me. I feel like we are putting ourselves in GOD’s hand when come with pick a doctor since we know nobody. We have a long way to go. We will pray for you and Sonny and everybody else here.

NM

qjenxu said:

Thanks so much for both of you, Larry and Sonny!
Those information are very helpful. I will let my husband read them all.

The urologist he has seen twice, was recommended out family doctor. Every time my husband had spent lots of waiting time but only got talk to the doctor a little. That’s why we may want find someone better. Sonny, if you don’t mind. Could you please tell me what is the other PC forum you belong to. I like to go there see if I can get more information for the Urology Group in Cleveland Clinic. You can drop to my email box if you perfect not say it here. My email address is qjenxu@hotmail.com. Thanks in advanced! Also, if you don’t’ mind, can you tell me the doctor who did your da vinci in Detroit? We lived in metro Detroit over 14 years and pretty familiar with that area. I don’t know how our insurance work but defiantly, it will be one of the options. Thanks again!

Larry, your case is pretty similar with my husband’s, I cross my finger praying not getting worse. Thank you for sharing all those thoughts and information with me. I feel like we are putting ourselves in GOD’s hand when come with pick a doctor since we know nobody. We have a long way to go. We will pray for you and Sonny and everybody else here.

My experiences with a bad doctor
Hi my name is Nick and I will give you a quick overview of my story as it might help you. I was diagnosed in June with prostate cancer by a urologist who also insisted on doing the Davinci operation. I asked how many has he done and he said about 4 a month for a 1/2 a year. I called the hospital where I was scheduled and asked if they had a more experienced doctor and was told sorry if you come here he HAS to do the surgery. I went immediately(thank god) to my family doctor and he recommended 2 other hospitals. To make a long story short I went to Danville got a very experienced and caring doctor and three weeks after surgery I am doing well so far with no incontinence at all. First get to know your doctor and have fairly good access to him or a member of his staff. Trust is a big factor in having surgery or even radiation. I choose surgery because at my age (52) I wanted the prostate out and then if needed I can still do radiation. I wont know my Psa for a couple of weeks so I am still hoping its gone and Im cancer free. Hope this helps some.....Nick.....Ps I posted a lot here as others did so please if you want to learn more do as i and others have and go back and read these posts.....Peace to both of you and my prayers too....Nick

WHW

qjenxu said:

Thanks so much for both of you, Larry and Sonny!
Those information are very helpful. I will let my husband read them all.

The urologist he has seen twice, was recommended out family doctor. Every time my husband had spent lots of waiting time but only got talk to the doctor a little. That’s why we may want find someone better. Sonny, if you don’t mind. Could you please tell me what is the other PC forum you belong to. I like to go there see if I can get more information for the Urology Group in Cleveland Clinic. You can drop to my email box if you perfect not say it here. My email address is qjenxu@hotmail.com. Thanks in advanced! Also, if you don’t’ mind, can you tell me the doctor who did your da vinci in Detroit? We lived in metro Detroit over 14 years and pretty familiar with that area. I don’t know how our insurance work but defiantly, it will be one of the options. Thanks again!

Larry, your case is pretty similar with my husband’s, I cross my finger praying not getting worse. Thank you for sharing all those thoughts and information with me. I feel like we are putting ourselves in GOD’s hand when come with pick a doctor since we know nobody. We have a long way to go. We will pray for you and Sonny and everybody else here.

Jennifer about the other site

The site is healingwell.com just click at the top of the page on forums and chats and it takes you to the page where you can select Prostate Cancer.

I hope this helps, I know it helped me tremendously.

BTW is was our buddy Larry that lead me to the site for the first time.

Bless you and your family.

Sonny

qjenxu

qjenxu said:

Thanks so much for both of you, Larry and Sonny!
Those information are very helpful. I will let my husband read them all.

The urologist he has seen twice, was recommended out family doctor. Every time my husband had spent lots of waiting time but only got talk to the doctor a little. That’s why we may want find someone better. Sonny, if you don’t mind. Could you please tell me what is the other PC forum you belong to. I like to go there see if I can get more information for the Urology Group in Cleveland Clinic. You can drop to my email box if you perfect not say it here. My email address is qjenxu@hotmail.com. Thanks in advanced! Also, if you don’t’ mind, can you tell me the doctor who did your da vinci in Detroit? We lived in metro Detroit over 14 years and pretty familiar with that area. I don’t know how our insurance work but defiantly, it will be one of the options. Thanks again!

Larry, your case is pretty similar with my husband’s, I cross my finger praying not getting worse. Thank you for sharing all those thoughts and information with me. I feel like we are putting ourselves in GOD’s hand when come with pick a doctor since we know nobody. We have a long way to go. We will pray for you and Sonny and everybody else here.

Thanks NM and Sonny!
will check them!

saoco

Hi Jennifer,i will like to
Hi Jennifer,i will like to hear your husban talking how he feels about his pc.
PC hit me when a was 46years old,my father had it ,and about two years ago my brother had it.
I had lasproscopi surgery about five years ago and my psa had been 0.04 thank God my brother
went to my doctor and it has been two years since and his psa is 0.05.
I do not think any diet will help much and and it depend the Dr you find one will tell you to go with surgery,other will tell you radiaction.In my humble opinion I went with surgery because I want to get the cancer out of my body and radiation in my opinion will kill
maybe all cancer cell but the prostate still will be inside of you. my father pass away in June but no from pc.he has radiation and about two years after he develop some complication from takin radiaction.any treament you guy chose have it own risk,but with the davinc and all other new technology it is getting better to fight pc.my psa was 4,gleaso (3+3)so your husban thank to God like me is in early stage ta2. I hope the advices from the group will help you.
when it hit me I was ignorant and I went trouhg it only whit the help of God but it was more than enough but you guys have us to help you.

hopeful and optimistic

qjenxu said:

Thanks NM and Sonny!
will check them!

second opinion
Sorry that you have joined this crappy club.

It is a good idea to get a second opinion of your biopsy by an expert(since this it is a complicated test to analyze), so that you are not under or over treated....one experrt is Dr. Epstein, Johns hopkins. Simply have your doc send the parrifin blocks to johns hopkins.

There are various local support groups sponsored by Me Too, etc. ....contact the amaerican cancer society.

I was diagnosed in March for my 66th birthday. My numbers are 2.2 psa ( increased from 2.2 i January to 2.5 in July), 2 of 12 cores positive- less than 5 percent involvement in each, gleason 3=3=6. I have also had a MRI with a spectrocopy which showed no defined nodule involment. I am t1. I just had a molecur test by Aureon which showed a 97 percent cbance that I will not need surgery in 8 years.

I am currently on Active Surveillance. That is, I am closely monitored and will delay other treatment as long as possible, if not for life. I hope to avoid any possible negative side effects as long as possible.

Good luck

Ira

qjenxu

saoco said:

Hi Jennifer,i will like to
Hi Jennifer,i will like to hear your husban talking how he feels about his pc.
PC hit me when a was 46years old,my father had it ,and about two years ago my brother had it.
I had lasproscopi surgery about five years ago and my psa had been 0.04 thank God my brother
went to my doctor and it has been two years since and his psa is 0.05.
I do not think any diet will help much and and it depend the Dr you find one will tell you to go with surgery,other will tell you radiaction.In my humble opinion I went with surgery because I want to get the cancer out of my body and radiation in my opinion will kill
maybe all cancer cell but the prostate still will be inside of you. my father pass away in June but no from pc.he has radiation and about two years after he develop some complication from takin radiaction.any treament you guy chose have it own risk,but with the davinc and all other new technology it is getting better to fight pc.my psa was 4,gleaso (3+3)so your husban thank to God like me is in early stage ta2. I hope the advices from the group will help you.
when it hit me I was ignorant and I went trouhg it only whit the help of God but it was more than enough but you guys have us to help you.

My husband hasn't say much about it
My husband hasn't say much about his PC yet. He doesn't have much time to do research because he is very busy at his stressful work. He even doesn't want to talk about it with me until this weekend. He doesn't like to have surgery but he will listen to his doctor. He doesn't want to have second opinion or have another report for his biopsy. I am the one who jump up and down getting ready to fight the PC. He is not in the same page yet, I hate to say. He will make his own decision slowly but I can keep feeding him the information.

saoco

qjenxu said:

My husband hasn't say much about it
My husband hasn't say much about his PC yet. He doesn't have much time to do research because he is very busy at his stressful work. He even doesn't want to talk about it with me until this weekend. He doesn't like to have surgery but he will listen to his doctor. He doesn't want to have second opinion or have another report for his biopsy. I am the one who jump up and down getting ready to fight the PC. He is not in the same page yet, I hate to say. He will make his own decision slowly but I can keep feeding him the information.

It seem you will be his
It seem you will be his rock,and thas is wanderful,we all need support to do fight this batle.
In here you will find all the help you guys need God bless you both.

hopeful and optimistic

qjenxu said:

My husband hasn't say much about it
My husband hasn't say much about his PC yet. He doesn't have much time to do research because he is very busy at his stressful work. He even doesn't want to talk about it with me until this weekend. He doesn't like to have surgery but he will listen to his doctor. He doesn't want to have second opinion or have another report for his biopsy. I am the one who jump up and down getting ready to fight the PC. He is not in the same page yet, I hate to say. He will make his own decision slowly but I can keep feeding him the information.

Hi
All of us here have gone thru shock, depression and all the negative feeling during the first month or so..........Remember, generally in the vast majority of cases there is no rush to make a decision right away....however you need to keep moving to make the right decision and not hurt yourself.................good luck...............Ira