greetings to the group

"Welcome Home"
Laserlight,

First, let me say " Welcome Home" and thank you for your service to our Country.

Second, I am sorry that you have to be on this site to begin with.

Third, have you filed a claim thru a Veteran's Service Officer (VSO) for your link to Agent Orange and Prostate cancer yet? If not, please do so because Prostate cancer is on the persumptive list of cancers from Agent Orange.

Please keep us posted.

My Best to You and Everyone Here

laserlight said:

Yes
And Thank You. I have a claim in with the VA. Am waiting, but that is normal. I went down to the VA office yesterday and found out that I have complete medical coverage, I am in the system. This takes a lot of stress off me for now. This site has been great for information. I was at stage T2C, gleeson score of 3+4=7 cancer in all 18 biopsy samples taken. 9 of the samples had 60 percent cells. So Agent Orange continues to take a toll. Glad to be with the Vets.

Ouch
Laserlight,

Those biopsies are not fun, you had 18, geez, I thought I had it rough with 12.....Glad to hear you are in the system and as you mentioned, the waiting begins with the VA and the rating, but with your cancer on the list already, it should move at a fairly good pace.

My brother had a Gleason score of 8 and he is doing fine.

My Best to You and Everyone Here

Laserlight,

Yes, searching on the computer can cause you to get depressed. A few things to remember is that the data out there can be old information. I did what you are doing now, roughly 8 years ago. I had base of tongue cancer, then a year later, melanoma on the face. So, I have had two operations, the first being the BOT which I had all kinds of tubes in me for some time.

I read the numbers and got worked up. A neighbor of mine heard about me, didn't really know him at the time, but he shared his experince with me and told me what to expect. He was spot on and he had his cancer 7 years before mine. So, he is a 15 year survivor now and works full time in his own business. He told me this, read, learn and listen, but the only number that I should be concerned with is the number 1, myself. Do everything that we feel is right for our survival.

I was fortunate enough to have been sent to an outstanding ENT surgeon and everything has worked out for me. Oh, there are many side effects I deal with daily, but they are managable. As I mentioned above, my brother got his cancer after mine, his being Prostate cancer. He had his prostate removed and had clear margins, no follow up treatments at that time. Then roughly 3 years to the day after his surgery, his PSA started to rise. He had 7 weeks of Radiation and was in a trial, he is doing great now.

E-mail me if you wish by using the CSN Email in the section up in the left top area if you want to talk more. It is easy to use, just insert my screen name and I'll get it.

My Best to You and Everyone Here