Waiting for the Biopsy results

hopeful and optimistic said:

Some tips

Carlos,

First, you want to have a copy of your medical records, to include the pathology results for discussion with concerned individuals outside of Kaiser. 

Pathology results: What is the involvement, that is the percent that is cancerous of each of the positive  cores. Are each of the cores that are cancerous a 4+3=7, or do some of the cores have a different Gleason Score. Was anything else mentioned in the pathology results?

Second opinion of the Pathology: The pathology is critical in determining treatment. Determining Gleason scores is an art. It is advisable to have a second opinion of these scores, and anything else that may be involved in your pathology by a world class pathologist....there is a difference among pathologists. There are a few, two are Jonathon Epstein at Johns Hopkins, and another is Bostwick Labs. I'm not sure but I think that the cost for this is about 200 dollars. You might wish to speak with your doc, and ask that the slides  be sent. Maybe Kaiser will pick up the tab. (To e perfectly honest this is more relevant with a lower Gleason such as a 3+3=6 or a 3+4=7

Third, if you are interested in Fathering any children at this time, you may wish to store semen.

Fourth, you may wish to ask for a bone density test at this time,  as a benchmark, in the case that you might receive hormone treatment which can have an effect on your bones. You will know what the effects of treatment will be. Also find out your current testestorone level.

Fifth, I sugest that you ask to speak with a Medical Oncologist at Kaiser, they are best qualified to administer hormones if needed. She will be impartial to treatment type; surgery or radiation, or radiation plus hormone. You want to have as few treatment types as possible because the side effects are cumulative.

Sixth: You also want to speak with radiation oncologist; there are different types of radiation. This person is the expert about this...look into a form of IMRT, and if possible SBRT. He will be the expert.

There are diagnostic tests that as I understand are not available at Kaiser; one being multiparametric MRI. This will give you a very good idea if extracapsular extension exists, and will affect your treatment decision......maybe Kaiser currently has this available. you can ask.

Let your family member know about what is going on, since they are more likely to develop prostate or breast cancers than the rest of the population...brothers, sisters, cousin, uncles, etc.

Research,research, read books , internet, support groups,

Wish you the best, 

We are here for you

H

 

 

9-21-15

I have to admit I am a bit in shock over all this.  I had the CT scan last week and I meet with the Urologist tomorrow and he said I would be talking to a team of doctors in the coming weeks. I have a bone scan scheduled for Thursday this week so I am in the cue.

I am grateful for all of your advice and perspectives.

Once again, thank you.

Carlos

hopeful and optimistic said:

Some information for you.

Carlos,

I also live in OC, near Seal Beach. There are support groups in the area that are great for information and emotional support, that I stongely recommend that you and your Lady make available, since this is a couples disease.

The best one that I know of, and attend on occasion is the prostate forum of orange county. The next meeting of this group is September 24th, next Thursday. There is pre - discussion meeting specially for newly diagnosed that starts at 5PM, that will answer many of your questions. The main meeting with a presenter starts at 7 PM. There is a lending library with lots of DVDs and books oriented to prostate cancer that are available, a returnable deposit is needed. Here is iinformation that I copied and pasted from an email. You can have your name placed on the email list..

All meetings of The Prostate Forum of Orange County are held at: First Presbyterian Church, 838 North Euclid Street, Fullerton, CA 92832   How to get there: From 91 (Riverside) Freeway: Take the Euclid Street exit, go north 1 3/4 mile. From Interstate 5 Freeway: Take the Euclid Street exit (in Anaheim), go north 3.0 miles.      View our videos on Vimeo   Prostate Forum of Orange County       Monthly Programs Bulletin for September, 2015  2nd Thursday Afternoon, September 10, 2015 Newly Diagnosed Class: 11.30 am - 1.00 pm      4th Thursday Evening Meetings , September 24, 2015   Doors open at 5 pm for networking and obtaining materials, books, videos, etc.      1. Evening Meeting with Speaker:  7.00 - 8.45 pm.  See details below.     2. Newly Diagnosed Class: 5.00 - 6.45 pm 3. Recurrent/Advanced Disease Meeting: 5.00 - 6.45 pm  4. Women's Support Group Meeting: September 24, 2015, 6.00 - 7.00 pm. See details below. NEWS ITEMS: The Board of Directors & Advisers of the Prostate Forum, are extremely pleased to announce that our CEO, Russ Thomas, has been awarded the prestigious  Harry Pinchot Award for 2015!!     Please join us in congratulating Russ on being awarded the 2015 Harry Pinchot Award for his many contributions within the Prostate CancerSupport Group communities.  The award will be presented to Russ at the PCRI Conference Dinner on Saturday, September 12. This event makes it the second time one of our leaders wins this award! You will recall that our co-founder Murray Corwin was the 2012 Harry Pinchot award winner!                                 ********************* We still need volunteers to man our support group table at the PCRI 3-day conference at the LAX Marriott, September 11-13, 2015!   Attendance at the table in at least one half - day segment as follows:   Friday, 9/11   12.00 noon - 5.30 pm,   Saturday, 9/12 8.00 am - 12.00 noon and 12.00 noon - 5 pm,   Sunday, 9/13  8 am - 5 pm. Your admission ticket will be paid for by the Forum and is good for all 3 days! Call our CEO, Russ Thomas at 951- 545- 1616 to make the scheduling arrangements!    September Reminders: 1. PCRI Conference at LAX Marriott, September 11-13. Register at this link! 2. Crusin' For A Cure, Orange County Fairgrounds, Saturday, September 26. 6 am - 4pm.  FREE PSA tests detailed at this link !     * Compare Prostate Cancer Treatments at this link! The Prostate CancerTreatment Research Foundation (Peter D. Grimm,D.O. & Foundation President) in Seattle, WA also offers interesting comparative data at this link.  Dr. Grimm spoke at the Forum on January 26, 2012. His subject was Brachy Therapy. Our video #464 refers. An updated Power Point presentation is available at this link!   (Opens as a pdf file)    * Follow our long-time friend, Dr. Jacques Souadjian, on his web site where he publishes his very popular "Medical Pearls" health articles on an ongoing basis. Take a look - here is the link:   http://healthsmartepiphany.com. Dr. Souadjian is also a composer so be sure to have your speakers turned on!      * Follow Dr. Stephen Strum at  strum.pbworks.com: Dr. Strum provides items of interest to the PCa community. Your p2p mailing list login will not work here. Please request access and wait for approval. You'll receive an email with a clickable link.     * 3 new videos of our January, April and May 2015 speakers are uploaded on Vimeo and YouTube.  Can be found at links at the top of the page: 492. Tanya Dorff, M.D., 494. Mark Scholz, M.D., 495. Don B. Fuller, M.D.    * USToo August 2015 "Hot SHEET" bulletin is linked here - has many interesting PCa related articles. (September issue not yet available)  * Here is very interesting video link featuring a new surgery technique developed in Israel.  (A YouTube video about 6 minutes long)     * Interesting articles published by Glenn Tisman, M.D.:  a) Describing Prostate Cancer Dynamics: Second Look at PSA- Doubling Time and PSA-Specific Growth Rate. Linked here:   b) Modulation of One-Carbon Metabolism by B Vitamins: Implications for Transformation and Progression of Prostate Cancer.  Linked here:          * Recently published  Prostate Cancer related scholarly articles received courtesy of Dr. Glenn Tisman (underlined texts are linked to articles):    * Intermittent ADT upped Risk for Ischemic, Thrombotic Events (CancerNetwork, June 5, 2015)     * PCa Diagnosis using MR/Ultrasound-Fusion Guided Biopsy Ending "The Needle in a Haystack" Conundrum? (JAMA Network, June 4, 2015) * Androgen Receptor Splice Variant 7 and Efficacy of Taxane Cemotherapy in Patients with Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer (Original Investigation, published by JAMA Oncology online, June 4, 2015) *Statin Use and ADT and time to progression (original investigation, published online by JAMA, May 7, corrected, May 21, 2015)  * A New Vaccine to Prevent Herpes Zoster (aka Shingles) (New England Journal of Medicine, April 28, 2015)   * Note from Dr. Tisman re the following paper on Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Biomark - use this link!   * Circulating Tumor Cell(CTC) Biomark paper. (Original Report, Journal of Clinical Oncology, March 23, 2015)    * Added 8/24/15: Chemohormonal Therapy in Metastatic Hormone-SensitiveProstate Cancer. (The New England Journal of Medicine, August 20, 2015)  * Added 8/24/15:  Minimally Invasive Devices for Treating Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH): A Technology Update. (Dove Press Journal: Research and Reports in Urology, August 19, 2015). * Added 9/7/15: New Info on Vitamins for Concerned Prostate Cancer Patients. Here, you can also read about Dr. Tisman's BD Maintenance Plus ++ Supplement and sign up for Dr. Tisman's free newsletters on important research, related to health and cancer as it happens. Published by PNA - Physician Nutrition Associates, LLC.                         * Added 9/7/15: You can find an order form for BD Maintenance Plus ++ linked here.          ******************** MAIN EVENING MEETING:     4th THURSDAY, September 24, 2015 AT 7 PM.       Speaker:  Jekwon Yeh, M.D., Radiation Oncologist,                 Cancer Center of Irvine, CA Subject:    Xofigo (Radium 223) and Palliative External Beam                           Radiotherapy for bone metastasis.   Dr. Yeh's bio can be found  here!                                            ******************  WOMEN'S SUPPORT GROUP - PROGRAM INFORMATION: Meeting focus for September 24:  Supplements: What Works and What's Worthless.    Approach: We'll take a look at Dr. Mark Moyad's recent book " The Supplement Handbook: A Trusted Expert's Guide to What Works and What's Worthless for more than 200 Ailments."     Meeting format for September 24:  Meet, greet, & share for one hour, then adjourn to join the men for their guest expert's presentation.   Reminder: The annual Prostate Cancer Research Institute (PCRI) Conference takes place at the LAX Marriott September 11-13, 2015.  Informative, enlightening AND entertaining! LADIES, we are highly encouraged to attend!   BONUS: Air-conditioned meeting room!        *******************    * Our list of recommended books on Prostate Cancer: Click here to view. * Short 2014 -15 videos by Dr. Charles "Snuffy" Myers:  Click here to view. * Help us to help others! Now you can safely contribute to us via PayPal using your credit card and without the need for a PayPal account. To donate, click on this link and follow the instructions! A receipt of your contribution will be  emailed to you.  Thank you!   * To subscribe/unsubscribe to our newsletter, or update your email address, click the links at the bottom of this page or go to our web site - see link below.                                  Our Home Page.     * STREAMING VIDEOS: Our videos are now available live on YouTube and Vimeo. Click on the links below for an over-view page of each site.           View our videos on Vimeo * Also see list of videos on our web site by subject & treatments (see section C) at the end of numerical list of videos. Click here to go directly to the videos  page.   Quick Links: Click on this link to go to our web site.

Contact Information:    By Phone: (951) 545-1616          By email: prostateforumoc@gmail

 

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i haven't been in a while but Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach has a support group as well. So does St Joesph in Orange , however infrequently. Near me in Long Beach there is pretty good one at long beach memorial that i attend The next meeting is 9/22 at 6:30PM, millers childrens pavillion converence room c. If you go, make sure , when dr Wachs asks about new guys to the meeting , make sure to tell what's going on so he can answer. Although i generally attend this one, I will not be there since I observe a jewish holiday that evening.

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Eating heart healthy is also diabetes health and prostate cancer healthy. We with prostate cancer, of which you are not at this time,  generally live longer than the rest of the population since we eat heart healthier and do not as often sucomb to this epidemic.  I for one now eat a veggie diet with some limited fish, which many eat a mediterranean diet. This will not cure you, but increases the survival of those who eat heart healthy with regular exercise.

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As you know a psa is of 40 is very high; aside from PCa there are various factors that contribute to this number, can be an infection, sex before the PSA, even a hard stool, but 40 is still very high, and I doubt that these would contribute to all of the PSA.l

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Biopsy.......be aware that there can be blood in semen. 

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Many of us do not have any symtoms until the cancer really spreads, but you will need to make smart decisions based on the results of your biopsy....with this disease you will not be in a rush, if you are diagnosed, so you can do your research. 

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In case you are diagnosed, you will go into shock, and have all those negative feelings that all of us do....this usually last for a few months.

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Not much more to say until you get the results of your biopsy.........keep us in the loop.....we are here for you.

H

Looks like I need to find a meeting.  For the sake of my new wife.  I am not very happy about this and it is definetly an issue that I need to address.  Not that a meeting will make me happy but I suppose it is worth a shot to get some perspective. 

Carlos