New cancer diagnosis

Hi Daniel,

Good idea to talk with both the Urologist & Oncologist and listen to both sides.  If it was me I would also request some type of scan(MRI, PET, CT) to determine the location of your cancer whether its close to your bladder, rectum, close to the edge of your Prostate, ect.   This might help you on which type of treatment you will choose.  With 3+3 you have plenty of time(maybe years) to determine whether you want surgery of some type of radiation.  Do your homework and pick the best doctors and best facilities to get you the best results.  As lighterwood says we have lots of folks here that have had just about every type of treatment so we can all share. Ask lots of questions both here and of your doctors before you decide what to do.  Information is your best ally.

Dave 3+4

Hi All,

Surgery and radiation both have their own risks and side effects.  There are folks here on this board that have had very good & very bad outcomes from both treatment protocols.  The correct treatment for anyone is the one they choose based on the cancer severity/location and their doctor recommendation and their personal choice. As far as stopping the progression of the cancer both surgery and radiation are probably close to equal but the side effects of both types can vary widely.  As a person choosing which way to go you need to understand the pros and cons.

Dave 3+4

Your treatment choice is based on the report of the pathologist. There is a difference in the skills of pathologists. Strongly recommend that you obtain a second opinion by an independent world class pathologist.  Johns Hopkins is world renown. Simply  contact your doctor office to facilitate. Your insurance might pay for this, otherwise, I think the cost out if pocket is two to two fifty or so.

Important to have the MRI. It may show if there is extracapsular extentsion. There are different MRI machines where the Tesla magnets are different. It is important that you specify a Tesla 3 MRI. The Tesla 3 provides the best definition in clinical use, and is most likely to determine cancer outside the prostate, 

By the way Gleason 6 cancers will not leave the prostate, however when there is a lot of 6 found as it appears in your case, there can be Gleason 7 found that can leave the prostate, thus my suggestion for a second opinion on the pathology. It's possible that less Gleason 6 cancer may show, which will influence your treatment choice.

Hi

My husband who is 87 years old has prostate cancer (enlarged)for several years and Dr.checkups each year.No worries.

Last summer he suddenly started to lose weight without trying and lost over 20lbs over a 2 month period. His doctors regular had him exrayed, scans ,blood tests, and sent to heart doctor, skin doctor (he had melantonim 9 years ago) free of skin cancer and no one could explain his weight loss. My husband was very active, still biking around the nieghbour on two wheels and nieghbours amazed knowing he has age-related macular and can't see well and had knee surgery when he was 85 and came through with flying colors for his age. Went to the gym, no health problems other than the prostate which did not deter his life. The prostate doctor had sent him for tests a while back, but his appointment was in December 2019. In the meantime, his enegry level was low for no reason. My husband thought it was due to his prostate cancer, so before we visited the doctor, research all about prostate cancer, the stages, etc. the treatments.

The doctor told us that my husband's psa went from 24 to 31.7  His gleason score 3,4 for a score of 7.Stage T3B. The doctor did say that the cancer had not spread outside of his prostate. I specially asked the doctor if this stage of his cancer could cause the weight loss and his fatigue. He said no,and said we should take this up with the family docotor. Might be thyroid.Then he said to discuss treatments ( read about those too and it sounds worse than the disease). We decided not to do take treatment and see if I can get to the botom of his state. check back in 3months. The treatment the doctor suggested was hormone therapy and if my husbaqnd would start on that herapy he would be camatose! If the cancer is not causing his weight loss or now he's progessed to extreme fatigue that he can barley wallk and is lying down all the time, then treatment would be worse. He has lost more weight.

His quality of life right now is he can barley walk, bathroom continuously day and night, has good appetite, has to eat 3 good meals, or has upset stomach, does not have any energy to go out anywhere and feels uncomfortable, can't articulate how he feels, does not have pain, just chronically tired And all this without any treatment.

I am trying mega does of Vitamin C, D, B12 and other supplements like zinc, selemium. Looking into super alternative treatments.

Does anybody else who has prostate cancer lose weight and get extremely fatigue without treatment and at what stage? When I reshearched, it stated most men do not have any symptoms of advanced prostate cancr. Is this true and that some tests causes side effects like fatigue that is irrevesrible, is that true?

Also anybody trying alternative therapy successfully?

Thanks for any advice, suggestions and information.

God bless you all.

Hi Lilabit,

Can you start a new forum topic for your husband's problem?
This is Daniel57's topic so it is less confusing if people do not post new problems into his topic.
Copy your stuff and then go to the front page, choose Add new Forum topic and then paste your stuff into the first post.
I could do it for you if you like.
When you have done this we can discuss your husband's case further.
The short answer to your initial question is no.
A case of Stage 3b prostate cancer should be almost symptom free, there may be urinary difficulties, etc, but drastic weight loss, etc sounds very unlikely.
Has you husband had an MRI, bone scan, etc?

Best wishes,

Georges

rainlessman said:

New Cancer Diagnosis and Question for Clevelandguy

I just found out i have prostate cancer, the biopsy of 12 samples revealed cancer in two samples both from the right side.  One sample with cancer was described as a "1" on a scale of 1 to 5.  The other sample with cancer was described as a "3" in 25% of the sample.  My PSA was 4.4 found during routine yearly physical.  No symptons.  I'm suppose to meet with the Urologist this week to disduss options, he is waiting on a pathology report.  I'm trying to educate myself for best discussion with him.  Question for Clevelandguy:  I interpreted you said a 3+3 meant no hurry for treatment.  And you sign off as Dave 3+4.  Can you tell me what those numbers are?  I'm wondering how urgent treatment is.  

thanks, Steve

Hi Rainless,

The numbers mean X(most prevelant type of cancer) + Y(the least amount of cancer type) seen in the biopsy sample.  The number 3 is the least agressive, 4 is more, 5 is worse than 4.  So. 3+3 would be the least agressive type of cancer and. 5+5 would be very agressive.

Mine was a 3+4, most of the cells were a 3(least agressive) and the minority were a 4(more agressive).  In my humble non doctor opinion any cancer should be taken seriously and not be brushed off as "don't worry about it".  But that being said a 3+3 is not as agressive as a 4+5 or a 5+5.  So take some time and study what you want to do.  Some people with a 3+3 go for years with anual or semi-anual biopsy's. An MRI should tell you where the cancer is located like close to the edge of the gland(close to escape) or deep in the middle of your Prostate(longer time to escape).  Here is a link to help you understand: https://www.prostateconditions.org/about-prostate-conditions/prostate-cancer/newly-diagnosed/gleason-score

Hope that helps.....

Dave 3+4