Just diagnosed looking for advice and your experience

Hi,

With the cancer already at the barn door or maybe sticking its head out I personally would be cautious about surgery without a PMSAPET scan to see if the cancer has metastasized. I had pleural neural invasion and had surgery, so far 10 yrs. later I am still undetectable. I would also go with a second opinion from a different doctor/ hospital network for recommendations. In my humble non medical opinion you need to make sure you make the right decision to avoid problems latter on. Use those centers of excellence’s to get the best future. Some treatment options for a similar situation could be surgery with mop up radiation and ADT, radioactive seed implants with ADT(androgen deprivation therapy) are just a few examples. A good doctor team should help guide you through the best plans available. Write back once you get closer to pulling the plug, other survivors will step in with their experiences.

Dave 3+4

Similar diagnosis here… 4+4 with crib. One year post surgery and PSA still undetectable. The scan before anything else is essential… mine was good. My PSA was 8 at biopsy and five weeks later… a week before my surgery it was 13.5. Makes me wonder if the needle biopsy caused a spike in PSA. But with how aggressive it was I wanted it out and fully expect I'll have more decisions to make within the next 12-24 months.

The side effects from surgery are real but I don't regret it. I'm 64 and just want to see my grandson grow for as long as possible. Please post again and ask anything you want from me.

I hope this helps with your decision on 11/23 I had a PSA test it was 3.4 my previous test which was 2 years prior was 1.2 I was 69 at the time and I felt I was in good health you would think those numbers are good but I was always told to look for the jump which I had and I was concerned so I started to make appointments with specialist. I moved as fast as I could first appointment I could get was 12/ 14 /23. I live an hour from the University of Penn but I was going to Florida and made an appointment down there with the Cleveland Clinic in Weston. By 1/15/24 I found out I had prostate cancer and half my prostate I was a Gleason 4-3 I wanted the cancer out I made an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio with a surgeon that did thousands of robotic surgeries of the prostate. Before I went out he wanted an MRI I've already had a CT scan and a bone scan after my initial visit with him I scheduled surgery he also wanted a PET scan after my pet scan it showed a spot on my sternum at that point there was questions on surgery I still chose to take it out they told me if I do radiation surgery could be a lot harder if needed later. And there was still a question whether the spot was cancer being going into this I had a PSA of 3.4 well on 5/16/24 I went to Cleveland and had my prostate removed I stayed in a hotel that was a joint to the clinic which was really convenient. Stayed there for about 10 days the test on the prostate removal showed some cancer cells on the last margin now we're assuming the spot on my sternum is cancer. So the first week of July I'm starting hormonal therapy I'm still struggling with incontinence but I feel some improvement but very frustrating I'm meeting with the radiologist about the spot on the sternum and hoping the therapy and radiation may be a cure good luck I hope this information helps your decision

mhreed39 - on June 24 you said you were going to meet with a radiation oncologist ‘next week’ to get a second opinion. Would greatly appreciate hearing what the RO had to say and where you stand with your treatment plan. I’m in a similar situation, but I’m 70, so I have a great deal of interest.

Also - what were the results of your PSMA-PET scan?

Thanks and continued best wishes as you move forward.

I finished a very similar 2-year 3 drug cocktail (Lupron instead of Eligard) treatment protocol along with receiving SRBT for a local metastasis in my pubic bone. I finished the 2-year treatment protocol 18 months ago, so far, every 3-month PSA test has come back undetectable. There are no guarantees, of course, with any of these treatment protocols, and I live each of these 3-month intervals to the fullest with an acceptable quality of life.

I wish you the best of outcomes on your PCa journey.

Thanks for the followup @mhreed39; not what I was expecting to hear, but that’s where we are. Best wishes with your plan; very encouraging to hear the doctor talking in terms of ‘cure’! Looking forward to your updates as things progress.