prostate

Kentr said:

Seeds
I don't know anything about Dr. Bennett but did have seeds implanted in January 2008.

Given there are a variety of treatment options, in addition to your independent research and input from your doctor, this is a good place to learn how those treatments actually impact individuals.

For me, my cancer was discovered quite by accident and early enough that seeds seemed to be the best choice. There have been some side effects. For the first 6 months post surgery, I was taking terazosin to help with passing urine. I also experienced periodic urgency related to that as well as bowel movements.

After about seven months of terazosin (July 2008) I did the "manly/macho" thing and quit taking my meds without consulting my doctor - big mistake! After about a week I had to restart them and then quit again at the one year anniversary of my surgery (again without consulting my doctor). All went well for about seven months and then the symptoms came back (August 2009). This time I had trouble urinating and experienced a fair amount of "discomfort" when urinating. Given no "real man" would cave in and take his meds, I toughed it out without meds until I finally gave in about two weeks ago and got a new prescription for terazosin. Everything is now back to normal - no urgency relative to urination or bowel movements - hooray!

My oncolgist said recurring symptoms are not "usual" but do happen. Another poster told me he had a similar situation in his second year post surgery.

My latest (about 2 months ago) psa was 0.8. As you read the postings on this board you will note a great deal of emphasis is placed on achieving a "not detectable" psa reading. If you do NOT have your prostate removed, you will almost NEVER get a zero reading because the prostate, by function/definition, produces psa.

Treatment options can be confusing and "usually" there is no reason to make snap decisions regarding those options.

Best of luck to you - we're all in the same boat together.

Kent