Greetings

Greetings to all of you from a new member. I am 62 and post-RRP by twelve days, still tethered to my catheter for another few days. Looking forward to having it gone soon. My case was a little different. My internist did the DRE prior to the PSA and that caused a false rise from 2.2 to 3.2. He wanted to wait and watch but I insisted on seeing a urologist since there is a family history of PC. The urologist did a DRE unlike any I've ever had before! Good grief, I could feel it in my sinuses! The DRE showed a slight enlargement but the PSA was back to 2.3. Time for a six-month pause. Another good PSA but the DRE caused him concern so in early 12/08, I had a biopsy with 5 out of 12+ cores showing adenocarcinoma with Gleason of 3+3=6. This urologist has an excellent reputation so I decided to go with what he preferred: RRP. He does DaVinci and lapr but prefers RRP for palpable detections so he has a better view of the situation.

Anyhow, to make a long story short, the surgery went well with full nerve-sparing on one side and partial on the other. Clear margins and a post-op Gleason of 3+2=5. I'm waiting to get the catheter removed to start checking out the "quality-of-life" issues. We'll see how it goes.

My take on this is to make sure you get both the PSA and DRE, just to be sure.

More soon...
GarthK

Hi Garth,

Glad you joined and wishing you a speedy recovery. And I hear you on the sinuses part.
Scott

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Diagnosed @ 48yo 04/07

Good Morning and welcome to you Garth,

So happy your found our little community here. Very friendly and experienced people here, all too happy to help you and to support you. Like you, I had an open surgery too. Sounds like you are doing well so far. Hope your recovery continues well, and yes, you will feel like a new man once they take out your catheter. I had a series of them for 66 days, so I know the feeling. Was really happy to see your post surgery Gleason was downgraded to a 5, that is really good news. Look forward to hearing from you again soon.

David in SC

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Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3

Welcome to HW, Garth. And to the other side. I hope you will share your Journey with us as you continue to recover.

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James C. Age 62
Co-Moderator- Prostate Cancer Forum
4/07 PSA 7.6, referred to Urologist, recheck 6.7
7/07 Biopsy: 3 of 16 PCa, 5% involved, left lobe, GS 3/3=6
9/07 Nerve sparing open RRP- Path Report: GS 3+3=6 Stg. pT2c, 110gms, margins clear
16 mts: ED- 50 mg Viagra 3X week, pump daily,Trimix .35ml 2X week continues
PSA's: .04 each 3 months

Welcome to HW! Glad that you found us! Congrats on a smooth surgery and I have to say, you are one of the lucky ones that comes out with a lower Gleason score than you went in with. Great news. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and I hope you will stick around.

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Father's Age 62 (now 63)
Original Gleason 3+4=7, Post-Op Gleason- 4+3=7,
DaVinci Surgery Aug 31, 2007
Focally Positive Right Margin, One positive node. T3a N1 M0.
Bone Scan/CT Negative (Sept. 10, 2007)
Oct. 17 PSA 0.07
Nov. 13 PSA 0.05
Casodex adm. Nov 07, Lupron beg. Dec 03, 2007 2 yrs
Radiation March 03-April 22, 2008- 8 weeks 5x a week
July 2, 08 PSA <.02
Oct. 10, 08 PSA <.02
Praying for a cured dad.

Co-Moderator Prostate Cancer Forum

Welcome Garth and hope your recovery continues to go well. I did appreciate your post along with so many others. The humor of the reality of the posts makes me laugh out loud. My wife says nothing but I think she thinks I'm a little crazy as I chuckle out loud. It is so comforting to relate to all of you on this forum.
Good Health,
Tim

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Age at Dx:48, currently 49