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I wish I'd been told a lot more about the catheter, including the possibility of very painful bladder spasms (from movements in the colon) that forced pee out past the catheter. For a week after the catheter was removed, I had severe pain, the ent...
Stuart,
What kind of side-effects did/have you had from the radiation treatments? (increased incontinence, ED, bleeding, etc)
Men under 50 or 55 often have concerns that are different from those over 65 or 70. Here's a place to talk about them.
There's no age limit; indeed, it's helpful to get the older crowd's perspective on issues whose importance changes with age.
Profile Information
- Have you been diagnosed with prostate cancer?
- Yes
- What brings you to the New Prostate Cancer InfoLink social network?
- need to learn more about recurrence following radical prostatectomy
- About Me:
- Had radical prostatectomy in 1/2009 at age 54; 3+3 Gleason, 4.2 PSA. Positive margins following surgery, with 0.07 PSA after 3 months.
Comment Wall (5 comments)
- At 7:52am on May 28, 2009,
E. Michael D. ("Mike") Scott said…
- Don: I'm not sure that there is any "consensus" about nutritional supplements. I think the simplest advice is as follows: (1) A heart-healthy diet is a prostate-healthy diet. (2) Don't "go overboard" on any one form of nutritional strategy. (3) In reasonable moderation, it seems highly unlikely that things like pomegranate juice, flax seed, etc., will do you any harm and there is some (limited) evidence that they may help (if you can stand the taste!).
With respect to prayer: there are several thousand years of accumulated evidence suggesting that prayer is a highly successful health management strategy for the faithful (so long as they bear in mind the well-known side effects of excessive religious fervor: please feel free to fill in the blank).
:O)
- At 10:50pm on May 27, 2009,
Arnon Krongrad, MD said…
- Not only that. Many PSAs actually keep dropping. Has to do with inflammation in urethra or UTIs. See The Major's PSA.
First things first. Let's get that report detailed and clarified. Mike -- he says he's getting a copy of the report.
- At 8:51pm on May 27, 2009,
E. Michael D. ("Mike") Scott said…
- Don ... With an initial PSA of 0.07 ng/ml and a positive margin, I would have placed a 50/50 bet that you may never need further treatment. Would it get to be a 70/30 bet if your next PSA was 0.03? Sure it would, but don't let them rush you into radiotherapy unless you need it!
Plenty of men with a positive surgical margin never need further treatment. Did you answer Arnon's question yet?
- At 9:11am on May 27, 2009,
- Don,
Welcome. I'd like to understand something. In your profile you write about "recurrence." The data you supply do not indicate that you actually had a recurrence. Are you equating positive margins with recurrence?
Can you elaborate on the positive margins? One location? Which location(s)? Microscopic and minute or lots and lots? Cauterized or clean cut? What was the pathological stage? Was there vascular involvement? Details please. Also please consider posting a +Start Discussion in the Biopsy group.
Arnon
- At 11:28pm on May 26, 2009,
E. Michael D. ("Mike") Scott said…
- Hi Don. Is your PSA actually rising after falling to a number lower than 0.07 or is 0.07 your first PSA post-surgery? Technically your PSA is still below 0.1 ng/ml, which is normally considered to be "negligible."
Positive margins after an RP are not unusual, but they can be worrisome. If your PSA is definitively rising, most specialists are likely to recommend early radiotherapy as follow-up -- before your PSA level reached 0.5 ng/ml.
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