Gleason Score of 7 prostate cancer
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer on the Friday before Memorial Day, 2004. This was completely unexpected and has turned my life upside down. This whole affair started when my doctor referred me to a local urologist because my PSA blood test was slightly above normal (4.9). I got another blood test a few weeks later that came back 6.6. Next was a prostate biopsy that took 20 minutes and was not very comfortable.
I found out the bad news three days later. Cancer detected on both sides of my prostate with a Gleason level of 7. That scale indicates the cancer is growing and active and needs to be dealt with quickly.
I am 66 years old and working as an engineer for a defense contractor in San Fernando Valley. My wife and I have been married for over 32 years with three children and three grandchildren.
As an engineer, I felt I needed to research prostate cancer and gather all the facts. My urologist already told me about the three major options: surgery, internal radiation, and external radiation. Our oldest daughter has a doctorate in pharmacy and I used to help her in school by researching National Institutes of Health abstracts for her. I found a lot of information on MEDLINE at www.nih.gov. I also browsed the internet newsgroups on prostate cancer. I quickly came across a definitive book for the layman: "Surviving Prostate Cancer ," by Dr Patrick Walsh of Johns Hopkins. It is widely available for under $15. He outlines the pros and cons of all the treatment approaches and their side-effects.
I began to lean towards the "Gold Standard" approach--a Radical Prostatectomy. The advantages are that it is a one-shot deal. Get it over with and then recover. You also know how far the cancer has progressed and what your overall outlook is. With radiation, you never know for sure if the cancer was eradicated. I didn't like living with that uncertainty. Radiation can also have a long term effect on bladder, rectum, and potency problems.
Nerve sparing surgery will preserve potency and erectile function over 70% of the time. All my research pointed to the fact that the skill of the surgeon was the most important factor in this regard needed to find a Center of Excellence for this procedure--not a suburban hospital. I found that there were a lot of abstracts for medical journal articles on prostate cancer written by the Clarke Urological Center at UCLA Medical Center. After finding out they accepted MEDICARE, I booked an appointment with a well-known doctor in the field. After reviewing my biopsy results and an examination, his recommendation was a Radical Prostatectomy with nerve-sparing if possible to preserve erectile function (nerve-sparing surgery was not done before 1982).
There was a surgery opening in about 10 days and I decided to get this whole thing over with. His advice was not too wait more than 3 months with a Gleason score of 7. I gave blood that day for my own use at the time of surgery (it was used). A Radical Prostatectomy is a very complex operation involving a lot of blood vessels that must be clamped.
My wife drove me to the hospital on the morning of surgery. We had to report at 5:15 AM so we missed the morning rush hour. My surgery was delayed for three hours, however, due to a kidney transplant that pre-empted my operating room (courtesy of a dead LA motorcycle rider as the donor). I was given a general anesthetic which knocked me right out. The last time I had a general anesthetic was for a tonsillectomy in 1944 which consisted of someone holding gauze over my nose and mouth and pouring a bottle of ether on it. I was 6 and will never forget that experience.
I went home from the hospital the next day with a catheter (which gets taken out tomorrow) and with a lot of pain pills. It has been a long 11 days since the surgery, but I am off the pain pills and moving around. The good news is the pathologist report that my cancer was 100% localized in the prostate and I am considered 100% cured.
