Husband's long wait for op, worried about spread

Thanks to everyone for replying, sorry for late response. We live in the Black Country, so husband was automatically referred to Wolverhampton from the local hospital where he first attended. There have been no second opinions.

Anyway, pleased to say that his op date is set for the first week in December, so fingers crossed it goes ahead then.

I am a bit perturbed to hear about hormone treatment beforehand potentially affecting the removal of the prostate, and the Gleason score afterwards, but we can't do anything about that now, except hope that it goes well for him.

Thanks again.

Good luck to your husband for his op in December.

I hope it all goes well for him and doesn't put a damper on your Christmas.

He'll need to put his feet up and relax.

Best wishes

I spoke to a surgeon at Ross Hall at the start of November and he informed me that these machines were ready to get installed at those locations by December.

But unfortunately due to my PCA having left the capsule this is not an option for me. Open surgery needs to be done so that they can get as much of the PCa as possible as the da vinca would not guarantee that.

Sandy

Hi, here is an update for all those kind enough to respond to my original post.

My husband attended his 7-week post-op (da Vinci robotic) appointment with the consultant today, and was given the great news that the op had been very successful, cancer was still contained within prostate (which was a worry after such a long time from diagnosis to surgery), lymph nodes clear and vesicles clear, Gleason had been downgraded slightly to 7-7.5 from 8 and he doesn't need any radiotherapy treatment and can stop the hormone tablets. A bonus is that he saved one set of nerves completely and partially the other side. I guessed when he opened the conversation about erections and how he could come back from a demo about a vacuum pump that the news might be good (although you don't dare presume until it's actually said)!

He just has to return in four months for another PSA, and then every four months thereafter. He said he would only start him on RT if it reached 1 (which is apparently lower than the usual 2), but he calculated the odds of him needing to start RT within the next few years were quite low (rising to 30% over ten years).

I know there is no guarantee this will not come back but, after almost a year of worry, this news was a great relief to us both, and my husband near bounced out of the hospital with joy. The change in him is amazing - he feels he has his life back. 

I had read beforehand that people with a Gleason 8 aren't usually offered surgery, but the consultant said my husband was a perfect example of it being the correct course of action, given that he is relatively young (62) fit and otherwise healthy man. He has also not had much problem with incontinence or anything else so, after a series of disappointments, when everything was always a bit worse than expected, it was lovely to have better news than expected for once - in fact, the best. We can't thank his surgeon enough. He did a terrific job, by all accounts.

I hope this gives confidence to other men facing similar treatment, and I wish you all well, and thanks for listening again.

Congratulations to you both. Seems like a fantastic result all round so far. Good news is greatly welcomed on here
Chris

Nellydean, did they tell you his first post-op PSA reading?

And could you have misheard the bit about starting RT at 1 rather than 2? Usually, RT or other salvage treatment would be started at 0.2 although some will do so when the PSA rises above 0.1 if there have been three successive rises.

Arthur

Excellent news for you both!

I remember how elated I was when I heard and read my histology report from the surgeon. ( I still read it on occasions to remind myself how lucky I was ) 

I was fully expecting to be having adjunctive RT after my op...... to be told I didn't need any further treatment at present really gave me a boost.

Best wishes
Luther

Top news and best wishes to you both!