PSA of 8, age 53. Should I have a biopsy?

once again thank you all so much for your advice.  I have how had my biopsie, yes, I have prostate cancer!  So great advice , so glad this forum was here to ask.  

I have stage 2, Gleeson 7 (already becoming an expert!), and been advised either to go down the permanent seed brachy or radical prostatect.  

Si that is my next big decision.   wiuld be interested to hear if anyone has any thoughts 

thanks all so much, wish you all the very best

geoff xx

Glenn, hi

just read your bio and your reply.  thsnk you. I can see the similaraties between our cases.  I am definitely veering towards surgery just now. Take your point about choosing your surgeon but how do you know, and ultimately what choice do you have?

geoff

Morning Geoff

I am fortunate that my local hospital carries an excellent reputation for its urology services. From my first consultation with my surgeon I felt i was in safe and capable hands. He instilled confidence and was always honest about his outcomes, his expectation for my personal outcome, how I would feel about surgery immediately post op and the months ahead. In addition he was enthusiastic about his continence sparing technique and that was important for me. Interestingly he was also honest and positive about brachytherapy. I left the consultation knowing I was going to have surgery but knew I also had to give brachytherapy some consideration. It’s hard to answer how to choose your surgeon, I think i just knew instinctively he was the man for the job. I didn’t research him and his statistics until after I had made my decision but only out of curiosity. Of the two surgeons who perform robotics at my local hospital, he I think he fact may have performed less but I still wanted to stay with him. 

Brachytherapy was certainly attractive and again my oncologist was very convincing but it boiled down to personal choice and potential side effects outcomes in the months ahead.  I also felt comforted by the fact I could turn to radiotherapy if needed in the future if I chose the surgical route first.

From date of referral to today the urology team as a whole have been exemplary. It’s still early days but to date everything he said would or hoped to happen has happened and I will always be grateful to him and his team. Im not sure how you get referred out of area but I’m sure either people on here or your GP would be able to advise. 

One last piece of advice though - start your pelvic floor exercises now if you haven’t already done so!

Wishing you the best of luck

Glenn

Undoubtedly, many of the men on this list are well known on the forum and have outstanding track records; it is also recognised that many of the men on the list are rated by their peers because they are willing to take on the difficult or complicated surgeries whereas some surgeons look like they have fantastic results because they cherrypick their patients.

Surprising but not surprising that no women made the list (if it was a list of top uro-oncologists, I can think of two women bound to be included) and I would love to meet Jonathan Aning, the only one on the list who doesn't do private work.

Any clues to who these unfortunates are, Matron?

I have tried to search for the nom-de-plume ‘Mr P‘ on the members’ list without success.

Cheers, John.

Just a cautionary note.

My consultant was one of the great and good on the Daily Mail list and he was most professional in his dealings with me on the lead up to the op. On the day itself I was made ready to go to the theatre and was told that the surgeon would be in shortly to have a quick word. A gentleman whom I had never met before duly appeared and apologised for the fact that my consultant would not be carrying out the procedure as he had forgotten when making the appointment that he would be on holiday. 

As it turned out there was a slight complication due to the presence of a hernia but fortunately the surgeon who carried out my RALP was able to deal with this whereas one of his team informed me that the big name would have needed to call on another surgeon to assist. The surgeon on the day turned out to be a lovely guy who is experienced inany areas of surgery and whose main job at the time was training surgeons to use the Da Vinci robot. He doesn't appear on the list but at least he turned up and did two ops for the price of one.

Hi Geoff,

Not much other then keep up with the pelvic floor exercises and get plenty of carbs into you before the op for energy and eat plenty of iron rich foods post op. After the op don't push yourself to get better take your time and allow yourself to heal both physically and mentally. Gentle exercise such as walking is also important but don't overdo it, just gradually build up to walking for an hour or so, if you can manage more then do so. My main advice is allow yourself to get well don't try to force it and allow yourself to be pampered a bit. Also once the catheter comes out make sure you do your pelvic floor exercises as often as you can, they will help you to regain your continence very quickly, I was dry within 6 weeks post op.

Wishing all the best 

Ants

So now I have a date, 11 November.  Am doing my pelvic floors and stepping up the yoga and the cycling to get in top form. Have received my party pack from PCUK which I hsve to say I have yet to explore in detail, for now just kicked under my desk for another day. 

You have all been so helpful, I really value the advice and general comments I have received.  This is a whole new world I never knew existed z month ago, quite a journey

so will keep reading and posting, and interested to hear your stories.  

G x