Prostate Cancer - My Experience

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Offline v8ford70

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Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« on: August 30, 2018, 11:25:19 pm »
Six weeks ago I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer after having had a biopsy. I had been monitoring my PSA readings for 6 years & it had been slowly rising up & down over this time from 3.5 gradually to 6.0. My Doctor then advised me to see a specialist which I did 4 weeks later & my PSA dropped to 5.8, my specialist booked me in for an MRI scan which came back all clear so he suggested to monitor my PSA reading in 3 months time,which we did & it had then risen to 7.2.He then said that we better do a biopsy to see what was going on, which 10 out of the 12 core samples came back positive for Cancer grade 7/10.I was then booked in to have a CAT scan to see if the cancer had spread out of the Prostate which after a stressful wait for the result came back clear & that the cancer had seemed to be contained in the Prostate.I have just returned home last weekend after having my Prostate removed by Davinci robotic surgery (highly recommend) on 14th August at Greenslopes Hospital in Brisbane. Now I have to work on trying to control my bladder for hopefully the next 6 to eight weeks but it could be longer.Then more tests (PSA) to follow for the next 5 years to make sure that the cancer doesn't return.So no work on my Mustang Resto for at least 2 to 3 Months.I'm writing this so that hopefully if any members that haven't been monitoring their PSA will take note & start doing it.Prostate Cancer is a Silent Killer it kills approx 3000 Men in Australia each year & unfortunately some of these may have survived if they had early detection ,I didn't feel any difference or changes in my health from 6 years ago .I'm 63 years old & a friend of mine had his cancerous Prostate removed 10 years ago when he was 45 years old. Please check with your health fund that they cover Robotic Surgery as some don't (some require you to be a member for 12 Months before you get cover).Hopefully what I have written here may save someones life.Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. Regards Phil
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Offline fredm666

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2018, 02:48:05 am »
Thanks for sharing your experience
fred

Offline Dwayne

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2018, 07:27:59 am »
Thanks for sharing.

What is PSA?

Offline jiffy

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2018, 07:29:57 am »
Prostate Specific Antigen. If this is identified during tests, it’s time for a closer look.
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Offline gbx78

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2018, 08:48:49 am »
Thanks for sharing. Im going through the same process myself and im only 40.  Although the psa is an indication, the rate of increase is whats concerning. Biopsy scheduled in 4 weeks after 1 more blood test to see how much its increased in 3months since last test. It was only found by chance through a checkup blood test. Feel fine..it is a silent killer. Good luck mate.

Offline barnett468

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2018, 09:38:33 am »
Thanks for sharing. Im going through the same process myself and im only 40.  Although the psa is an indication, the rate of increase is whats concerning. Biopsy scheduled in 4 weeks after 1 more blood test to see how much its increased in 3months since last test. It was only found by chance through a checkup blood test. Feel fine..it is a silent killer. Good luck mate.

For general info, the more biopsy samples the better which would be around 12, and even with that amount, it can still be missed AND the tests can produce false negatives, however, there is at least 1 additional test that can be done in addition or possibly in place of the core test, that purportedly eliminates the possibility of false positives or something like that, and it is a dna test. One of the mfgs of this test is called "confirmmdx" but there are a couple others mentioned in the link below, so I would also ask your doctor about that test as well.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4110681/

Also, people that have their prostate removed should also ask their doctor about testosterone replacement therapy to see if they might benefit from it because a lot of doctors don't mention it, however, it has been determined to increase the risk of stroke.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2018, 09:47:40 am by barnett468 »

Offline BLINDMAN

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2018, 07:33:17 pm »
Well it seems we have more in common than the love of our Mustangs.

After a regular blood test only 4 weeks ago, I was told my PSA was 13.7 & referred to a urologist.
Since then I've had a MRI & Biopsy to confirm i have prosate cancer.
Today I started the PET scan to determine whether it has spread & am booked in for the robotic surgery in Octber.

This experience, so far, has opened my eyes to what is most important in life. I now drive my Mustang every day!

I'm not 50. If you are reading this, get PSA reading.

Offline Reborn67

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2018, 09:42:51 pm »
Gents,  This is a subject that is far more common than than the average person knows about, l lost my father exactly one year ago to prostate cancer, For him he unfortunately was diagnosed to late, therefor inoperable, so he had to endure years of all manner of treatments which are in essence toxic and almost lethal, these in his case would never be a cure but a controlling measure, it was a total mental and physical roller coaster ride for almost 10 years, He was an incredibly proud and strong man, but you cant fight a hard fight forever,
PSA numbers can vary from person to person, anything over 5 becomes a concern, and more than 2 consecutive reading increases more so,
Once you are over 40 Have a blood test done every 12 months, say tax time as a reminder, if there is a history do it every 6 months, its not hard and you have everything to loose if you don't.
To the fellas that have told their stories here, the very best of luck to you.

Offline Dwayne

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2018, 10:08:08 pm »
Because of this thread, I'm booking in for a blood test to start having mine checked.

Thanks you.

Offline ants

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #9 on: September 01, 2018, 08:39:05 am »
Thanks to all for sharing and I all the best to those having treatment and hope the ones going to get tested get a good result.

For those going to get tested here is something to keep in mind. A customer of mine was in a few weeks ago and was telling me that he is going through treatment. He's a paramedic and was relying on his PSA test and all was ok, nothing high nothing changing between tests to be a concern.
His words to me were "don't rely wholly on a PSA result and don't be afraid to ask your doctor to stick his finger where the sun don't shine"
He thinks some doctors are relying to much on PSA results and the only reason he got diagnosed when he did was because his doctor did the ols fashioned test.

Offline barnett468

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2018, 09:11:16 am »
His words to me were "don't rely wholly on a PSA result and don't be afraid to ask your doctor to stick his finger where the sun don't shine". He thinks some doctors are relying to much on PSA results and the only reason he got diagnosed when he did was because his doctor did the ols fashioned test.

The "digital" test can not effectively determine if one has prostate cancer. It can only determine for certain if a prostate is abnormally large. An abnormally large prostate is not related to prostate cancer but it can restrict urine flow. There are medications to reduce the prostate size. If the medications are discontinued, the prostate will quickly regain its post medication size. One reasonably effective non prescription supplement that can be taken instead of medication for an enlarged prostate is saw palmetto. It has zero adverse side effects and is available at pharmacies and health food stores and grocery stores.



« Last Edit: September 01, 2018, 09:16:19 am by barnett468 »

Offline ants

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2018, 09:30:35 am »
The "digital" test can not effectively determine if one has prostate cancer. It can only determine for certain if a prostate is abnormally large.

Agree, I think what he was saying was don't rely totally on the PSA, there is still a place for "digital" test.

Offline StephenSLR

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #12 on: September 02, 2018, 02:40:25 pm »
Thanks for sharing and best of luck.



^ One thing us men can't escape with age is an enlarging prostate; it's a growing organ. A miracle of bad engineering, so much for creationism. Only a moron engineer would design an organ prone to swelling, around a collapsible pipe and against a collapsible tank (urethra and bladder).

I get yearly blood tests for PSA levels among other things and after starting a new job I noticed I was urinating a lot compared to the other workers so I feared my prostate could be enlarged (or worse).  My doctor didn't even do a DRE (Digital Rectal Exam), he sent me for an ultrasound and I learnt I'm at the upper limit of normal size. That's a relief for now. I do actually drink a lot more and eat more fruit than my co-workers so that would explain the frequent urination.

A lot of guys fear the DRE but as I learnt, it seems they no longer do that for prostate issues; it seems blood tests and ultrasounds are the modern techniques.

However, not long after that I decided to consult my doctor for another issue, incessant itchiness around the anus and he sent me to a specialist. I then had a young doctor go where no man has gone before and I'm glad she was petite with thin fingers.  At least in Aus. you don't have to pay for that experience ... if it's for medical reasons that is, lol.

She didn't feel any piles and said a DRE can only detect so much and even if she had felt piles; for any bowel issue, you go for a colonoscopy. She made me feel old by saying, 'at your age you should be having one anyway'.

Gather around children, let me tell you the story of:



The day before a colonoscopy, you can't eat solid foods and can only drink clear non red drinks. Lemon jelly is as solid as they allow. You drink 3 sachets of Picoprep the afternoon before to evacuate your bowels, it tastes like dissolved chalk with a bit of a citrus tang. If you ever have to, it's a lot better at tea drinking temperature than it is cold. After the first sachet I evacuated as usual, after the second sachet it got runnier. After the third, the bum wees wouldn't stop. I was waking in the middle of the night every half hour or so, to basically do a piss out of my rear.

The colonoscopy went well, bowel all clear. The procedure takes about half an hour, they put you under and you're in and out of hospital in a day. I don't remember any of the procedure, they wheeled me in, the anaesthetist said, now for the happy juice. The next thing I woke up in quite a bit of pain and wondered what the hell camera did they stick up there.



The pain wasn't from the colonoscopy, they found three inflamed internal haemorrhoid piles and banded them. That's where tight rubber bands (tiny O-rings) are placed around the base of the pile, the piles eventually shrivel and fall off and I can tell you, strangled angry haemorrhoids feel exactly as one would imagine, lol. I mentioned I was in pain, given panadol at first, then a few doses of fentanyl and it helped considerably.

I was quite sensitive for a few days. Had the procedure on a Friday, went in to work on the Tuesday, it was uncomfortable so took the rest of the week off.

This banding procedure is similar to what they used to do to lamb and puppy tails, the band cuts off circulation and the tail falls off. These days vets frown at anyone doing it as it's a redneck method as bone would be left sticking out of the tail; the correct way is to use a scalpel and a few stitches to cover the wound with the skin.

A few weeks in and I'm now feeling so much better, the itchiness has gone and there's also a rather unexpected benefit. for a few years prior to the bandings my turds were always runny and I often had explosive diarrhoea which I just dismissed, thinking it was due to eating lots of fruit, coffee, spicy food, etc.  My diet hasn't changed, I'm still eating lots of fruit, etc. but now I'm pressing grogans like a champ!

All I can say is, if you have any urinary or bowel issues, see a doctor. Simple tests can allay your fears and if there is an issue, early detection could save your life.

s
« Last Edit: September 02, 2018, 05:26:41 pm by StephenSLR »

Offline bigmal

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2018, 05:38:24 pm »
FYI, when you take the Picoprep before your colonoscopy all is good for about two hours and then it gets explosive. Wasn't my first rodeo so I stayed in the bed about 3m from the toilet. Got the urge and bolted. I sat down and thought 'wow, just made that'. Sitting there I looked at the shower screen next to me and thought, 'she didn't clean that too well. It has dirt all over 'it.' Oh yeh, had sprayed off the toilet lid, bounced all over my back, the wall and the shower. Moral of the story, you can't be too close to the toilet when you take the dreaded Picoprep!
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Offline StephenSLR

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2018, 06:07:08 pm »
all is good for about two hours and then it gets explosive.

 :lmao:

My experience wasn't that bad. I was told to drink three sachets 2 hours apart.  I went to the toilet pretty much right after the first one, similarly after the second, getting runnier as it went along; nothing too explosive but it was relentless an hour or so after the last one.

Sitting there I looked at the shower screen next to me and thought, 'she didn't clean that too well. It has dirt all over 'it.' Oh yeh, had sprayed off the toilet lid, bounced all over my back, the wall and the shower. Moral of the story, you can't be too close to the toilet when you take the dreaded Picoprep!

I highly recommend a bum gun (bidet spray kit with diverter valve); great for blasting skid marks off the bowl, etc.



I saw these in hotels in Bangkok, got one soon as I returned and haven't looked back. They're very cheap on ebay and attach to the mains under the cistern. I spray the toothbrush, shaver, floors, bath, butt-hole, etc. lol. I imagine it would be good for washing pets too.

s
« Last Edit: September 02, 2018, 06:11:31 pm by StephenSLR »

Offline skip70

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #15 on: September 02, 2018, 06:37:27 pm »
This is a great thread, i am sure it will prompt many of us to think about this.
StephenSLR, enjoyed your contribution to this also if i might make a couple of comments re your moron engineer comment and your dunny pic.
Until recently the best medical minds in the world had not been able to figure out what the appendix was for. When i was young if you had a problem with your appendix the "doctor" would say wip it out you dont need it anyway. Well turns out they were wrong, they just had not been smart enough to figure out what the creator put it there for. I suspect your prostate example may well be proven to suffer the same fate once our medical people of figure it out.
Your dunny pic unfortunately shows an illegal plumbing installation. Those hand held outlets need to have a high risk backflow prevention device fitted and the length shortened so that it cannot find its way into the pan, to avoid the possibility of you poisoning yourself, your family and the community. I hope no one copies your set up without understanding the risks. Cheers.

Offline StephenSLR

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #16 on: September 02, 2018, 07:00:42 pm »
if I might make a couple of comments re your moron engineer comment

I actually stole that from a Jerry A Coyne video, he states that the prostate gland evolved from the walls of the urethra that it surrounds. Unlike an engineer, nature can't go back to the drawing board and redesign as evolution has no foresight.

I'm agnostic and tend to favour scientific explanations. Sure, we're likely to learn a lot more about the prostate but you're not going to convince me of the 'Adam and Lilith being created from dirt and after Adam complained to god that Lilith wouldn't sleep with him missionary style, Eve was then created from his rib' bahooey.  Why would a 'creator' want centuries of men to suffer urinary inconveniences, pain and increasing chances of cancer later in life?

Those hand held outlets need to have a high risk backflow prevention device fitted.

http://bidets.com.au/shop/accessories/dual-check-valve/

 :thumb:

s
« Last Edit: September 03, 2018, 08:46:07 am by StephenSLR »

Offline barnett468

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #17 on: September 03, 2018, 09:34:51 am »
Until recently the best medical minds in the world had not been able to figure out what the appendix was for. When i was young if you had a problem with your appendix the "doctor" would say wip it out you dont need it anyway. Well turns out they were wrong, they just had not been smart enough to figure out what the creator put it there for. I suspect your prostate example may well be proven to suffer the same fate once our medical people of figure it out.

Well they at least know mainly what the prostate is there for although it may do a few things they are not aware of, however, any reasons it was put there are completely irrelevant, because, if the cancer is not eradicated from it, death is a 100% guarantee, and those seem like fairly bad odds to me

Here is a statistic. If a man lives long enough, there is a 99% chance he will get prostate cancer. Out of a test group of a large number of men that had prostate cancer, all of the ones that had no treatment were dead within 10 years after the cancer was discovered.

« Last Edit: September 03, 2018, 09:46:29 am by barnett468 »

Offline StephenSLR

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #18 on: September 03, 2018, 09:45:01 am »
if the cancer is not eradicated from it, death is a 100% guarantee.

Death is a 100% guarantee for all of us, lol, and you can go at any time.

I recall hearing many men over 80 die with prostate cancer but not from it, some other illness or tragedy gets to them first.

;)

s
« Last Edit: September 03, 2018, 09:49:42 am by StephenSLR »

Offline barnett468

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #19 on: September 03, 2018, 09:48:35 am »
Death is a 100% guarantee for all of us lol and you can go at any time.

Yes but i prefer to hedge my bets and live much longer than the expected 10 year time frame.

I recall some hearing many men over 80 die with prostate cancer but not from it, some other illness gets to them first.

;)

s

That is correct.




Offline StephenSLR

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #20 on: September 03, 2018, 09:50:39 am »
Yes but i prefer to hedge my bets and live much longer than the expected 10 year time frame.

Absolutely!

It's why I get my PSA levels checked regularly.

 :thumb:

s

Offline barnett468

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #21 on: September 03, 2018, 09:56:36 am »
Absolutely!

It's why I get my PSA levels checked regularly.

 :thumb:

s

Unfortunately, the psa levels are only a rough guide and are not 100% accurate in determining the likely hood of cancer being present. Cancer can be present with low stable psa levels and not present with high rising levels, therefore, it is also good to have the dna test done as well if possible.

.

Offline StephenSLR

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #22 on: September 03, 2018, 10:05:28 am »
it is also good to have the dna test done as well if possible.

I didn't know about that one.

Excuse my ignorance, being a DNA test, it sounds like it determines risk factor; can it detect cancerous cells as well?

s

Offline barnett468

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #23 on: September 03, 2018, 12:34:40 pm »
I didn't know about that one.

Excuse my ignorance, being a DNA test, it sounds like it determines risk factor; can it detect cancerous cells as well?

s

There are no ignorant questions when it comes to this stuff as many doctors aren't even aware of all the options/treatments etc or fully understand dna testing etc.

For general info, the more biopsy samples the better which would be around 12, and even with that amount, it can still be missed AND the tests can produce false negatives, however, there is at least 1 additional test that can be done in addition or possibly in place of the core test, that purportedly eliminates the possibility of false positives or something like that, and it is a dna test. One of the mfgs of this test is called "confirmmdx" but there are a couple others mentioned in the link below, so I would also ask your doctor about that test as well.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4110681/

Also, people that have their prostate removed should also ask their doctor about testosterone replacement therapy to see if they might benefit from it because a lot of doctors don't mention it, however, it has been determined to increase the risk of stroke.

Offline v8ford70

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Re: Prostate Cancer - My Experience
« Reply #24 on: September 06, 2018, 11:49:38 pm »
Thanks for all the well wishes,my prayers are with the ones that are going through what I have been thru & the ones waiting on results. PSA readings are used as a marker, a good guide,& if on the increase advising us to pursue it further.Its great to see advancement on testing for Prostate Cancer (eg. DNA) to help us enjoy many more years with our families,friends & our Stangs .I will be interested to find out more about the DNA testing when I meet with my Urologist next, & would be very interested if anyone else has had any discussions with their Urologist re DNA Testing.Barnett I'm interested to find out which DNA testing you have had & your experience.
Its great to see that this topic has had so many views & hopefully everyone is doing something about checking their Prostate health .All the best wishes to all Regards Phil.
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