Prostate Cancer Survivors

 

YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

 

 

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Re: Advice please!

Will,

I don't know if you have read any of the E-Letters I try to send out from month to month. If not perhaps you'd like to just have a quick read of the short piece headed Metatasized Disease in E-Letter 9 .

The reason I am suggesting this is because if the tumour is as big as the current pathology report implies, there MAY be a greater chance that the disease is possibly out of the gland or even "systemic" or "micrometastatic". The difference between "systemic" and "micrometastatic" being that in the former, inactive cancer cells might be lodged in remote parts of the body: in the latter cancer cells might be active even if they were unidentifiable. Size is a factor in trying to estimate the probability of escape from the gland, but this is less likely with low Gleason Scores - hence my repeated suggestion to have a review of your pathology.

IF there is this greater probability, then it may be better to consider a wider therapy - radiation: proton or photon/ brachytherapy or EBRT (External Beam Radiation)which would deal with the gland and the capsule and/or ADT (Androgen Deprivation Therapy).

I think it unlikely that there willbe any clear evidence guiding you to one specific therapy, but I do think that having surgery on November 29 may be rushing into a life changing treatment (all prostate cancer treatments are life changing) before you have fully explored the diagnosis or your options. I say that, not critically, because I fully understand the kind of reactions we all have to the word 'cancer' being applied to us, but I also know that many men wish they had spent more time gaining a better understanding of their options and the likely outcomes.

I don't know if you have been through the site page by page, starting at the page labelled DON'T PANIC but it may be worthwile spending some time doing just that. If that is more than you want to do, then can I suggest you follow the pointers in the page labelled SURVIVING PROSTATE CANCER and especially the section on that page headed ASSESS STATUS BEFORE DETERMINING STRATEGY.

Good luck to you whatever your decision - keep asking questions. Oh and please let us know how you go by sharing your story with us .

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