Prostate Cancer Survivors

 

YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

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Re: just starting

jww
Of course, as you well know, there is no such thing as a good cancer. Your friends, family and perhaps, some of the clinicians you encountered are expressing support and sympathy.
You did well by finding YANA so early.
Best wishes Don O.

Re: just starting

JWW,

Welcome to the group that I'm sure you never wanted to join. Opening up to your friends was a really good idea. It was hard for me to tell my daughters. I was able to cope with this by educating myself, read several books and articles on the internet. Joined a prostate cancer support group that meets once a week. I found quite a difference between what was in some of the books and what my local Urologist said. Probably the best technical book I found was Dr. Strum's book, "A primer on prostate cancer".

I think there is some truth in what your friends say about prostate cancer being the best cancer you can get. Other than basil cell carcinoma (skin cancer) they are pretty much right. All the other cancers like pancreatic, lung, liver, brain...etc
are all more deadly than prostate cancer. I was diagnosed with a Gleason 6, 5 cores positive out of 16. When I consulted with my urologist he said the statistics indicated that I had a 75% chance of living 15 years if I did nothing. He also said that I qualified for active surveillance. Now I don't think any doctor would suggest active surveillance for any of those other cancers. Since you didn't give us your numbers like PSA, Gleason score, Ultrasound imaging results, it would difficult to determine how risky or aggressive your cancer is. Most men that have regular psa test are diagnosed with low or intermediate risk prostate cancer. These cancers are rarely lethal. On the other hand if you are diagnosed with a gleason 9 or 10 and it is already metastasized your treatment options are limited. You are right that this will be a big part of the rest of your life. No matter what treatment you choose there is always a chance of reoccurrence so most men have some Psa anxiety.

Best Wishes,
Fred

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