This forum is for the discussion of anything to do with Prostate Cancer. There are only four rules:
No fundraisers, no commercials (although it is OK to recommend choices of treatment or medical people based on your personal research; invitations to participate in third-party surveys are also acceptable, provided there is no compensation to YANA);
No harvesting e-mail addresses for Spam;
No insults or flaming - be polite and respectful at all times and understand that there may be a variety of points of view, all of which may have some validity;
Opinions are OK, but please provide as much factual evidence as possible for any assertions that you are making
Failure to abide by these simple rules will result in the immediate and permanent suspension of your posting privileges.
Since this is an International Forum, please specify your location in your post.
A little more info - my Boyfriend is 68 and healthy, active and fit and has no other health conditions.
I would think being 68 is probably about the borderline for active surveillance vs surgery or radiation. He's not really young but not really old either. So.....
Regarding the Gleason score - While doing a little research yesterday, I noticed there is no Gleason score of "4" and that the Gleason score has 2 numbers. I know the Dr. (Urologist) only gave us the "4" during the initial consultation.
This morning I requested my Boyfriend's medical records from the Drs. office so I can review and verify everything and potentially consult with other Drs. They all have their own opinions on the course of treatment. And, having medical records in hand should clear up the Gleason score question.
I told my Boyfriend last night that the original plan was active surveillance, prior to the genome testing. If we hadn't had the genome testing then that's the approach we would be taking, so let's just go with that for now. He will be coming back here to Colorado Springs at the end of May so we will get another PSA and depending on the results, we will proceed from there.
Finally, just because the standard treatment/recommendation is surgery and radiation, doesn't mean they are the only realistic or practical options. I am searching for and researching other possible options.
I will post again after I get his medical records and/or the next PSA test
Hello Diana,
I agree with Joe that it is difficult to provide meaningful information based on very little medical data. Do your research and read as many PCa patient histories as you can. You will soon get the gist of the salient factors to relate, in order to receive relevant advice. Whilst this site is a bit of a PCa relic, it's heyday was long ago, thus whilst valuable from a historical perspective, it relevance to current PCa treatment modalities is somewhat limited. May I re-direct you to the UK Prostate Cancer Community which is very active, valuable, and up to date. The website link is here https://prostatecanceruk.org/ Do join, post your boyfriend's story, and a steady flow of valuable information will be forthcoming. Just remember to layout "all" the medical data related to your boyfriend's case.
Thank you so much John!!!
I realize every PCa cancer situation is unique and I'm not looking for someone to tell us how to proceed; just thoughts and suggestions on what to do and where to go for more information.
I also stumbled upon this website in March, when my husband of 32 years biopsy results came back. It is really helpful and I have perused all sections of it, so thank you to the originals and those keeping it alive. I somewhere was referred to a book that has been around awhile, Dr Patrick Walsh's guide to surviving Prostate Cancer, and found it very neutral and invaluable in educating us (my husband's not much of a reader) on this journey. He will be having a RP in a few weeks.
