I wish you well and hope everything goes O.K My Father had 'Brachytherapy' treatment which involved planting copious amounts of radiation seeds directly into his prostrate...Never had any problems with his prostrate after that and passed away through old age at the age of 82.
Pl of mine, no symptoms apart from feeling a bit knackered, was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. It was whipped out almost the same day (NHS) and he's in pretty good shape now. Still cycles, sails, goes to gym, used to leak a bit until he had some sort of plumbing put in (I'm sure steverico knows all about this...). Now he's got basically a tap in his groin from which he can drain off accumulated pee, so no nappies! All done privately though, about £20k's worth.
Unfortunately the PSA test has never been considered as suitable for screening. It produces an unacceptably high number of false positive results - that might be OK but in the prostate the diagnostic procedures have always been invasive with potentially adverse side effects. Also the psychological trauma associated with an incorrect cancer diagnosis can't be overestimated. On balance the potential adverse effects of testing are considered to trump the benefits. An isolated high PSA result can be particularly misleading and should also be seen as just one step in a series of tests demonstrating a steadily increasing level. Must go, I need a pee.
I’m not sure if there is a specific age recommendation but I would say that if you become aware of any changes at all in the plumbing department, then go and get it checked out. Also if you have any family history of it. My Dad didn’t do anything when he started getting symptoms and by the time he did, it had already spread beyond the prostate, which meant it was terminal, so as soon as I started noticing mild symptoms I went to get checked. My first PSA test was only 4.9 and the Doctor said that they wouldn’t normally refer someone for further testing but because of my Dad’s history he thought it was a good idea. I had an MRI which showed some areas of concern, so they did a biopsy, which actually involved multiple tiny biopsies and the results were that there was some cancerous tissue but not too significant. The advice was to use what they call ‘Active Surveillance’, which means you do nothing other than keep having regular PSA test and less regular MRI scans and biopsies. A year later with very little upward movement in the test results, I had another MRI scan, which showed another area of concern on a different part of the prostate, so I had a further set of biopsies. Unfortunately, this time the news wasn’t so good. I had a few options but despite the potential side effects, I opted to have the prostate removed. To be continued……
I had robotic surgery to remove the prostate in September 2020. Had to have a catheter in for a couple of weeks and when it was removed I had no control over my pee at all but gradually over a few months it got better and now three years later, I’m pretty much back to normal in that department. Not everything works quite as well as it did but there are ways and means, although most importantly life goes on. By the way, my PSA never got into double figures and yet apparently there are lots of men who have very high PSA levels that never present as cancer. It’s a lottery but as they say, if you don’t buy a ticket…..
Thanks and good luck for the future. Not huge changes, although the first piss of the day is a bit all over the place and has been for a decade. Just been using someone's face cloth to clean up and then forget about it, so I'll get on the case and find out who my gp is!
I have skipped the active surveillance option, except I was told I had it last February and it has taken all this time to get to hormone treatment starting tomorrow with an 8 month waiting list for radiotherapy. So effectively unofficial active surveillance. What a ****ing state the NHS is in.
Yes,good luck to all who have shared their stories on here.To those who have had a diagnosis of Cancer,kick it's arse,that's an order!!! To those unsure if there's anything going on and having the odd symptom,get to the ****ing Dr!! My uncle sadly ignored the signs and symptoms and was embarrassed to go to the Doctor...His last words to members of his family were "Male pride has done for me" ...
My Father in law was a quiet man. Seemed to lose lots of weight. Eventually went to the doctors,straight to hospital and passed away 17 days later. I never spoke to him again once he was in hospital but was informed that he knew he should have gone to seek advice much earlier.
Got a growing blood problem under regular tests I know it’s heading the wrong way , but it’s not known how quick - the human lottery! My last test result was ‘ as expected’ I’d wish they’d tell me what’s expected -!! actually next one in March I’ll ask . Do you want to know or don’t you ? I have no symptoms of anything significant walked 13 miles last Friday , do gym and play golf long may it all continue !! hope everyone in something similar hold up !!!
