I was diagnosed with a high PSA level and enlarged prostate in 1976. My PSA level goes up and then down.

My GP doctor told me I had cancer in 2000 and sent me to a urologist who performed a painful biopsy. No cancer was found.

I see a urologist every six months. The last two PSA tests were climbing. He had me come back in three months. I saw him this week and my PSA went back down. He said to come back in six months.

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Originally posted by hudr:

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Originally posted by gearhounds:

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Originally posted by Beancooker:

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Originally posted by apf383:

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It works using on a rod-shaped device, inserted into the urethra

Ummmmm, what?

Better than carving your taint like a thanksgiving turkey.

Not to mention still having your functioning prostate.

And I would wager you are asleep when it happens.
Anecdote and thread drift:
I have had Percutaneous (through my back) and Uretoscopic (Through my dick) procedures for my kidney stones.
I very MUCH prefer the uretoscopic. Procedure by 0800, home by noon, straight enough that evening to drive to dinner.
PCNL? procedure at 0800, all day and night in the hospital, lots of tubes, severe lingering pain, healing time even once home....
I'll take "Run that thing up my Pee-hole" for $1000 every time, Alex.

Jeez, no kidding. For all the stigma, it's a medical device that's got to get in you one way or another. I'd rather it go in a pre-existing pathway than create a new one.

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Originally posted by MNSIG:

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Originally posted by GWbiker:
Nope, had it done last year. Interesting part of the procedure was two young girls doing the prep.

I wonder what they talk about during "Girls night out".

Probably not old guys' dicks

Well... probably they do, but not in such a way as you'd want to be a fly on the wall for the conversation, lol.

I've known a few nurses. They respect HIPAA but they're still absolutely brutal once they get a few vodka tonics in them.

I take a different approach than some folks when it comes to cancer. If the cancer is in me, and it can be surgically removed and thrown into a bucket, then that is the route for me. Then, I can get on with my life!!! And yes, I did have prostate cancer 8 years ago......no signs of any as of 1 month ago.

I believe they have developed the same treatment for other parts too.

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Originally posted by apf383:

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It works using on a rod-shaped device, inserted into the urethra

Ummmmm, what?

Think baiting a hook with a worm for the visual.

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I've known a few nurses. They respect HIPAA but they're still absolutely brutal once they get a few vodka tonics in them.

Several medical personnel at a local hospital got the axe a few years ago for taking a photo of a guys "Johnson" while he underwent surgery.

Word on the street (a few nurses I know) it was BIG.

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Originally posted by LimaCharlie:
I was diagnosed with a high PSA level and enlarged prostate in 1976. My PSA level goes up and then down.

My GP doctor told me I had cancer in 2000 and sent me to a urologist who performed a painful biopsy. No cancer was found.

I see a urologist every six months. The last two PSA tests were climbing. He had me come back in three months. I saw him this week and my PSA went back down. He said to come back in six months.

Sounds exactly like the ordeal I have been going through in recent years.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:

quote:

Originally posted by LimaCharlie:
I was diagnosed with a high PSA level and enlarged prostate in 1976. My PSA level goes up and then down.

My GP doctor told me I had cancer in 2000 and sent me to a urologist who performed a painful biopsy. No cancer was found.

I see a urologist every six months. The last two PSA tests were climbing. He had me come back in three months. I saw him this week and my PSA went back down. He said to come back in six months.

Sounds exactly like the ordeal I have been going through in recent years.

NO Sex at least two weeks before your PSA test.
None. Leave "Willie" alone, too.

So I've been told by several medical friends.

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Originally posted by apf383:

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It works using on a rod-shaped device, inserted into the urethra

Ummmmm, what?

What an incredible discovery! If , God forbid, I ever need this surgery, I hope I get a massive bolus of Valium pre-op.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:
Yeah, sure: I’d rather have my belly cut open and an organ pulled out rather than anything stuck up my dick.

At least my ability to predict what one of the first posts would be after reading about the procedure is undiminished.

Me 3.

No need to have your belly or your taint opened up to removes prostate, geez

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Originally posted by GWbiker:

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Originally posted by wreckdiver:

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Originally posted by LimaCharlie:
I was diagnosed with a high PSA level and enlarged prostate in 1976. My PSA level goes up and then down.

My GP doctor told me I had cancer in 2000 and sent me to a urologist who performed a painful biopsy. No cancer was found.

I see a urologist every six months. The last two PSA tests were climbing. He had me come back in three months. I saw him this week and my PSA went back down. He said to come back in six months.

Sounds exactly like the ordeal I have been going through in recent years.

NO Sex at least two weeks before your PSA test.
None. Leave "Willie" alone, too.

So I've been told by several medical friends.

This is correct. Ejaculation temporarily raises PSA levels.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:
Yeah, sure: I’d rather have my belly cut open and an organ pulled out rather than anything stuck up my dick.

At least my ability to predict what one of the first posts would be after reading about the procedure is undiminished.

They go in after the Prostate via your "back Door". If that doesn't make you cringe enough the "surgery" to open things up is to basically have a roto rooter fed thru your willy and prostate into your bladder. There are times when I question the wisdom of living to 100, because by an age somewhere between 65 and 95 ALL men will have to have work done on their prostate.

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Originally posted by BOATTRASH1:
Been the prostate cancer route. Had a radical prostatectomy in December of 2016.
... My concern with this new method would be, as mentioned earlier the results 10 years out or so and, also mentioned earlier, cancer cells being set loose to do damage elsewhere, notably the spine and pelvic girdle area.

Based on the description, Metastasis would be my largest concern as well. It will be a long time until translational studies might be completed and we'll hear a hundred more potential cancer cures in the interim.

Sound wave treatments Gives new meaning to head phones.

EDIT - I hope the damn thing works, something, anything. Some type of treatment is likely in my future.

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Originally posted by GWbiker:

I wonder what they talk about during "Girls night out".

Comment made by a friends wife/nurse who worked at a nursing home about a new patient

"He is... humongous. I hope I NEVER see that thing erect"

You want a second opinion? See a second doctor.

Want a third opinion? See a third doctor.

Maybe just a bit cynical on my part, but here's my story. In late January of 2010 I was hospitalized for something totally unrelated to prostate cancer. Routine blood work showed a PSA well above 20, actually pushing 27, if I remember correctly. This was the first clue that there was a problem.

Once out of the hospital I made an appointment with a prostate cancer doc. Probes, sonograms, and biopsy showed cancer (somebody referred to the biopsy as painful. I have had a couple of prostate biopsies and they are no worse than a fairly mild bee sting. Yes, I felt it, but it was over almost instantly. I had declined the valium, the biopsy was not a big deal).

The doc discussed this with me and the conclusion was that at my age, 73 at the time, surgery was not the best option. He went in again with the probe and planted a couple of pieces of metal (bee sting again) that would be used to target the radiation. Off to Orlando Cancer Institute, every weekday, for five radiation zaps / week, for eight or nine weeks. Side note, everybody there was absolutely great, the doctors, the radiation techs, the nurses, the admin people. I am a picky, grouchy, S.O.B., and I could not imagine a more patient-oriented staff.

After forty or so zaps, my PSA dropped to somewhere around 0.2

Continued to monitor PSA and about seven years later it had slowly crept up to 1.50 so we did another biopsy (more bee stings) and yes, radiation had failed to kill the cancer completely and it was starting to return.

That doc recommended Salvage CryoTherapy, in which super cold inert gas (nitrogen, or maybe argon) is injected to freeze the cancer -- kill it with cold.

That procedure, which included a heated catheter shoved up the penis to prevent cold damage, did not sound like fun, so I wanted a second opinion. New cancer doc was pushing HIFU -- High Intensity Focused UltraSound. Very focused, kill the cancer with heat. This is fairly new to the U.S., recent FDA approval, although it has been available outside of the country for quite a while. Only partially approved by my insurance, so it would be $10,000 or more out of pocket (the cryotherapy is fully covered).

A third doctor agreed to try Lupron -- just an injection in the tuchas, no more complicated for the patient than dropping pants to expose the target. Prostate cancer likes a testosterone-rich environment, Lupron suppresses testosterone. My PSA dropped from 1.50 to around 0.7 so that worked, but the doc said it is not a permanenet cure, it does not kill the cancer, it just slows the growth and buys time. He still wanted me to do cryotherapy; he does not do this procedure so he sent me to yet another doctor.

The new doc confirmed everything but said that even though he does cryotherapy he did not see an immediate need for it if I do not want to do it, the alternative is to continue the Lupron shots every six months, monitor PSA, and confirm with annual biopsies, all of which is much less invasive than cryotherapy.

Back to the referring doc, who does not see the need for biopsies, he still wants me to consider cryotherapy. He is retiring, possibly by the end of the year, and has offered to refer me to yet another doc, the new one not being a urologist, but a medical oncologist. We'll see what happens.

Meantime, it looks as if we have the cancer's progress slowed down to the point where fast action is not imperative. In fact, at my age (83 next month), odds are that something else will kill me first. I had always hoped to be shot by Carlo Ponti.

^^^^^^^^
Re: “New cancer doc was pushing HIFU -- High Intensity Focused UltraSound. Very focused, kill the cancer with heat. This is fairly new to the U.S., recent FDA approval, although it has been available outside of the country for quite a while.”

Sounds similar to the procedure described in my OP of this thread.

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Originally posted by Scooter123:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Yeah, sure: I’d rather have my belly cut open and an organ pulled out rather than anything stuck up my dick.

At least my ability to predict what one of the first posts would be after reading about the procedure is undiminished.

They go in after the Prostate via your "back Door". If that doesn't make you cringe enough the "surgery" to open things up is to basically have a roto rooter fed thru your willy and prostate into your bladder. There are times when I question the wisdom of living to 100, because by an age somewhere between 65 and 95 ALL men will have to have work done on their prostate.

If they go in via the “back door” why do I have 7 little scars on my belly?

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Originally posted by BOATTRASH1:
If they go in via the “back door” why do I have 7 little scars on my belly?

Sounds like you had the robotic type of surgery. There are two other techniques I know of. One is just a slice down your belly. The other, which gives the surgeon the best view of the anatomy, is the perineal prostatectomy (the "back door"). Perineal is only possible if the prostate gland has not become too large. My urologist prefers the perineal method over both abdominal methods, because, he says, it puts him right in the middle of where he needs to be, to get it all, easily.
 
I underwent the radical perineal prostatectomy in 2003. One night in the hospital, a bit painful to walk the first day, and you have to wear a Foley catheter for two weeks. They make a portable bag for this that velcros to your leg. All in all, it's a pretty easy recovery. I've had colon surgery as well, and the prostatectomy was a piece of cake in comparison.
 
Over 16 years later, my PSA is still zero.