Monday 11 October 2010

It’s treatment time for my prostate cancer

If you’ve been reading my blog for the past several months, you know I have prostate cancer. I was diagnosed with the disease in September, 2008. My urologist told me it was lower-grade and confined to the prostate. That’s what you want, because the cure rate is promising when the tumor is confined to the prostate.  I was put on active surveillance for two years. Just a few weeks back, after a third biopsy, my doctor told me the grade of cancer went up a notch. The Gleason score went from 3+3 to 3+4. That’s a fancy way of saying my cancer has become more aggressive. My PSA had also been tracking up….to 8. Bottom line: My doctor wants me to start treatment. Fortunately,  I have a choice of surgery (removal of the prostate), external beam radiation or radiation seeds. I need to spend the next several weeks, with my family,  finding out what treatment is best for me. Each treatment has side effects. I will schedule an appointment with a radiation specialist.  As soon as I pick a treatment, I’ll let you know. I’ll also let you know how the treatment went.  For all you guys out there, get to the doctor and get screened for prostate cancer. The aim is to catch that cancer while it’s still within the prostate.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 4th, 2010 at 12:51 am and is filed under Prostate.
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