Patients speak about prostate cancer and laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
Bradford van Duzee, Quebec, Canada
Last June, when my prostate PSA test went up I also had one of the prostate cancer warning signs, a bump on my prostate. I then had my first prostate biopsy. The biopsy showed prostate cancer (cancer de la prostate, pour mes amis en Quebec) with a grade of Gleason score 7 cancer in three of six pieces, and I wasn't very happy. As I considered what to do about it, an article came out in the Montreal Gazette with some prostate cancer news and a story about a man from Texas who had had a new prostate cancer treatment, a laparoscopic radical prostatectomy by a surgeon in Miami. It caught my attention.
After some phone calls and faxes going back and forth, my wife and I packed up the motor home and headed out of Canada. I'm retired and there seemed to be no real rush about getting home, so we made a trip out of the whole experience, staying at campgrounds along the way. Staying at a campsite is pretty good after surgery when you have all your stuff with you. It turns out to have also been a great place to be after surgery.
My prostate cancer surgery went well. I had no pain and was on my feet in no time at all. I was out swimming with my wife about 10 days after surgery. Fortunately, my pelvic lymph nodes and seminal vesicles were not involved. Despite the fact that the cancer had grown out of the prostate and into the surrounding fat, my margins were clean.
Today, my post radical prostatectomy PSA is zero, I'm urinating better than ever before, and I feel great. The folks in Dr. Krongrad's office and at the hospital could not have been more friendly and helpful. This was the right choice for me.
