Re: Three new Members

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Some of the remarks below are my opinion-It is very important

that you do your own research before making a decision that

will affect the rest of your life.

I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis. ABOVE ALL DO NOT

PANIC AND RUSH INTO TREATMENT. Your cancer has

probably been growing in your body for several years. It will not kill

you any time soon. Take the time to learn all the options. It is your

responsibility to make the treatment decision, but it should be a

well informed decisions.

I had my prostate removed in 1992- but we did not have as many

options at that time. I would not choose surgery today. I believe

that there are better options. If I had it to do over, I would choose

brachytherapy, (seed implants or HDR). Of course there are

other options such as External Beam Radiation or IMRT, Proton

Beam radiation (it is one of the better therapies, but expensive, some

insurance may not cover it), Cryo Surgery and soon we will have High

Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). HIFU may be the least invasive

of all, but still not FDA approved in U.S. Many are now choosing

Laparoscopic or Da Vinci robotic assisted surgery to remove

the prostate. But it has the same unpleasant side effects of

the Retropubic Radical Prostatectomy (RRP). For advanced

PCa, there is hormone ablation and several regimens of chemo.

For moderate or rather insignificant cancers. you may be better

off just doing Watch and Wait. Pay close attention to several

PSA tests. The PSA will correlate fairly close to the cancer

activity.

No matter what therapy one chooses, there are always some side

effects, No matter who does it or how it is done, removal of the

prostate has side effects, some more pronounced and unpleasant

than others.

You are wise to do a lot of research. One reason not to have surgery

is because for me, sex was never the same after my prostate was

removed. The prostate and the seminal vesicles manufacture almost

all of the ejaculate. During orgasm, the prostate squeezes down and

forces the semen out. This is a part of the pleasure of an orgasm.

One may still be able to have an orgasm after a RP, but it may take

a lot more stimulation.

Many men who have surgery are impotent afterwards. There are

nerves on each side of the prostate that control erectile function.

These nerves are difficult to see and quite often they are severed

or severely damaged.

Another side effect of RP is that many men lose some length and

girth afterwards. Several studies have been done on this subject.

Go to www.google.com and search for Loss of Penile Length and

Radical Prostatectomy.

Many men are also incontinent for some time after surgery because

the primary bladder valve is intimately connected to the prostate. It

is often damaged. Most men do recover urinary continence by

doing Kegel exercises which strengthens the secondary valve below

the prostate. Unfortunately, a few men never regain continence. A few

of these men have to have an Artificial Urinary Sphincter implanted

in order to control their urinary output.

But even if they do learn to control normal urinary functions by doing

Kegel exercises for this valve, when they try to have an erection or

become sexually aroused, this valve will open and they may have

leakage. This valve has always opened during sexual activities

and no amount of Kegel exercises will cause it do otherwise.

The primary valve is not involved in brachytherapy, or seed

implants so there is little or no incontinence.

The impotence rate is also very low. Some men will still have an

ejaculate, though it may be much less in volume. Some men are

even able to father children after brachytherapy. After a RP, one may

be able to have sperm aspirated from the testes and used to

impregnate a woman. But it is a difficult procedure, is expensive and

may not always be successful. If a man thinks he may want to father

children after a RP, he should consider banking some of his sperm.

I wish you all the bestAubrey Pilgrim, DC (Ret.) Author ofA Revolutionary Approach to Prostate Cancer-Read the original book for FREE at: http://www.prostatepointers.org/prostate/lay/apilgrim/Read new edition for FREE at http://www.cancer.prostate-help.org/capilgr.htmDr. E. Crawford is co-author of the revision

Three newcomers are welcomed to the List and are invited to expand on their initial comments – please mail them if you think you can help them.

rpstamps roy.prestontesco (DOT) net Comment: Recently diagnosed as prostate cancer sufferer.Would appreciate moral support

dudescholar dudescholar2basicmail (DOT) net Comment: Rising PSA level.

terrierjoe terrierjoe Comment: Newly diagnosed. Trying to figure out the best option for treatment based on experiences and advice of survivors of the disease. Real-life experience is always the best guide through life.

All the best,

Terry Herbert in Melbourne, Australia