Tim Luschen and Julie live in Georgia, USA. He was 49 when he was diagnosed on
October 26, 2007. His initial PSA was 3.2 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6 and he
was staged T1c . His choice of treatment was Radical retropubic prostatectomy.
Here is his story.
I had checked my PSA after turning 49 and it was 2.5
ng/ml, a little on the high side for my age unless I had a large prostate. I decided
to recheck it seven months later and it had risen to 3.2 ng/ml. I am a practicing
Physician Assistant for the past 22 years. That was as much of a rise that I would
allow in my patients in one calendar year and I had achieved it in 7 months.
I
scheduled an "educated finger" exam with a urologist who told me my prostate was
small without nodularity. We decided that a prostate biopsy should be the next
step and only one of ten biopsy sites were positive with a Gleason Score of 6
(3+3).
After research, I proposed that my best ten year cure and survivor
data was with prostatectomy. I am a four and a half year survivor of an inferior
MI (myocardial infarction) with five vessel bypass in May 2003 and recovered without
complication (returned to work in 4 weeks) and have full patient care status.
I am scheduled for cardiac catheter December 4, 2007 and prostatectomy December
12, 07. Expect to be out of work for three weeks (we'll see).
Thanks for
reading. Will keep you updated
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