THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2020 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.

I am a 45 years old single male and was diagnosed with prostate cancer a little over a month ago. Briefly here is my story: About two years ago I started having UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections) about every six months which were quickly remedied by a round of Cipro. This past June 2009 I had my latest UTI which again was remedied by a round of Cipro. The more than normal amount of UTI's plus a weaker urine flow as of late brought me to a local Urologist in which he started doing the standard tests such as, urine flow check, DRE (Digital Rectal Examination) & PSA.

The urine flow check was fine, DRE normal, but the PSA came back at 3.0 which is still in the "normal range", but because of my relatively young age he recommended a biopsy just to make sure I didn't have Prostate Cancer. Went thru the biopsy check a couple of weeks later, and when the results came back I was stunned!, diagnosis: Prostate Cancer. The Urologist said the staging and the Gleason score (3+3=6) meant that it wasn't an aggressive growing cancer and it was in the initial stage, and only 3 of 12 came biopsies came back positive at 5%. 10% & 25% respectively. He gave me the standard lecture about all of my options, but he seemed to be pushing the surgery option the most since I was young.

Two weeks later at my follow-up, I told him I was not ready to make any treatment decisions yet, and that I was also probably going to get a second or third opinion. That's where I currently stand, I have names of Radiation Oncologists and another Urologist which I may consult with shortly. In the meantime I will be getting another PSA test on my own shortly, and after that I will have an update.

Brief Update September 23 2009:

I had a PSA done on my own, came back a pleasant surprising 0.4! Based on initial Gleason score, initial diagnosis and the latest PSA reading, I've Decided to go to ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE at this time, but will still continue to study the different options available.

The only option I've eliminated is the Cryotherapy option, just don't think that "freezing" is the way to go for me.

I've changed my lifestyle somewhat since diagnosis, very little red meat plus taking prostate supplements & more excercise., honestly don't know if these changes caused the drop in my PSA, but hopefully it will keep on dropping.

Will update after the next PSA test or if I decide on an aggressive treatment option.

On my one year anniversary of being diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, there is some good news.

Since the last update I chose Active Surveillance/Watchful Waiting for treatment. Along with monitoring my PSA I continue to eat very little red meat, eating more vegetables, and continuing on Prostate supplements. I also eat asparagus daily as I've read that it has many cancer fighting properties in it.

My most recent PSA reading was 0.55 which is just a very slight elevation from 0.4 at the last test. [This doesn't really qualify as an elevation. PSA tests are simply not accurate enough to measure a change as small as this - see PSA 101] My long term average reading going back six tears is around 0.60 . I will continue to monitor my PSA closely and continue life-style changes., if I have a consistent elevation in PSA then I will take further action, but until then I feel that the side effects of aggressive treatment are too risky for me at this stage.

With the slow growth and low PSA #'s, I am hoping/praying for dormancy/slow growth of the cancer. I will update after my next PSA test...

Just an update, recently had a new PSA test done, came back as 0.56, virtually the same as the last test 7 months ago.

Otherwise no changes, just watching the diet, less red meat and taking prostate supplements.

No biopsies scheduled yet, but feel that I should have a follow-up soon. Will update again in about six months or so.

Good news on my latest update, my PSA level came in at .7, which is a slight creep up from the last check-up which was .56. Still keeping with Active Surveillance & watching my diet. Second biopsy is overdue, hopefully will schedule for this year.

Since my last update, still on active surveillance and just got my latest PSA results of .78, a slight elevation from .7 . Still watching diet and exercising, but not taking any prostate supplements of any kind. Will update in about 6 months or so.

Hello all, Apologize for not updating sooner, it's been a little over a year since I have updated. A lot has happened since. My last PSA check in April 2013 was 0.7, so not that much change on that front. Shortly after my PSA check I developed a bad case of prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate), this was totally unrelated to the PSA check. My Urologist treated me with 3 different types of antibiotics, before the pain and urgency subsided. During the followups for the prostatitus, I was scheduled for a biopsy of the prostate. I underwent the biopsy (out-patient) in June of this year, and initially I thought it went well, but soon after (about 12 hours) I developed a fever and a few hours later severe chills. I was rushed to the ER and was diagnosed with mild Sepsis which developed from the biopsy. Long story short, I was in the hospital for two days recovering from this infection and thereafter had to be on high power antibiotics for another 10 days afterwards. I am now leery about getting future biopsies because of the potential risk of another infection. Anyway, the biopsy came back positive, but the Uro Dr said because the Gleason score was low and very few samples came back positive (less than 5 %) that I have time to continue Watchful Waiting, if I so choose at this time. I have decided to continue that route (Watchful Waiting), with close monitoring (PSA tests every 4 months) at this time. I do realize that at some point in my life I will have to pursue some kind of aggressive treatment for the cancer. I have another PSA test scheduled in about a month with a follow-up with the Urologist, I will try to update again shortly after, Regards.

Hello, Been awhile since I last updated. Last PSA check in March/2014 was .06, so things seem to be pretty stable, but I've had two UTI's this year, one moderate and one pretty severe. Still on Active Surveillance or "watchful waiting", watching my diet and taking prostate supplements. I am overdue for another PSA check and will update soon again with more info...............AJH

Hi Again, Long overdue for an update. Since the last update I am still on Active Surveillance (Watchful Waiting), had several PSA Tests, and the last recorded was .7 , which it is still stable from past readings. Had a bad UTI about 6 monts ago, and a bout with Prostatitus a few monts ago. Still watching my diet and taking Prostate supplements. Will continue with monitoring as for now.

Hello,

Been a year since my last update. Not much change to report as my last PSA was .75, which is stable based on my readings of the last few years. Still on Active Surveillance, and no biopsies planned for the near term. Had one bout of Prostatitus that lasted a couple of weeks but was treated with a round of antibiotics. Still watching my diet (very little red meat) and exercising when I can. Good luck to all,

Regards, AH

Hello All, Not much to update, as I am still in Active Surveillance, monitoring my PSA, as of my last check (11/2017) it had gone up to 1.2, I will be getting another PSA check shortly to see if it is still rising slowly and if it warrants further action to be taken. Otherwise everything else is well with me.

Andre H.

No updates to report, still watching my diet, monitoring PSA blood tests, so far things are stable, will have a complete update soon.

Andre H.

Andre's e-mail address is: andre63jh AT bellsouth.net (replace "AT" with "@")

NOTE: Andre has not updated his story for more than 15 months, so you may not receive any response from him.