Gingernut and LR,

Perhaps I should have elaborated. My wife's relative did have his doctors opinions confirmed by having a biopsy as did my father. Don't wish to put you off but he, my father and myself all agreed that the biopsy was the worst part of the diagnosis/treatment package. It was uncomfortable rather than painfull but afterwards I felt awful for the next 24 hours. I certainly didn't feel that bad after the op.

LR - Have a check on the website in one of my earlier posts, get as much info as you can - knowledge dispels fear. You've already got over the biggest hurdle by talking about it and going to the doctor. :D Even at 68, (same age as my fathers diagnosis), it's still treatable/manageable. Don't leave it until the point that it decides to go elsewhere.

I think we've got about as much as we're going to get out of this thread. It is not the place for specific advice. That can only come from your treating specialist. To make decisions on treatment, you really need to be in possession of all the information specific to you.

Cheers,

BM

Hey folks it's me again.
 

The Good News.
After blood tests and a visit to the AME armed with a consultants report the man from the CAA Med Dept say yes!! Still have to copy them the results of future blood tests, (Initially 3 monthly then 6 monthly once the consultant is happy that I'm "Stable"). Hopefully getting back in the air this week.

The Bad News.
Just heard today that the NHS are going to cease funding for HIFU as it is too expensive and will only be done if "all other treatments have failed". The whole point of HIFU is that it works best on those caught early and can only be effective if it is the first treatment - the main advantage being that, if you have it and it doesn't work, it does not rule out any of the other treatments :ugh: :ugh: :ugh:

Looks like I've been even luckier than even I thought! Thanks to all Ppruners who been supportive and to the Mods for un-locking the thread to enable me to post this.

Happy Christmas and a safe 2008.

Congratulations FortyOdd2! :D

I know from experience you have been through a rather stressful time and so have those around you. In my case (PSA 66 at age 58) we went for the photon torpedo and hormone therapy and three years later I have a normal life expectancy.

My message, get the checks done, insist on them and if you get the bad news have the recommended treatment. We have mad drivers in this country (New Zealand) , too much booze and too many poor roads yet more men die of Prostate Cancer here than get killed on the roads. Most cases you will never hear of.

Once again, three cheers and throw your hat in the air for FortyOdd2!:D

Well, I 'came out' on SaS's thread, and am still sitting here wondering why I didn't do anything earlier. A life-long interest in things medical, but I went deep into denial on this one. The thing is that it's pretty standard psychology, but other factors rode right over my logic circuits.

Much of the time that I'm ppruning, I'm on pain killers and booze. Pprune is a kind of pub replacement. Back pain has altered my life totally and I was wondering if breaking the bank and going for surgery here might have worked...Three surgeons have refused to operate back home. If I dig deep enough, I guess I was thinking what's the point in finding other problems when I'm unable to fix one that has wrecked 8 years of my life.

It's kind of frustrating to be so fit and not be able to walk far or pick up the g-child. Bugger all cholesterol, 110 over 70 and a heart lung that a 30 year old would be pleased to have. All for nowt. All by thinking the parts were as strong as the whole.

Anyway, having got very angry with a 'practice' (read unprofessional robbing :mad: ) down near the boarder, I finally found a urologist in a major town that waived a huge amount of the cost of my biopsy. The news was not good, but supposedly confined. How could they know that?

The HIFU is not approved in the US, and my chance of getting on trials has come to nothing. Back home, as you say above, has seen the NHS pull out of funding. Okay, that's pretty standard, but the timing!! Having said that, my Gleason sums out to a borderline figure anyway, they may not have approved it on that basis. My guardian angel here, said today not to hang about, a couple of months perhaps, but no more. Pretty scarey stuff.

The sudden change in bowl function and now a little pain in the gut may be psychosomatic, but I doubt it. I have only told one pal back home about it, and he reminded me that his dad had prostrate removal -- followed by popping off with cancer of the gut a while later. Just what I wanted to know.

Years ago I put a penny in a slot machine and watched the old brass needle swing round to the message..."You will die when you are 72." I can clearly remember breathing a sigh of relief then, but if I don't make 72, I want my penny back with interest.

Thats was the news I got, my score was expressed 7.5 on a scale of 10 however my tumor was not confined being on the outside of the gland but gamma camera scans, cat scans and various xrays showed no signs of it elswhere.

I believe in some cases the tumor is actually right inside the gland and may take a long time if ever to spread from there.

Please feel free to PM me if you think my experience may be of use to you.

Thanks for that, I may well do so.

Mmmm...let my guard down in that last post, but back on my usual nutty form today.

There is no doubt that I will have to go home and take the advise of specialists. To comply with NHS rules, (kindly phoned to me here by a financial officer) I have to ensconce myself there for a while, well, I'd have to do that anyway. Tough one that, 70f and blue skies here.

I need to know if there's any further problem, no point in only tackling half an issue. If all is confined, I might just break the bank and pay for HIFU If the stats are good, it certainly is the least...erm, disruptive.

£11,500 for the main course. Afters come in at £130 a visit. I no longer have BUPA, just too expensive, and in fact at my age I would have paid many times what this would cost over the years.

Just down to logistics and luck now.

Thats what I did, found an expert I felt I could trust and took his advice. HIFU was not an option for me in New Zealand but I was fortunate enough to join a trial which is designed to clarify the benefits of radiation and various hormone treatment programmes. Being on the trial got me treated promptly in our public health system.

I have since met quite a number of men with prostate cancer, some are back to a normal life and some have ceased to draw their superannuation.

You mention half a problem and perhaps you are thinking of 'get it out, get it over with'. Please check on the likely side effects of the various treatments as they are not the same for different treatments.

Hmmm, I wonder if it would be appropriate to describe on here just what hormone therapy did to me?:hmm:

Yeah, luck does play a part but I tell myself that life is an adventure and like all good adventures there are some hard bits along the way.

OPC and Line Check completed - Back on line :)

Glad to hear it. AM by any chance??

Well, I gave getting on a trial here my best shot, or I should say some very good friends did on my behalf. It seems that I'm too far gone to be of use on HIFU machine testing for the authorities, inasmuch as the gland is too large to allow the energy focus point to reach the middle. Furthermore, the Gleason is well over the top for FDA? tests. My fault, just didn't get it checked for a long time.

Again, I just can't think what was making me bury my head in the sand. I've pored over medical books ever since I could read, but realize now that I know very little about this problem. Very odd.

L-R Sadly, you are not alone. A recent publicity campaign on the TV by the late Bob Monkhouse is trying to raise awareness amongst men but the UK male general reluctance to discuss anything to do with "down there" is a huge hurdle to overcome.
Everybody ~ Go here for info
http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk

Prostate Cancer continues to eliminate too many of my compatriots with some who were diagnosed too late by retarded/ill informed GPs. Now with my OBE (Over Bloody Eighty) and having come through the Prostate mill with some success I continue to be concerned by an elevated PSA which has plateaued at around 12. Are there others out there who have also plateaued at an elevated PSA after treatment?

My Prostate was eliminated by cryo-surgery at age 68 following 2 bad biopsies out of 6. Cryogenics enabled the freezing destruction of selected portions of the gland using liqiid nitrogen via inserted probes under ultrasonic visuals.

Now I am left wondering whether we aviators have been zapped by too many cosmic rays. It seems we have a higher rate of PC than others.

If you are content to go sooner to the big hangar in the sky after much suffering then don't bother to keep tabs on your PSA which remains as the best indicator that you may be a victim.

Despite briefing the hospital 6 years ago to have my MRIs of my back ready with the surgeon in time for my visit, they weren't there. He sent me for standing X-rays on a hi power machine. The first lot didn't 'come out', so I had a second set of blasts. It was for the very lowest part of my back, and I wouldn't be surprised that these very hi-power machines are causal in some cancer.

Some 'experts' are now saying that we shouldn't be using x-ray at all unless it's vital. I had a bad feeling about that day when it happened.

Flying must pose a slight risk, but there is also the factor of five-point harnesses and long periods with one's pants pulling on one's nuts.

Daft job really.

I read today about prostate-cancer causing back pain. I've had back pain for 8 years, but just lately I felt that it had changed; tending to be a tad more chronic. This combined with a bowl function change made me wonder if it had already metastasized.

Since prostrate cancer is supposed to be asymptomatic, does anyone know if the associated back pain can sometimes come before it 'escapes'.

I have been offered radical robotic here for a sum that fits in with my emergency planning, but it would not do a broad spectrum check over within those costs. I just feel that I have to have other diagnostics. Would these be done in the UK as a mater of routine, or only after evidence that it has escaped out of the gland?

L-R,

My diagnosis after the biopsy was followed in quick time by an MRI scan and a bone scan to make sure that it had not gone elsewhere before treatment started. The consultant wanted to be sure there was nothing headed towards the nearby Lymph nodes. There is a follow up MRI planned later in the year. Not sure about the back pain although it was one of the reasons that my Father went to the doctor in the first place.

Just what I wanted to know, thanks.

This back pain thing is described in a paper about natural chemicals/foods aiding the battle. Again, it seems that Asian men are nowhere near as likely to be affected by prostate cancer. To my surprise, curcumin is again (my thread on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's ) considered to be a major factor.


I have been offered treatment on a HIFU machine outside the US., but they want to shrink my 49cc down to below 40 with hormones -- to reduce the distance for the focal point of the energy to reach the middle.

It seems that the later generation of $700,000 machines can 'see' with added clarity in the work-space, but it still does not give me any confidence in the containment of the disease. My feelings at this time are to go with the full procedure at home.

Interesting topic this. Having survived lung cancer now for 3 years I am a little concerned about the Prostrate. I have had many MRI's and PET scans, the latest PET one month ago and MRI 2 months ago. Both were full body and showed no problems in the lower regions with the exception of "slight calcification of the colon", my question is, does prostrate cancer show up on a PET scan?. anyone know?

The answer is that I don't know, but while I can understand your sensitivity to the problem, you would have to look at the statistics to really see if your previous condition pre-disposed you to prostate cancer. Certainly some reports show that either parent having prostate or breast cancer, can increase the chances by (Memory) 2.3.

While a low PSA reading is no guarantee of a healthy prostate, a very low figure V age, would be rather reassuring.

There are CAT scanners and CAT scanners. I was looking at one a few months ago that was stunning. In fact it was so good, that I wondered if it wasn't artificially enhanced just to impress the clients. I'll try to find out if this can see nodules in the prostate.

Thanks for the reply, I did see a specialist about 6 months ago due to symptom of prostrate cancer and despite the finger and PSA very low, all was deemed o.k., this calcification business troubles me though, hard to find any info.