Clark
Minton and Barbara live in Texas USA. He was 65 when he was diagnosed in January,
2008. His initial PSA was about 22.0 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 4+4=8 and he
was staged T2 or T3. His choice of treatment was Robotic Surgery. Here is his
story.
THERE
WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE
REMINDER
IN 2010
SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.
IN
THE LIGHT OF CLARK'S LAST POSTS I FEAR FOR HIS SURVIVAL.
In
May of 2006 my wife Mona of 38 years died suddenly. I was devoted to her and worked
day and night to avoid complete devastation. I was 64. My PSA was 3.4 and did
not seem to be a problem for me or my physician. I was in OK physical shape ,but
I spent much time at the gym and Yoga, Pilates classes.
I had a mild heart
attack with 2 stents inserted in the Spring of 2007. My PSA climbed to 5.6 and
after a DRE (Digital Rectal Examination) my physician wanted me to go to a urologist.
I refused based on my ignorance that all prostate cancer was slow growing and
all old men get it. Besides I had no time to deal with any more medical problems
when I was seeking a wife to live with the rest of my life. I was fortunate to
meet a lady where we had mutual friends and she became a friend. Later romance
was embraced by us with a wedding date in December 2007.
In January I
went to a Urologist and had a biopsy. The Gleason score was 8. I felt good and
I wanted no part of any more surgery. The Urologist was connected with a physician
that was connected with a Cryotherapy machine ownership and I was not sold. I
talked with a friend of a friend that had had robotic surgery locally. I talked
with that physician. He seemed young. I didn't feel comfortable. At a local prostate
meeting I asked a Nurse where was the robotic surgery performed initially. She
thought it was at Henry Ford hospital in Detroit. I used the internet and was
impressed when two web sites one of Cornell University and one other I don't recall
where the head of the department said they had studied under Mani Menon MD in
Detroit.
In March 2008, I went to Detroit and had Dr Menon remove my prostate
and the Gleason score was now 9. The lymph glands were clear but there was evidence
it was involved with my seminal vesicle. A month later my PSA was 10 and it continued
to rise after I went to local oncologists whose solutions were hormone therapy.
I refused because I was just recovering from the surgery and wanted to preserve
my newly wed status. I went for a final opinion from Dr Arujo MD PHD at MD Anderson
in Houston. He also recommended hormone therapy. I pushed him to tell me how long
I had without treatment since the MRI showed rib and hip metastasis. I asked 2
to 5 years thinking he would say 5 to 10. He said closer to 2 than 5. If I refused
treatment he suggested to enjoy life.
I promptly in July 2008 had an erection
surgery operation locally. The operation worked and my wife and I scheduled a
few cruises to enjoy. Around December, 2008 I had some pain in my right leg which
I thought might be from a weight machine. This aggravating and moving pain in
my leg and ribs continued until I finally began using a cane and my lover boy
qualities were greatly diminished. I went back to MD Anderson to take the hormones.
My PSA was 649.7 . After one month of hormone therapy and 14 days of Casodex my
PSA dropped to 9.7. I took a 3 month hormone shot with no Casodex. I am 2 months
into the three months hormone shot and I walk 3 miles a day and lift weights 2-3
times a week. The pain is very diminished and life is almost normal except the
libido is gone for now. I feel very good and think that I will die by being hit
by a bus rather than the cancer. However I have began to study it a bit closer
and will change some of the diet and supplements from time to time. Depending
on my PSA next month I may go to Charles Myers in Virginia for more and different
treatment.
