Kevin
Kirby and Samaa live in Victoria Australia. He was 51 when he was diagnosed on
November 4, 2009. His initial PSA was 5.9 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6 and although
he does not state his staging, it seems that he would have been staged T1c. His
choice of treatment was Active Surveillance. Here is his story.
My PSA
had risen from 3.1 in April 2006 to 3.8 in October 2007. I did not have another
PSA test until August 2009 and the reading was 6.1. This was followed by another
test 11 days later and the PSA was 6.9. A further test in October 2009 and the
PSA was back at 5.5 however the free PSA had dropped to 0.50.
My doctor
referred me to a urologist and I had a digital examination the following week
which revealed enlargement but nothing else. My urologist recommended a biopsy
which I had in early November. The biopsy consisted of six specimens with a total
of 21 needle cores. Specimen five returned a positive reading on one of the four
needle cores (five percent of the specimen). The Gleason Score was 3+3=6.
Given
my age, my urologist recommended a prostatectomy however he also advised I could
take a few months to decide due to the early detection and typically slow progression
of prostate cancer.
I researched the available treatments and decided
to undertake a program which a local doctor specialises in. This program consists
of an intensive course of vitamin/mineral/herbal supplements, significant dietary
changes and exercise. I commenced this treatment a week after my diagnosis in
November 2009.
My next PSA test was in early February 2010 and the total
PSA had risen to 10.5 however the free PSA had also risen to 3.2. I had another
test later the same month and the total PSA had dropped to 7.0.
I saw
my urologist in March 2010 and he was supportive of my decision, referring to
my program as "active surveillance" and suggested I see him again in around three
months.
In March 2010 I added an additional prostate supplement (Vietnamese
herb) to my program, however although this has received positive reviews some
people have observed elevated PSA readings. My next PSA test was in May 2010 and
it had risen to 9.5. I stopped the Vietnamese herb after 3 months (end of May)
but continued with my other supplements, diet and exercise. My latest PSA result
in early July 2010 had dropped to 5.9.
I lost about 5 kg of weight due
to my diet changes within the first four months but this seems to have now stabilised.
In
response to a reminder Kevin said:
I'm
just waiting on some PSA results scheduled for later this month and then I will
update my story. I am hoping it will be good news because I have recently started
taking a PSP supplement which has shown promising signs in scientific tests.
Kevin's
e-mail address is: kkirby@au1.ibm.com
