THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2012 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.

I visited with a very well respected urologist Michael Koch at the IU med center in Indianapolis. He took his time and answered most all of our questions. He recommended the Da Vinci surgery. He has been performing these for the past 4 or 5 years. Has done about 500 to date. My prostate is not enlarged and I was have not urinary problems. I contracted West Nile Virus and the PSA was tested during those blood tests.

I was leaning towards surgery, but recently spoke with Dr. Michael Dattoli and got some information from his nurse. He was very impressive and the tests they do to evaluate the true level of disease looks to be very thorough.

I had asked the urologist about MRIs Bone Scans, etc and he said they could give a lot of false positives and lead to chasing your tail so to speak. We also spoke with a doctor who does cryotherapy, which he didn't recommend at my age and the pathology report we showed to him.

Just don't know which way to go at this point.

I was undecided between brachytherapy and Da Vinci laparoscopic surgery. Decided on surgery for a couple of reasons. I was told that after radiation if surgery was also recommended it was very difficult to heal due to the damage to the blood vessels sustained from the radiation. My wife was also undergoing some serious medical issues at the time and travel would have been difficult.

I went to a highly regarded urologist with over 500 laparoscopic surgeries of experience. He was listed as the tops in Indiana by his peers. IU med center, Indy, Surgery went well. I was released at noon the following day. Off pain meds 3 days later. A week later the catheter came out and it was like getting a ball and chain removed. Very little pain. Was initially shocked by my lack of continence. But now 5 weeks out it's really pretty good. Just need one thin pad during the day. Was dry during the night from the first day. It seems to get better each week. Good strong stream, which I start and stop to strengthen muscles.

Went back the 20th of March and the biopsy results were very good. No penetration outside of the capsule all surrounding tissue clean PSA was zero. They reduced my grade to 3+3 when they found very little more of the 4 in the right lobe. The cancer volume was very small.

I have started working out in my weight room and using my treadmill, no sit-ups for another month. The soreness between the anus and testicles has diminished but is still present. Back to work full time after 2 weeks, I'm back to 10 hour days again, energy level is almost back to norm.

All in all glad I chose the treatment and the right doctor. He says from what he saw I'm likely not to have to deal with this again.

Sad ending, my younger brother got tested after my surgery and came back positive at almost the same exact level as mine. He's looking at Brachytherapy and going to my doctor for a second opinion. I'm answering a lot of questions and there for him as needed.

I will check back in as time goes along, not getting tested for another 5 months.

Just had my 6 month checkup and it came back zero or undetectable. I have full continence, it's been fairly normal for the last 3 months. Erectile function still is pretty poor, my Doc gave me a prescript for Viagra and said to be patient, it some times takes a year or more. Just keep working on it.

Any advice in this area would be appreciated. Comcast bought out Insight and I forgot to change the address on this site. Apologize if anyone has tried to contact me and I seemed non-responsive.

All in all in pretty good health. My brother had his surgery July 8th and is doing great. He just had his first 6 week checkup and it came back undetectable. We are hoping it stays that way for a long time to come. Both our doctors seem to think long term outlook is good.

That's about it for now.

Hello everyone,

Wanted to pass some good news along. I just got back from my doctor. I went 2 months past the annual date due to both our schedules. At fourteen months my PSA is not detectable. Great news!

My urinary continence has not been an issue for over 7 months, but the erectile function is still not back. He gave me a bunch of samples of Viagra, Levitra and Cialis to try.

This is not an issue with Barb and I at this time due to her recent surgery to repair hernias caused by her colon surgery last year. We are hoping to work on functionality when she is fully recovered.

I don't go back again for 6 months.

Will keep in touch.

I went for my 2 year checkup and it was zero. Dr. Koch is handing me over to my GP for annual checkups, unless something pops up that I have questions about. My brother Ken is still at zero after about 1.5 years. So the hope is it stays that low for a long time to come.

Thanks for all your support.

TomT.

I am 3 years plus with no detectable level of PSA in my blood stream. My last checkup was last February. My urologist handed me over to my GP for future checkups unless something develops.

I have no problem with incontinence, but I don't have much in the way of potency.

Otherwise I'm in excellent health. Just shed about 20lbs exercising and using the Sonoma Diet plan with my wife. It's a pretty healthy diet with excellent menu choices. Looking forward to warmer weather, golf and fishing at our lake house in northern Indiana.

My Brother's PSA is also undetectable, he had the same type of surgery DaVinci robot assist. Good luck to everyone out there.

Feel pretty lucky at this point.

Tom's e-mail address is: tom.tescher AT comcast.net (replace "AT" with "@")

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