THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2014 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.

I have a history of kidney stones, so I visit my urologist at least twice a year. Among other things, he keeps track of my PSA level. When he saw an uptick a year or so ago, he was concerned. It had been running about 4, but spiked up to about 12. He put me on antibiotics, which lowered it some, but not enough, down to 8.9. He did a biopsy, which didn't show any cancer, but he wasn't convinced. He did a test which I don't recall the name of, where he massaged the prostate, and then had me collect a urine sample. He said the lab would look for cancer cells in the urine, and this was more accurate than a simple PSA test.

That test came back with a 25% chance that I had cancer, and he recommended a procedure where he would pretty much hollow out my prostate and check ALL the removed material for cancer. That was too aggressive for me, and I told him I did not want to do anything until we had actual cancer cells.

After a second biopsy, he found cancer. Gleason score of 3+3. We discussed a bunch of options: surgical removal (retropubic or robotic), cryotherapy, hormone therapy, chemo, and radiation (IMRT, brachytherapy, and Cyberknife). I did as much research as I could on the internet, which was often just confusing. I also met with the folks at Cyberknife in Birmingham AL, and eventually chose them for treatment. When my urologist first informed me of the diagnosis, I was going to do surgical removal, but the side effects looked too extensive. I'm only 57, and still need to work. The possibility of being permanently incontinent was not attractive. Hormone and chemo therapies are more suited for a whole-body cancer treatment, which was not appropriate for me. He said that with Cryotherapy there was a 100% chance that I would have ED, so I put that on the bottom of the list. Cyberknife looked like the best way to deal with the problem and keep my current lifestyle.

I finished the five treatments earlier this week. During the treatment period, I had zero side effects. Almost as if nothing was happening at all. But as soon as the treatments ended, I started having difficulty urinating, and problems related to bowel movements. I feel as though I have to go just about all the time. The stools are very small, and accompanied by a lot of slimy mucus discharge, which tends to leak out if I don't get to the toilet fast enough. And I have some pretty intense perineal pain.

Up to now, I haven't missed any work other than the time required for doctor visits and Cyberknife treatments. The treatments are done at Brookwood Hospital, which is right on my way to work. If the current side effects keep up, I may have to use some sick time.

Hopefully, this is as bad as it gets, and things will get better from here.

BTW, the folks at Cyberknife were great. The two techs (Drew and Loretta) were very friendly and took time to answer any question I could come up with. I'm glad I choose Cyberknife, but only time will tell if it was the "best" choice.

It's been two weeks today since my last CyberKnife treatment. The diarrhea is still present, but not as bad as it was the first weekend. I started taking Oxycodone for the perineal and rectal pain, which helped immensely. I haven't taken any for two days now, and there's no real pain, just a little pressure. I'm taking Dicyclomine, along with Imodium AD to keep the diarrhea under control, and the problem seems to be waning. The difficult urination lasted two or three days, and is pretty much cleared up. It looked like I was going to have ED, but that was temporary. Everything is working now, although maybe not 100% as well as before. Since it didn't work at all a week ago, I anticipate a full recovery of function.

I didn't write much about the actual CyberKnife treatments. I never had to wait past my appointment time. The treatments lasted about 40 minutes each, and were actually kind of enjoyable. I'm an engineer, and I found the technology interesting. I'd lay there and watch the robot go through its paces, while listening to music. I'm a prog-rock fan, and I made a couple compilation CDs of Rush, ELP, Dream Theater, and other excellent rock to listen to. The techs may have questioned whether it was actually relaxing music, but it was for me. I fell asleep a few times during treatments.

I had a little insurance scare. I obtained pre-approval before starting, but the third party reviewer for the insurance company denied coverage after it was all done. Fortunately, the insurance company seems to have ignored the third party reviewer, because they have agreed to pay to bill. My co-insurance will end up costing about $2000, but if the cancer goes away, it's well worth it.

Tim's e-mail address is: ctim700 AT gmail.com (replace "AT" with "@")

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