THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2016 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.

The doctor says I have no choice something has to be done in the next 2 months, which was 3 weeks ago. The doctor says if I choose radiation and the cancer comes back I am screwed because I can't have the prostate removed after radiation, but if I have the prostate removed and the cancer comes back I can always have radiation, seems like the answer is a no brainer. Just wish there was another option. The Doc says if I do nothing, I have 1-3 years before I feel the pain. [It is difficult to comment on this advice from the doctor, but based on the data submitted by Ernst, it is plain wrong. The chances of a tumour with the specifics of his diagnosis spreading to the extent that it causes pain in 1-3 years are minimal.]

I wonder if all radiation treatment is that way, I have heard that image-guided radiation therapy system made by a Swedish company, Elekta, was a good choice but wonder it removal is impossible if that treatment failed. My PSA was 2.1 in 2008

I have been self employed since 2001 two days after 9-11 as a mechanic in 2008 I decided after 7 years of managing my own health care I needed a physical, since starting the business I had been working 18 hour days 7 days a week trying to keep the business going, I had a customer that was a primary physician I asked him if he wanted to be my doctor, he agreed and I had my first physical in 10 years, he was concerned with my PSA; which was 2.3 so he put me on antibiotics and then retested it went to 2.1 at the same time me and the doc had a falling out so I basically forgot about the PSA; until 2010, I had a physical for life insurance which I got but noticed that my PSA; was 3.6 and thought they gave me life insurance I must be okay, shortly after that I started trying to get on with the VA and succeeded in 2013 once in the first thing they wanted to do was a physical and it was determined that my PSA; was 5.56, they set me up for a biopsy for August which I thought sense it was April that was a long way off, so I went local non va place and they did a biopsy and I found out the bad news April 25th, they wanted to schedule me for surgery that day.

I went home and started my research the first thing I did was I went on the budwig diet or as close to it as possible, now I had been on a few different diets because my digestive tract would not handle certain foods anymore and I learned instead of taking antacids I just had to stop eating certain foods, so basically I was on a vegetarian diet with some meats, so going on the budwig was not such a big deal. So right off the bat I had decided to beat this with a diet, the doctor made it pretty clear how he felt about that idea, he said I am to young and there is to much cancer, I forwarded all this info to the VA and they scheduled a appointment in July to talk to there urology department, so the budwig diet gave me some peace of mind in the mean time, I stopped all meats, sodas, candy... Once at the VA I was told the same story to young and to much cancer and my only choice was surgery.

I choose the surgery, robotic prostatectomy, and it was scheduled for August 20 at the VA hospital in Agusta, Georgia, I continued to do research and I feel like if I had $25,000 I would have tried the laser or HIFU without a doubt, but as surgery approached I knew there was no way I could come up with that money, so I choose the best option that I could. The 20th got here fast and off to Georgia we headed (wife, mother, father, sister). I remember that one of my first thoughts after surgery was what a relief I don't have to worry about what decision I need to make because it has already been made, a ton of bricks were lifted off my shoulders, this is what I wrote right before I had surgery.

My radical prostatectomy is scheduled for the 20th of this month 2013, a week from Tuesday, my thoughts are, boy I would like to find some reason to not go through with it, at this point I wonder if it would be better to die intact then to suffer from the side effects for an UN-certain amount of time. Here is my history. I am 51 years old 2008 PSA; 2.1 2010 PSA; 3.6 2013 PSA; 5.7 Biopsied April 6 2013 with the following results 5 positive out of 12 gs worst 3+4=7 T1c 2013 after biopsy 9.7 month after biopsy 5.1 Somewhere between 2008 and 2010 I experienced slight pain during ejaculation, followed by reduced amount, I did research on the internet and changed my diet and the pain, and the amount was normal again, to this day I have changed my diet to basically vegetarian.

What bothers me is when ever I have asked how long will I live if I do nothing the answer is always we don't know, except for one urologist who said 3-7 years and then die a horrible death, they all say a horrible death, last time I pressed how horrible, basically what he told me was for the people watching you die it's horrible. Next question how long will I live if I have the surgery, they always refer to the graph, 5 years a 99% chance 10 Years a 87% chance, what about after 10 years I am told we don't know. [These aspects of "How Long?" and "How Will I Die" are covered in "The Elephant In The Room."]

For me sex is a big part of my life, knowing that something is being released from inside your body to the outside is the biggest part of the climax and for me the pleasure, I made the mistake of taking flowmax because I thought because the doctor prescribed it I should take it, I want no part of that it felt so weird not ejaculating. So anyone up for telling me something good? Would someone like to talk me out of the surgery.

I have tried to back tract as much as possible because I can see how important these stories are and will be. I did have my surgery on the 20th my first thought was how it felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off my shoulders because I no longer had the worried about making the right decision, because right or wrong it had been made. I was fine until the catheter came out which was the same day I ran out of pain medicine, the second day was the worst, I always had to pee allot anyway, now every 20 minutes, and just a little, depression set in so I typed in the google search engine "I want my prostate back this sucks" and found a lot of encouraging words and this site again, which is tracked felt the need to be as complete with my story as I could. The third day was much better and as I sit here on the 4th day after the cath was removed after surgery I am okay, I wake up every 2 hours it seems during the night to pee, really not sure why, I really need to keep a log tonight to confirm, before the surgery I drank 8 16 ounce cups of water a day, at this point maybe 8 ounces a day, I really don't want to spend the day in the bathroom, I don't eat anything that might cause gas because it really hurts a lot. I find out what the pathology report says in 3 days, I understand this will tell me my chances from here on out. I wish I could find a report of how long men live after surgery, and the chances of the cancer coming back, this is my only regret after surgery I wished I would of research that.

I received my HISTOPATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS this week, they upgraded the cancer Gleason score to 4+3 and graded to pT3a.

This is the final report from surgery. Cancer extended out from prostate (pT3a) but was felt to be contained in the specimen (R0). We or Columbia will follow PSAs every 3 months for 2 years then every 6 months.

The incontinence is better, I used to get up and go straight to the bathroom, now I go do thing and then remember I need to go, seems it gets better every week rather then day.

The other night I got up to pee and was surprised when I grabbed on to something that was a lot bigger then it has
been since surgery, I felt light running outside and showing the neighborhood what I had, but didn't want to wind up
on the news.

The first orgasm (soft) was weird, I noticed something inside below left rib would twitch then a light pain, it kept doing that then it happened, the next time was better with no pain.

It has almost been 4 weeks since surgery 2 more to go and I can lift over 5 pounds. :)

I have to laugh, you know because it is better then the alternative, I hope your wife is into golden showers, nobody warned me about this, like everything else I will adjust and I am sure it will get better. (This is referred to medically as Climacturia and is described in Minor Side Effects.)

It has been 5 weeks since surgery, and some days are better then others, on a good day I have to pee every 10 minutes while standing, if I am sitting I am good I go when it hurts a little, standing some days it just seems to pour, I do believe that the PFME's do help but remembering to do a 100 a day is tough sometimes, I sure hope this gets better the incontinence is just as bad as I thought it would be, yesterday I got on line to order more MP's (man pads) and I am reading the feedback, and I read " I have been using these for 16 years and they are great" 16 years man yes I know he is alive but 16 years of this would be pure hell, the smell is terrible I feel like I need 10 showers a day, I have since added baby wipes to my bag which was a good thing, I guess the next thing I will do is get baby powder, laughing again.

Funny thing as much as I want to feel sorry for myself, there are plenty of things in this world that prevent me from doing so, all I have to do is think of the 5 year old down the road with terminal cancer and it stops.

I am a mechanic and have been back to work for 2 weeks now turning wrenches, I feel fine but I get very tired and can't work near as hard yet as I once did, I would say I am at 30% capacity.

I am looking forward to the day I write once a year not once a week.

Just had my 6 week check up and I am happy to report that my PSA; is undetectable. The VA told me that the 3 month PSA test is what they consider the big one, which will be next year.

I asked the people at the VA, "are the nerves that control orgasm the same ones that control erection" I was told I don't know and in my research online I found no answer either, so I never asked my next question "how does the male orgasm work" I just wonder because that seems to work just as good as it did before except that they seems to be a slight pain in my abdomen before, I wonder if it is the sperm trying to go somewhere but it can't.

Also found out from the VA this week after the first test they did for PSA;, all 3 tests after, my PSA; dropped each time to right before surgery of 4.1, I think this is interesting because I went on the budwig diet right after finding out that they flagged my PSA during a physical, now when I say budwig, I mean as close to it as possible, but that meant, no more sodas, candy, beer, cigars, meat, bread, dairy (except low fat cottage cheese) I am still on that diet today and every 1-3 months I gave myself a free day which helps to stay on the diet. Funny the guy that had surgery the same day I did is a big drinker, smoker, meat and dairy guy too, he asked me the other day do you think that had anything to do with this.

I asked the VA if the Sphincter Muscle on the bladder was exercised during pfme's (pelvic floor muscle exercises) I was told no that the Sphincter was involuntary controlled, and how well it works after surgery depended on how well the surgery goes, for example nerve damage where the cuts are made... I assume that this is where the skill of the surgeon really comes in to play. If I had it to do over I would have asked more questions about this to help pick which surgeon I would want.

Since the 6 pound limit was lifted this week I am back to exercising, boy the pushups were really tough.

All I really have to complain about is the incontinence.

I forgot to include a pad the other day and I have been without them for three days now, so far so good, I am so thankful that part of the journey appears to be over. Because of mine and my wife's age, all the children around, and because I still have to work seven days a week to keep food on the table, the fact that it won't stand at attention doesn't seem to be an issue, but it appears to be waking up slowly, who really knows, they say give it a year, just happy to be alive. Back to the pads, last month I was in a room with two young mothers who were discussing which diaper they liked better, I think I must have turned three shades of red.

When I found out I might be leaving this world sooner then I thought I must admit I changed, I know longer worried about the little things, became more thoughtful, I really could go on, but I think you get the point, as I am recovering I am fading back to whom I was before, staying on the budwig diet has been a challenge, diving back in to work, but some things have changed that I don't think will ever and I am thankful, I am more giving.

I learned that in my case they saved the bladder external (involuntary) Sphincter Muscle which seems to be functioning, but without the prostate to help clamp off the tube for example while heavy lifting, you have to use your pelvic floor muscles to help keep the urine in.

I understand that I am in better shape then some, just want you to know you're in my thoughts every day.

Thankfully not much new, but I did find out somthing interesting, I would take a Viagra or Cialis pill and wait for somthing to happen, then after a year discovered that it only works if stimulated standing up, when this first happened I wanted to show everyone I was so happy (no I didn't).

E's e-mail address is: ernstborchert4 AT hotmail.com (replace "AT" with "@")

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