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

I am a private person so this was not an easy decision to post my story. However the Yananow.org website was so important to me during my decision making process on how to treat my cancer, that I felt I need to pay it forward and share for future men who will find this great site.

August 2014 after annual physicials for the past 10 years I was well aware that my PSA score was slowly but surely rising. The biggest rise was from March 2014 3.4, July 2014 3.9, at that point my doctor said I should go talk to a Urologist, which I did. In July 2014 I also did the "FREE PSA" test. If you have any concerns ask about this test. My results came back, I believe it was a 15, which was a 56% likely I had cancer.

Once I met with my urologist and telling him my dad had P.C. 10 years ago, and he looked at my steady rise on the PSA and saw the FREE PSA scrore, finally upon the D.R.E. he said you need a biopsy. 10 days later he calls with the news you never want to hear. I had prostate cancer. 4 out of 12 samples were cancerous and one sample was 80% cancerous so they didn't recommend a watch & wait approach. My Gleason was a 6 and they did not classify my cancer as agressive.

I was 50 years old. My dad had surgery 10 years earlier and came through with flying colors. My two major concerns were 1) I didn't want to continue to look over my shoulder. 2) at 50 years of age, I didn't want to end up 5 or 10 years down the road with problems from radiation treatment. Like it or not, raditation is very bad poision you are putting in your body and I believe it can cause other health issues that can become serious. Finally after talking with a good friend who had it 4 years earlier, he chose Surgery at Johns Hopkins for much of the same reasons why I was leaning towards surgery.

I began my research on surgeons only to discover that San Antonio was home to Dr. Naveen Kella, who is recognized as one of the best with the Robotic Laparoscopic Prostatectomy. Our visit with Dr Kella convinced my wife and I that our search was over.

December 1, 2014 Surgery day had arrived I was ready for it to happen. Overall the recovery was pretty smooth. My total time spent in the hospital was 5:30 am arrival on Monday morning and departure was 6:30 pm Tuesday. I would have gone home earlier but my bowels were very unwilling to start working. The entire Tuesday was spent trying to wake them up. That was one of the most painful parts of this entire process. Once they began to work, I was free to go home.

December 9, 2014. This was my post-surgery follow-up with Dr. Kella and the catheter was coming out. Just to let you know the catheter removal was exteremely easy and painfree. I was worried but it was no big deal. This was also the day of learning about the pathology and whether or not I would need additional treatments such as radiation. For my wife and I it was a wonderful day. The reports came back just as my Urologist and Dr Kella suspected they would. The cancer was completely contained in the prostate. The gleason score did rise to 7, but overall my report was very encouraging. No additional treatment would be needed at this time. In 3 months I will go in for my first blood work to see where that PSA is at.

I have almost no urination issues at all. I am still using a pad in my shorts but honestly I don't need it. The only time I let a little urination out is if I am squating down and I stand up quickly. I was working outside on a project and discovered..that's what leaking is all about. It is still too early to learn about any ED, but I believe I am going to be just fine. I have hints that it will be working correctly very soon.

It has been six months since my surgery. I saw my surgeon last week and had blood work done. My PSA came back as .01, just as my surgeon had suspected it would. My recovery went extremely well. Very little bladder issues. I really never even had to wear a pad. My biggest issue has been ED. My doctor tells me that over the next 18 months things will get much better, and slowly they are. Here's what I learned about the Viagra pill options. Cialis didn't do much for me and the side effects are strong. Headache, congestion, cannot sleep. So I tried Viagra. WOW even worse side effects, with very little help for the ED. Everything turns blue (vision wise) when I take a viagra. Plus headach, congestion, not pleaseant. Finally I tried Levitra - success at last. The pills do wonders for the ED. However there are still side effects. Getting better except it keeps me awake. Also I break the pill in half for a smaller dose. Still works great on the ED and less side effects.

I've been very blessed with a successful surgery and overall a very good recovery. I wish the same for everyone who has just been diagnosed. Good luck and God bless.

TJ's e-mail address is: publishing AT satx.rr.com (replace "AT" with "@")

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