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

We had changed Primary Care Physicians and our new Dr. wanted bloodwork done at the first visit. My first blood work was in February 2014 and my PSA was 5.97, I went back in July and my PSA had dropped to 5.6. The Dr. suggested that I may have an infection and prescribed Ciprofloxacan. In September, bloodwork was done again and my PSA had dropped to 5.3, at this time, my Dr. recommended seeing a Urologist. I agreed and made the appointment with the Urologist and saw him in late October, at which time he did the Digital Rectal exam and felt that a biopsy was the next best course of action. The biopsy was done December 10th and on December 24th, he told me I had Stage 1 Prostate Cancer.

I left the Dr's office and went to see my wife at her employer and gave her the news that two of the samples came back with cancer cells, it was then that I really felt the gut punch and I have no doubt that she did as well. After crying and hugging in the middle of the salesfloor, I went to work, although my heart wasn't in it. We spent the holiday as best we could trying not to depress everyone around us and wondering what our options were going to be when we met with the Urologist in mid-January. By the time of this appointment, I had convinced myself that I was going to do Radiation, so we met with the Urologist, told him our decision and proceeded to make an appointment with the Radiation Oncologist for late January.

We met with the Radiation Oncologist and his staff and were ready to commit to the treatments when the Oncologist told me that based on my age, he would have the prostate removed and be done with it. If I had Radiation, I would not be able to have surgery or radiation in the future if the cancer returned as the initial IMRT would damage too many cells and I would not heal properly. On the way home, we kicked around the idea of surgery and by the time I got home, I had convinced mysely that surgery was the best option for me and promptly made an appointment with the Urologist to get the surgery scheduled.

Surgery was scheduled for March 9th and the weeks leading up to it were filled with questions regarding recovery, urinary issues, erectile issues, how much timeoff from work would I need, etc. March 9th came and I was in the OR by eight o'clock and in recovery by 12 noon. I spent two days in the hospital learning how to walk with a catheter, how to put on a leg bag for urine, keeping the incision clean and what to do upon discharge.

I was discharged on March 11th and came home to start recuperating, my wife had bought a recliner for me as she knew I would not be moving too far from it or being able to sleep in our bed. I made progress each day walking thru the house and going up a few steps each day and was looking forward to March 18th when the catheter would be removed. March 9th came and I was extremely nervous about the removal. The Dr. had me lay back, take a deep breath and it was out and done in a fraction of a second. Walking out of the hospital was alot easier than the walk in.

I've been home since and getting stronger everyday and received very good news from my Urologist and the pathology report that the cancer had not moved out of the prostate and that the surgery was successful. I have been fortunate that incontinence has not been a major issue or a urinary tract infection. There was some discomfort for a few days from the catheter irritating the tip of the penis, but using Neosporin has reduced that issue. We take small steps in the big parade to recovery and God willing, will not have any future issues.

Gary's e-mail address is: gar160 AT hotmail.com (replace "AT" with "@")

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