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Frank Leonard and Brenda live in Texas, USA. He was 62 when he was diagnosed in January, 2010. His initial PSA was 3.70 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6, and he was staged T1c. His initial treatment choice was Surgery (Robotic Laparoscopic Prostatectomy) and his current treatment choice is Surgery (Robotic Laparoscopic Prostatectomy). Here is his story.

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

Went to my primary physician on December 14, 2009 for blood tests. PSA was 3.7 and had risen from 2.1 in 2005. He recommended I see a urologist. Went to my urologist on Jan 4, 2010 and had a rectal exam. He felt some softness on the upper right quadrant of my prostate and recommended a biopsy. I scheduled it for Jan 11, 2010. I got the results of the biopsy on Jan 19, 2010 and they were positive. My wife and I agreed within one day to have surgery. On Jan 27, 2010 I went to the surgeon and scheduled the surgery for March 1, 2010.

My wife and I both felt that surgery was the best option. I did not want any cancer in my body. Surgery was performed on March 1, 2010 and went very well. I had a 2:30 pm start so I didn't get out until around 5:00 pm. I stayed in the hospital overnight but was out by 11:30 am the next day. I had no bad pain and only took one Hydrocortone that afternoon. After that, only Motrin.

On Monday March 8, 2010 I had my catheter removed. In my opinion the catheter is the worst inconvenience of the whole operation. It will have to be life or death before I let someone put another in me. Am still incontinent but since I am retired, I can just keep changing pads.

Surgeon called on March 11, 2010 and said my pathology report was good, however, I had a Gleason Score of 7 rather than 6 and that the cancer had grown 1 centimetre outside the prostate toward the bladder. He feels that he removed it all and that he is confident that I will not need radiation (85% chance I will not.)

I have an appointment with the surgeon on March 23, 2010 to go over the results.

If anyone would like more detail, let me know. I left all of the doctor's names out because of privacy issues but would be glad to share the names. All were excellent!

Good luck to all.

UPDATED

June 2010

Received a call from my surgeon on June 18, 2010 and was told my PSA is negligible at 0.01 which means my chances of reccurance are negligible. Surgeon says this is just where I want to be. I will go for my next PSA in early October.

Incontinence is a minor issue now. I still wear a pad if I play golf or do any strenous exercise but otherwise I do not use them. It took approximately 12 weeks to get my incontinence under control. I believe the Kegel exercises helped.

ED is still a major issue. I am taking Viagra and using a pump. However the surgeon feels my progress is either where it should be or ahead of schedule. He says be patient; it can take a minimum of 6 months and as much as two years to regain normal sexual function. I am thankful to GOD a fantastic surgeon, and everyone at USMD Arlington, Texas for this miracle. I am 100% satisfied that I made the right choice. I actually feel better without the enlarged prostate. Just have to work on the ED.

Blessings to all and may everyone who encounters this disease be cured.

UPDATED

July 2013

PSA is negligible and the doctor is very positive about the future. Still some occasional minor discomfort after urinating but I no longer need Detrol to control leakage. I still can do all the things I could before surgery and am in good health.

UPDATED

September 2014

I am doing well after four and one-half years after surgery. No recurrence.

Frank's e-mail address is: frankl0816 AT yahoo.com (replace "AT" with "@")

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


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