Help!!!!

Hi Tara, from what you have said, my guess is that this is his Gleason score which goes from 6 to 10 rather than 1 to 10. The Gleason is made up of two scores so a G6 is a 3+3 which is the lowest risk. Quite often, men with a G6 are offered active surveillance (particularly if they are older or have other medical conditions) which means regular blood tests, an annual scan and a DRE (finger up the bum) each year to monitor that the cancer isn't progressing. Many prostate cancers will not cause any problems and don't need to be treated but it is really important that the man is monitored properly so that as soon as it looks like the cancer might be getting more aggressive, a rethink about treatment can be had.

The side effects of surgery can be life changing and for older men, not necessarily worth the bother for a low grade cancer. Radiotherapy is often quite straightforward but is used in conjunction with hormone treatment which basically takes away your masculinity so again, not something a man should enter into if not necessary. Hormone treatment can cause extreme fatigue, breasts, muscle pain, breathing problems - it is chemical castration. I admire your dad's decision to wait and not rush in to treatment. My father-in-law made the same choice some years ago - his holidays and sex life were very important to him and he was not prepared to risk his life changing dramatically. Unfortunately he wasn't monitored very well on the active surveillance and no one realised it had spread until it was too late so it is important that you ask dad what the monitoring plan is - probably 3 or 6 monthly blood tests from his GP?

My dad had treatment 14 years ago and thought he had been cured but it came back last year. As he is now older, he has decided not to have any further treatment and to just enjoy himself dancing and cruising :-) Sometimes when we love our dads we have to accept that they make choices we don't necessarily think we would make.

Hi Tara ive just had a radical prostatectomy 3 weeks ago after vehemently refusing any treatment whatsoever , and preferring to wither away than be incontinent and impotent . But with the help of this forum , and family and eventually commonsense when the immense panic had ceased , I went through with it . Its just such a stress to start with and then acceptance and a plan settles in . Get the toolkit , read it all , and off you go with best wishes and endless help from us all on here

Edited by member 11 Jul 2015 at 08:03  | Reason: Not specified

Morning Tara and welcome.
My husband was 72 when diagnosed, with a gleason score of 3+4.
He was certain he didn't want the operation and so opted for Active surveillance which he was on for a year.

During that year he had regular blood tests and biopsies and when the PSA started to rise he was advised that something needed to be done so a decision had to be made.

He chose to have seed Brachytherapy which are radioactive seeds implanted into the prostate and they remain there forever, even when they are no longer active, (there is a booklet about it in the Toolkit available through publications on the home page). The procedure was done June 3rd 2014 so he has just had his first anniversary and his PSA is down from 6.3 to 0.09 so is working.

This is such a scary time for all of you. Cancer is a frightening word, a death sentence in many peoples' eyes but that just isn't the case any more.

Please try not to worry, easier said than done I know.

As has already been advised to you, best not to google prostate cancer. Yes there is a lot of information out there but some of it is apocryphal or just not reliable.

Stick to sites like this and Cancer Research and you should be able to glean all the information you want.

We have lots of support on here for both the patient and their families and no questions are taboo, because sometimes you just need to know and it might seem embarrassing but hey, the experts are right here, having been there and done that!

If dad is prepared to discuss it with you then try and find out his PSA, his scan results etc. Any information we can advise on.

Be prepared though for him to ask you to back off. This is his life and he may well feel that it's his decision how he lives the rest of it. On the other hand he may be acting like he is because he is frightened and has also heard horrible stories.

Go slowly at first in making enquiries or he may well block it all out and not confide in you anymore. Have you told him you have joined our community?

Best wishes to both of you. We are here for both of you should you need our help and advice.

Johsan

Edited by member 11 Jul 2015 at 14:36  | Reason: Not specified

and don't forget to tell him the you love him no matter what

nidge

An important part of diagnosis is staging.  This indicates whether the cancer is contained within the capsule, is breaking out,which is locally advanced or has spread outside the Prostate which is termed advanced. AS has been mentioned as an option and for many works OK, sometimes for a short time and in other cases for years. However, it may be that indications are that the cancer is very close to the edge of the Prostate and the surgeon  thinks  it could breach it without being detected unless frequent PSA and further biopsies are done.  Gleason scores assessed through biopsy are often not accurate anyway, as examination  of removed prostates sometimes leads to upgrading when the entire Prostate has been examined.  It is for the affected individual to consider at what point he wishes to undergo actual treatment, if at all.

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