Hello Yaffle and welcome to the site.
IT's understandable that you are worried. All of us on here to some degree had that first knee jerk reaction to cancer meaning doom.
Yes you are young but not the youngest we have on here. I hope one of them can come along and reassure you.
Neither is your 8.5 PSA the highest by a long short. We have members with PSA in the thousands and they are still with us.
Once you have that biopsy out of the way and a Gleason score is given life will settle down a bit more because you'll know where you stand. Everything you read on the internet has the potential to frighten the life out of you so stick with sites like this for now where you will get help and advice.
Are you the principle carer for your two children and have anyone who will be able to help you once a treatment plan is in place?
When you go for the biopsy results try and take somebody with you because you are unlikely to take in all the information. Take a list of questions and write down the answers
Please come back and give us the results and I am sure that you'll get lots of helpful advice
Don't despair. Try not to worry because that can be very tiring and at the moment a waste of energy.
Good luck and best wishes
Sandra
Edited by member 21 Jul 2017 at 09:13
| Reason: Not specified
We can't control the winds - but we can adjust our sails |
User
Yaffle
I turn 47 in August and have two teenage children. I was diagnosed last November and had a prostatectomy in December. The cancer had spread into my seminal vesicles but this was discovered in surgery. No other spread, but I did have my Gleason score upgraded to 9 (4+5). That scared me and I thought I would die fairly soon. Since then, I've calmed down a lot. There are many men on here with Gleason 9 and they've been around for years. I now realise I'm not going anywhere yet.
This forum has been an absolute blessing to me. I've learnt so much from the other members and the specialist nurses are brilliant. Call them. Talk to them about your worries and fears and about your treatment options.
Stay in touch - we are all here to help each other.
Ulsterman
User
Thank you for replying. I am feeling very alone with this at the moment (can't even figure out how to tell my kids if/when I need to).
It helps to know others are out there.
I'm still not entirely sure what the possible outcomes are of the biopsy next week given my scan (e.g. whether it's still possible I will have a negative diagnosis), but I guess I just need to wait and take it one step at a time.
Ulsterman, do you mind me asking whether your surgery was nerve sparing? i separated from my partner a year ago and am hoping that I'll be able to start a new relationship, so this is an added scary aspect of the whole thing, I must admit.
S
User
Yaffle
Sadly, I was non-nerve sparing. ED and dry orgasms are very hard to come to terms with. I now use Invicorp injections to achieve an erection.
Your sex life will be a challenge and that is sadly one of the potential outcomes of treatment. But read some of the discussions on ED and you'll find stories of men overcoming this horrendous side effect. Don't underestimate it, but don't feel that it is insurmountable either.
You're surgeon will try to spare the nerves if possible. I told mine he had to cut out whatever was necessary to give me the best chance of life. You have your two kids to live for, and they love you and need you.
Ulsterman
Edited by member 22 Jul 2017 at 09:36
| Reason: Not specified
User
Thank you for your candour, and sorry it wasn't nerve sparing for you, but glad to hear that the injections are a help at least.
S