Training of new surgeons is essential, maybe we should accept that the new guy gets to have go. Future generations will need top surgeons, so they need to practice on someone. Maybe us baby boomers having spent the next generations money, taken first dibs on the houses, and upset Greta Thunberg; should at least ensure they have a chance of decent health care.
I spent a bit of time teaching people how to fly gliders, you do have to let the student try and land, and obviously there first few attempts are heading for disaster so as an instructor you take over before it gets dangerous but not much before, as the student needs as much experience as possible.
It would seem some surgeons do more than 700 operations a year. Now assuming they take weekends off and have eight weeks holiday (when you are on that sort of money you need time to spend it) and play golf with the drugs company rep every Wednesday. They must be doing four operations a day. I guess with robotic surgery they don't need to scrub up before each operation, and perhaps due to modern internet technology, he may be able to do a few ops from the clubhouse bar after the golf. However I would assume that the top surgeon supervises four underlings per day, he is putting his name to the job so he will make sure his underlings are top notch, and will have all four screens up in front of him (plus one other to watch tiktok...can you believe it a cat playing piano πΈ).
When you buy a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, you are actually buying one from his workshop, most of it probably done by an apprentice, but with a few strokes by the master ("hey Giuseppe, next time you do a passport portrait of that Mona Lisa women tell her to say Cheese. Never mind, give the brush here I'll try and paint a smile on her).
So perhaps when they are selling prostatectomies they should be described as "in the style of Mr X", "attributed to Mr Y".
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User
"It would seem some surgeons do more than 700 operations a year. Now assuming they take weekends off and have eight weeks holiday (when you are on that sort of money you need time to spend it) and play golf with the drugs company rep every Wednesday. They must be doing four operations a day."
Agreed, the maths doesn't add up. Average robotic RP is 4-5 hours and open RP is 3-4 hours so unlikely to be doing more than 2 per day directly. John's ended up being nearer 8 hours!
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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Hi Fred,
Did it have a < (less than sign)?
I know my OH post op PSA was <0.03
even at 0.06 that seems low to me (I’m sure someone else will be able to tell you better though) but I hear a lot that if it spoken to you a lot seem to miss the less than not realising it’s significance.
Great news how things have gone post surgery ππ½
User
Fred , some medical experts may consider 4 weeks to be too early for a post op PSA test. Nice guidance is the first blood test at least 6 weeks after surgery. The < symbol in front would be better but i don't recall seeing many <0.06. <0.03 or <0.1 are common. are you sure it is not 0.006.
Your histology may give you a better understanding of your situation.
Thanks Chris
User
The next one is important OR if you listen to the "anti ultrasensitive brigade" on here you are already in the clear as 0.06 is less than 0.1. π
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I'd strongly advise you to wait until the diagnostic process is complete. You'll know where you stand then. Asking "What if..." questions is not helpful to anyone.
Best wishes,
Chris
User
Thanks Chris
But I am puzzled with some of the present results and need to know q3 to q5 partly out of curiosity.
User
Excuse me Chris:
Conclusion: If T7 was benign (in new scan) then have Active treatment
should be read
Recommendation (made by MDT): If T7 was benign (in new scan) then have Active treatment
Furthermore:
I can not resist asking how MRI be negative for malignancy but yet mild uptake at T7?
User
I was Gleason 3+4, possible t3a. Turned out as Gleason 4+4, t2a. The only way to be pretty certain is to have the op and get your prostate in the lab.
If you've only one stray then they might treat it with radiotherapy or perhaps another form of intervention, I'm not sure if HIFU or something else is available.
They'll possibly offer radiotherapy for the prostate as well although it might be limited. You'll likely get hormone treatment as well.
So many ifs.
A nurse said to me take it as it comes and don't get ahead of yourself. It might be something else. Easier to say than do I think. Diagnosis is always a worrying time. Hold on we're with you.
All the best, Peter
User
Thanks for you and other being there
User
An MRI and a nuclear bone scan look for different things.
In a bone scan, areas of the body where cells and tissues are repairing themselves most actively take up the largest amounts of tracer. Nuclear images highlight these areas, suggesting the presence of abnormalities associated with disease or injury. An MRI, on the other hand, is looking to image mets directly. You can get increased "uptake" in a bone scan, therefore, for reasons other than mets.
Best wishes,
Chris
User
That makes good sense for us Chris, thank you. My OH had his MRI which didn’t show up METs, he had a bone scan where he was told the cancer had spread to his pelvis. We got a second opinion and PSMA pet scan that said the lesion in pelvic bone was benign, but did confirm lymph node previously picked up on CT scan.
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3- If Gleason is 7 + there is small early T3a disease + Grade Group 2,
then how likely is uptake at T7 not be benign?
4- If T7 is not benign, then how fast will be the other spread?
5- What are the treatments if T7 was not benign? What are the outlooks?
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3. spread to bone is completely unrelated to the T staging. Grade group 2 and Gleason 7 (3+4) are the same thing - a G7 can spread to bone just as easily as a G10. The staging can be T2a (fully contained) and still already be in the bone.
4. If T7 is not benign, they will put you on hormone therapy. It may not spread any further for many years
5. Hormone therapy, possibly with early chemo. If it is just in the prostate and one bone met, they may try radiotherapy although you will generally be considered incurable. Just in prostate and bone, you could still be here in 10-15 years, depending how well you respond to the hormones. If there are mets to soft organs or the skull or jaw, maybe only a few years. Some men unfortunately donβt respond to the HT and live for only a very short time, but this is less common.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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Hi
I just had meeting with MDT representative (consultant) who said he is an urologist + oncologist + prostate robotic surgeon.
1- Could one be specialized in all these field?
We had a pre-arranged meeting. He said he has not received the result of MRI scan of spine. So he went through option that I could have.
He said I could have Radical Prostatectomy (+ radiotherapy) if T7 is not benign?
I know if is still there but am very down and puzzled as his suggestion is not in line with above suggestions of radiotherapy and hormone therapy.
2- Could kindly anyone elaborate further?
He also said that if benign then it would all hormone therapy consisting of 2 months of tablet and injection followed with injection every six months.
I was too down to know what was the details of hormone therapy? but again
4- Could anyone explain what this might be?
Thanks for your helpI
p.s I still have to wait two weeks to have next meeting.
User
Yes there are some qualified in both fields - uro-oncologists.
I think you have muddled up benign and not benign (cancerous) - if the grey area on your spine is cancer he is only offering long term HT but if it is benign he is willing to do surgery or RT. More waiting for you :-(
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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Hi Lyn
Many thanks for your prompt reply and helpful comments.
User
Hi again.
Repost on my spin MRI is negative for metastatic.
I am given the option between hormones + radical radiotherapy verses robotic approach (surgery?). The suggestion as to robotic is vague? Does it mean there is not going to be any other follow up treatments?
I wonder advanced prostate cancer (t3a, G3+4=7) means that the cancer bits are out in circulation and even if it is not settled down somewhere, the surgery on its own is not going to get ride of it and has to be followed by radiotherapy and/or hormones to suppress it. So why one should with diagnosis as mine should go along with robotic surgery?
Would robotic (especially if followed with H +RR) will give me a better and longer life as compare to H + RR?
I also wonder why none of respected members (above) in previous messages did only mentioned hormones and radiotherapy as an option.
You may excuse me if I may have muddled up.
User
Great news Fred ππ½
My husband is Gleason 4+3=7 psa 8.3 and T3a N1. He has opted for RARP even though it is extremely likely he will need ART (barring a miracle ππΌ). He wants to get the majority of the cancer out so they will remove tumour and affected node(s). He is on HT already…so will have triple the side effects (although doing ok with that at the mo)
We don’t know if it’s the correct decision, but have to go with our gut and have no regrets.
Best of luck with making your decision, it’s not easy but I think it’s a relief when you’ve decided.
User
Originally Posted by: Online Community MemberHi again.
Repost on my spin MRI is negative for metastatic.
I am given the option between hormones + radical radiotherapy verses robotic approach (surgery?). The suggestion as to robotic is vague? Does it mean there is not going to be any other follow up treatments?
I wonder advanced prostate cancer (t3a, G3+4=7) means that the cancer bits are out in circulation and even if it is not settled down somewhere, the surgery on its own is not going to get ride of it and has to be followed by radiotherapy and/or hormones to suppress it. So why one should with diagnosis as mine should go along with robotic surgery?
Would robotic (especially if followed with H +RR) will give me a better and longer life as compare to H + RR?
I also wonder why none of respected members (above) in previous messages did only mentioned hormones and radiotherapy as an option.
You may excuse me if I may have muddled up.
You don't have advanced prostate cancer; you have locally advanced PCa which is a completely different thing. With a T3, your chance of full remission is exactly the same regardless of whether you have radiotherapy with hormones or just surgery. So the choice comes down to your personality, lifestyle and your view of the risk of side effects of each treatment.
I think I did mention surgeryvin a previous reply but generally, we were responding to your initial data with the suspected bone met. Now you have had confirmation that it is not a bone met, your options are wider.
With a T3, any treatment has a small chance of being unsuccessful but that is true of any cancer patient.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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Hi Lyn
Fully appreciate your ever informative comments. My apology for not thanking you earlier.
User
I am to have Radical Prostatectomy in one of NHS hospital.
I wonder NHS hospital also being a training center for universities;
allows important surgery as Radical Prostatectomy to be done partly by a trainee
and/or
patient has the right to demand the operation to be done wholly by main surgeon.
User
Of course everybody wants their surgery done by a well experienced surgeon but this is clearly not always possible as they retire and new surgeons take over. I doubt a very inexperienced surgeon would be allowed to do the operation unsupervised. I would expect that the new surgeon would gradually be permitted to do more of the op closely supervised until s/he achieved good results. However, if you find this possibility unacceptable, you could ask to go on the list of a more experienced surgeon, although you might well have to wait longer unless you go private.
Edited by member 01 Dec 2021 at 23:43
| Reason: Not specified
Barry |
User
Training of new surgeons is essential, maybe we should accept that the new guy gets to have go. Future generations will need top surgeons, so they need to practice on someone. Maybe us baby boomers having spent the next generations money, taken first dibs on the houses, and upset Greta Thunberg; should at least ensure they have a chance of decent health care.
I spent a bit of time teaching people how to fly gliders, you do have to let the student try and land, and obviously there first few attempts are heading for disaster so as an instructor you take over before it gets dangerous but not much before, as the student needs as much experience as possible.
It would seem some surgeons do more than 700 operations a year. Now assuming they take weekends off and have eight weeks holiday (when you are on that sort of money you need time to spend it) and play golf with the drugs company rep every Wednesday. They must be doing four operations a day. I guess with robotic surgery they don't need to scrub up before each operation, and perhaps due to modern internet technology, he may be able to do a few ops from the clubhouse bar after the golf. However I would assume that the top surgeon supervises four underlings per day, he is putting his name to the job so he will make sure his underlings are top notch, and will have all four screens up in front of him (plus one other to watch tiktok...can you believe it a cat playing piano πΈ).
When you buy a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, you are actually buying one from his workshop, most of it probably done by an apprentice, but with a few strokes by the master ("hey Giuseppe, next time you do a passport portrait of that Mona Lisa women tell her to say Cheese. Never mind, give the brush here I'll try and paint a smile on her).
So perhaps when they are selling prostatectomies they should be described as "in the style of Mr X", "attributed to Mr Y".
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User
"It would seem some surgeons do more than 700 operations a year. Now assuming they take weekends off and have eight weeks holiday (when you are on that sort of money you need time to spend it) and play golf with the drugs company rep every Wednesday. They must be doing four operations a day."
Agreed, the maths doesn't add up. Average robotic RP is 4-5 hours and open RP is 3-4 hours so unlikely to be doing more than 2 per day directly. John's ended up being nearer 8 hours!
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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User
Before my RALP with Neurosafe on the NHS, I asked the surgeon (clinical lead at the hospital and in that area) if he was personally going to perform my op. He said he would, primarily because I had a previous TURP and that could make life a little more difficult. When I received the post op report, I noticed a second surgeon was present. He was an FRCS, not a surgical student. Perhaps he was training on da Vinci, perhaps a second surgeon is always required? Bit like there is always a co-pilot on commercial aircraft, just in case?
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User
As you are most probably aware before surgeons move on to robotic surgery they have to have been accomplished doing open surgery. In the event of a problem with the robot during surgery which is rare fortunately, a surgeon has to be able to use his skills to carry on the op using open surgery or involve somebody else who more frequently uses open surgery.
Barry |
User
Hi again
I had a panic attack 2 weeks ago and called for emergence, went to hospital and had some general test and came back home without any prescription or warning about my general health.
Since then I have a kind of numbness, mainly in sole of left leg to begin with and now on both leg which is more at nights with some kind of pain on lower part of my legs. I went to GP, after some physical testing on my legs said nothing except that it could be due to my anxiety and stress.
I checked internet it says in numbness extreme cases it could be related to spread of prostate cancer.
User
What you have been reading about is spinal cord compression. However, it happens to men with profound mets to their spine and your bone scan is negative so you are not at risk. Also, it doesn't usually cause pain in the lower legs.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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User
Many thanks Lyn.
I had just revived a letter detailing additional information (ones that I missed earlier) as regard to my test result:
Biopsy:: PNI positive, cibriform pattern not seen.
Earlier MRI stated “bilateral small peripheral zone PIRARDS 4 lesson query T3aN0M0
I wonder in light of these findings further complication is to be due?
I also noted the letter points out that further treatment (to that surgery) at a later date if required radiotherapy of hormonal’
Taking my test result into consideration how early might be the RT.
If surgery is going to follow early with that of RT, then would it not be better to go straight for RT + Hormonal?
Edited by member 06 Dec 2021 at 13:40
| Reason: Not specified
User
URGENT REPLY IS APPRECIATED
My radical prostatectomy surgery scheduled for end of January at a NHS hospital.
I had result of T3a in June and Gleason 3+4 in October.
I wonder by the time of surgery will there be:
1- Upgrading of T3a or G7,
2- Undermining of the surgery succession and recurrence
What will be the situation if I decide to change my treatment to Radio therapy and hormone therapy?
User
I underwent RALP surgery on 21/12 and had no more PSA tests or scans after early October. Once you have had your prostate removed it undergoes a histology and it is then that the original Gleason score etc is confirmed or upgraded. In my case, I should know in around 6 weeks time whether my cancer is still category 2 (Gleason 3+4=7, with only 5% Category 2, the rest being category 1(Gleason 3+3= 6)).
I was given the choice of having either surgery or RT but opted for surgery because my cancer was confirmed to still be within the prostate and because I liked the idea of it being totally removed. Though, obviously, time will tell whether this is actually the case. I was told that RT and surgery would be broadly similar in life expectancy outcomes.
User
Originally Posted by: Online Community MemberURGENT REPLY IS APPRECIATED
My radical prostatectomy surgery scheduled for end of January at a NHS hospital.
I had result of T3a in June and Gleason 3+4 in October.
I wonder by the time of surgery will there be:
1- Upgrading of T3a or G7,
2- Undermining of the surgery succession and recurrence
What will be the situation if I decide to change my treatment to Radio therapy and hormone therapy?
If, following surgery, the cancer is upgraded from T3a it will not be because of the delay; the scans are not absolute so it is possible that what is found is different to what was seen on the screen. My husband was diagnosed with T1 but when they operated it turned out to be T3 - it was 5 weeks from dx to surgery. Prostate cancer actually grows very slowly.
Similarly, the Gleason grade doesn't usually change- it isn't the case that a man starts with a G3+3 and then over time, it becomes a G3+4 then G4+4 then eventually G5+5. A man diagnosed with a G3+4 will still be a G3+4 when he dies, even if the cancer has recurred and become advanced. If, following the op, your Gleason is changed, it will simply be because they have been able to grade the whole prostate rather than just a few tiny samples - not because of the delay.
There is absolutely nothing to stop you changing your mind about surgery if, having had time to think about it, you have decided that it is not your preferred option. But don't change your mind just because of timeliness... by the time you have contacted the hospital, arranged an oncology appointment, got the first set of hormone tablets and arranged the first hormone injection it is going to be end of January anyway, I think.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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User
Hi Fred. S
As I understand it it's better to have Gleason(3+4) than Gleason(4+3) because the first instance is the most prevalent.
Since you have g3+4 has anyone suggested "Active Surveillance"?
BTW I have T1C g3+3 and I'm following an "Active Surveillance" path at the moment.
Regards
Steve
User
T3a isn't suitable for active surveillance - usually only T1 or (at a pinch) T2a. T3 means it is already breaking out of the prostate gland.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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Concerned about PSA post surgery
Hi,
I had my surgery on Jan 21.
Catheter was removed 12 days later,
No incontinence from day one
Waiting for pathology results
PSA one month after operation 0.06.
Is this high?
User
Hi Fred,
Did it have a < (less than sign)?
I know my OH post op PSA was <0.03
even at 0.06 that seems low to me (I’m sure someone else will be able to tell you better though) but I hear a lot that if it spoken to you a lot seem to miss the less than not realising it’s significance.
Great news how things have gone post surgery ππ½
User
Fred , some medical experts may consider 4 weeks to be too early for a post op PSA test. Nice guidance is the first blood test at least 6 weeks after surgery. The < symbol in front would be better but i don't recall seeing many <0.06. <0.03 or <0.1 are common. are you sure it is not 0.006.
Your histology may give you a better understanding of your situation.
Thanks Chris
User
Hi LynEyre, we had a meeting with the consultant and nurse on Monday and were told that my husbands RP would take about 3 hours as the surgeons in the hospital are very experienced
User
Originally Posted by: Online Community MemberFred , some medical experts may consider 4 weeks to be too early for a post op PSA test. Nice guidance is the first blood test at least 6 weeks after surgery. The < symbol in front would be better but i don't recall seeing many <0.06. <0.03 or <0.1 are common. are you sure it is not 0.006.
Your histology may give you a better understanding of your situation.
Thanks Chris
The reading : erum prostate specific antigen level 0.06 ug/L
User
The next one is important OR if you listen to the "anti ultrasensitive brigade" on here you are already in the clear as 0.06 is less than 0.1. π