Howdy pardners! Here is the 1st e-mail i sent, on the 18th............
New post/member here. Name is Jerry, 55 YO, father of a 15
YO boy, & a 10 YO girl.
I found, in a DRE with my reg MD, that i had an enlarged prostate. Labs
showed a PSA of 4.3 . He sent me to a urologist, who ultimately wound up
doing a biopsy/scan, etc.The urologist, at the beginning,  put me on 2 wks
Bactrim DS, before the biopsy, to see if it made a difference, as we weren't
sure at that point, just where we stood. PSA, which was, as i mentioned
earlier, 4.3 , after the Bactrim regimen, dropped to 3.4. PSA Free was 25%.
Now, for the biopsy results........... Prostate was 61 grams with 1 of 8
samples coming back positive, with 25% of the pos sample as cancerous.Type
T1C, Gleason 6. The + sample is located in the apex region.

I am scheduled for surgery later this week at Mass Gen Hosp in Boston, with
Dr Alex Althausen. He is the MD who did Sen Kerry's biopsy. I guess Kerry
took in all of Walsh's glowing reports down in Md, for he had the
prostatectomy done down there. In any case, Althausen is a Harvard Med
School Professor of Surgery, who has written 50+ articles, & who does 100+
procedures a year (Radical Retropubic). I'm getting a bit "nudgy", as the
date rapidly approaches. At age 55, i feel that bottom line, the stats still
fall in favor of surgery, for potential positive outcomes,
especially...after 10 yrs out.

NOW>>>>>>>>>>Post Surgery. I was actually started at 2PM, after meeting with
the Surgeon, Anesthesiologist, etc. It lasted until 7PM! Guess that things
aren't as clearly delineated in reality, as they are in the book diagrams. I
remember vaguely being "active" in Recovery, where i was kept ftom 7-11PM.
They told me i was like a wild-man, & it took 4 people who hold me down.
This is as i was coming off of the anesthesia. Most people are fine, though.

Up in the ward, i was sore, & it took a major effort to move at all.
Obviously, no matter what you attempted, or how you moved, it centered
around that infernal incision. The surgeon visited with me at 7AM, on
Friday, & said that this nerve-sparing surgery went extremely well. Both
nerves were spared. As he knows my technical expertise level through prior
conversations, partly due to the fact that i have been a Pharmacist, for
years, i DON"T think he would say something like that unless he meant it. I
know this MD well, he is ALWAYS "to the point" .Fri & Sat were uneventful,
although i was lightheaded, with a pulse rate of 120 even after a little bit
of walking around the hospital ward. My crit was low! I had lost almost 2
liters of blood, & they just wanted to see 1st where i would stabilize. I
was around 25-26. I didn't donate ahead of time, so, Sun, when i decided to
go for a transfusion of 2 units, it took a while before things were thawed
out & brought to me to start to use. Obviously, By Mon AM, before release, i
felt better. I just hated getting up to walk though. They wanted you to do
it a few times a day. I was scheduled for release on Sat, if all went well,
when looking ahead to it. As you can see, i opted for 1 more, then 1 more
day, again, as i still had a lot of pain, & felt i wasn't stable yet. They
had no problem with that.

On going home, in my wife's new van, i had JUST gotten in & attempted to
adjust the power lever to put back the back of my seat, when...after a
backwards jerk, and a big abdominal pain outburst, i discovered that only
the driver seat was power...This one just mechanically moved into place. We
have met the enemy, & he is us!! Every curve, never mind, bump, was detected
by my abdomen. I've been home now, since Mon AM, & i find that the pain has
subsided somewhat, & only comes back "in full", when i cough, or laugh. When
you know you're going to do 1 of those things, Hold your incision in w/some
pressure, to counter the outward forces. 1st bowel movement was Wed AM, with
just a semi-solid-solid diet those few days preceding.

The catheter doesn't bother me much, other than the fact that "it's always
there". Sometimes, when carrying my 2 liter night bag, it swings, & slightly
pulls. You feel that pulling...not just at the tip...but at every mm up your
urethra! I find that any movement will cause out of catherer
dribbling/leakage...down the outer sides. Thus...washing, etc, i must stand
on a towel to catch the drips, that are unavoidable. I always wind up wet
when walking around the block, & must change the paper towels, etc
immediately, again, that are wrapped around me & the catheter, when i get
back in the house. I find i don't really need any insulated pads to lay on
in the bed, other than normal wetness precautions that you can buy for any
bed. My boxer shorts, are always moist/wet, & i have to change them 2-3
times a day, to handle the leaking & resulting wetness. If you're not
careful, you will leak onto the floor in the house, as you go around, so i
try & wrap myself well, & change frequently.

Incisional area is still tender & i sometimes cheat & have my son or wife
pull me up to a sitting position, so i can roll off the bed more easily.
That initial getting up/rolling, ia a pain indeed! My catheter will be
removed next Wed 6/2, and i will get the official pathology verdict at that
time also. My surgeon is confident, from "how it went"..."what he saw"...how
it felt"...etc, that the capsule was intact. Lymph nodes BTW, were all
negative. So...for the next week, it's a game of...WHAT IF!?!?. I'm gonna
think positive. I trust his impressions. He is the most highly regarded
urlogical surgeon in the Boston area, & he was mentioned, as such, in Boston
magazine in their "Best MD's & Hosp's" yearly survey..

Lastly, he mentioned that i shouldn't lose "anything", that i had before,
lengthwise, due to the surgery. I'll find out more about his optimism on
that one later. In any case, from my "point of view", it looks like he's
still there, as before. Surgery, given my parameters, was a no-brainer.I'd
rather take 1 step backwards now, to get to a "cured" position, with long
term...documented...positive outcomes, than take the "easier", but
nebulous/unsure route of radiation now,  a less guaranteeing cure method of
treatment that doesn't give me data 10+ years out. LASTLY...from what i
understand, aside from age & stage, prostate size has a maximum size limit
on it , where they feel that Brachy just won't do the job. I believe that
point is at 60gms. Hope that helps.I WILL get back to all of you after next
Wed. All the best to you, my friends. I DO wish you well!!...........Jerry