Hello everyone.  I am a long time lurker on this board and very
appreciative of the ongoing commentary regarding treatments and
individual perspectives - very helpful.  I am 9 days from having my
surgery to remove my cancerous prostate, and wanted to report on my
experiences for the benefit of others in similar situation who are
considering their alternatives.

My case for your comparicin:

I am 56 years old and was diagnosed in July 2003 with prostate cancer
after biopsy - both lobes - Gleason grade of 6 (3+3) and a preliminary
stage of T1c - that is no other indication of cancer other than a PSA
of 4.9.

After considering all options, talking to two surgeons, a radiologist
and my local doctor, reading comments from several persons on this
board, and doing exhaustive research on the internet and library, I
opted for surgery at Johns Hopkins on October 22.  My surgeon -
Ballentine Carter - and the staff were great.  Operation took no more
than one hour and path report clean.  Barring unusual circumstances,
prognosis is I should be free of this type of cancer - no promises
though - there never is in medicine.  Upon surgery, only the prostate
was removed, Johns Hopkins surgeons practice what they preach - they
look first and do no more harm than necessary.  I have to say the
attitude of Carter and staff is comforting considering the downsides
of this operation.  If you are in this geographic area, do consider
Johns Hopkins for a consulation.

As I studied my options and considering I am 56 years old, in good
health and with a loving wife - no prior history of cancer or other
health effects except mild hypertension which I control with pills,
the alternatives to surgery were very attractive to me considering
potential complications.  However, the biopsy report showed 4 of the
12 cores to contained cancer - three cores on the left side and one
core on the right side with indications of perineural invasion on the
right side (some docs consider this an early indicator of capsular
invasion that might extend beyond the gland to lymph nodes), the
doctors I talked to believed "wating" was not an option.

My expected life span on the charts exceeds 15 years and most docs I
spoke to felt it was not possible to predict a Gleason 6 would remain
moderate or contained for more than 5 years or so - meaning in 10+
years I could be facing a serious health risk.  No one, including the
radiologist I spoke to, felt radition was a good alternative in my
case either.  This they explained is because of (a) my early age, (b)
inability of radiation approach to know for certin whether all cancer
is killed, (c) inability of radiation approach to definitively
determine if lymph nodes are affected, and (d) once radiation is used,
surgery after to treat escapes is problematic.  According to my
radiologist, if I were perhaps 65 or older, radiation in my case would
have been the recommended approach if I was concerned over potency and
incontence as a result of surgery, but not under 60.

I considered the new alternatives of least invasive surgery (Johns
Hopkins and several other cancer centers now offer these) but felt
that with Dr Carter's expertise (he has done well over 3,000 of the
nerve sparing surgeries that Dr Walsh of Hopkins and he pioneered) the
least risky and most certain path was the old fashioned cut and sew
job.  So I decided to take my chances with this approach.  So far my
recovery has been very rapid.  No problems with the surgery, and the
cut is minimal (a relatively small 6 to 7 inch straight scar extending
from my navel down).

On Friday Oct 31, I have my catheter removed (ten days after surgery)
and begin recovery of my functions - contenence and potency.  Doctor
Carter believes with the fact only the prostate was removed and
minimal damage otherwise, I should have a good recovery.  Another
reason to choose an experienced surgeon and facility that cares about
minimizing the consequences of surgery.

Only time will tell and I will report back on my recovery from time to
time.  At this moment in time, I am glad I opted for surgery - as it
feels good to have the cancer out for sure = well almost for sure.

Regards Glen