Just got the bad news/good news

@Brsox, Thanks for sharing so much of your journey with us. I thought I was reading my father's story for a minute. It looks like you have a great team of doctors. That is good. My father had the surgery when he was 72, worked until he was 82, and just had his 90th birthday. You do what's best for you. We are here if you need us. Let us know what you find out in your 2nd opinion. Diane (Team Member)

@Brsox, Having a 3+3=6 is indeed the good news part of what you have learned. I was 62 when my PSA rose above 5.0 triggering a biopsy, one of the biopsy cores came in at a Gleason 9, and several at Gleason 8. With those scores my care team automatically scheduled me for an MRI and Bone scan (both came back negative). After lots of research and numerous 2nd opinions, I chose robotic surgery by a very experienced (and respected) surgeon and researcher. He also sent my post surgery tissue out for Decipher genetic testing. I believe they are now able to run the genetic testing on biopsy cores to help guide the treatment decision(s). Please keep us posted as their is a lot of personal experiences and compassion on this web site.

Brsox,
I'm 58 and have a similar journey that I have posted in this forum. PSA above 4, Gleason 3+3=6 in 4 of 12 cores, nodule. Long and short of it was I choose to do robotic proctectomy 5 months post my Biopsy on 4/6/23. My advice is everyone situation is different but what is common is get all the information you can before making your decision and get a second opinion on the information from the top medical instituations that specialize in prostate cancer (all treatments). Why sugery for me 5 things. 1.) Had decipher testing on my biopsy samples and came back high risk, 2) Family history of death due to prostate cancer. 3.) If you have prostate cancer confined to prostate (which I had ) really positive odds if you have it removed will not be dealing with it in the future ... 4) Procedure allows for excellent results not only of elimination of cancer but also preserving Continence and ED side effects. 5.) Ability to know exactly what I was dealing with once they removed my prostate and did pathology on it... Was upgrade from grade group 1 (gleason 6 to group 2 gleason 7) .....


Again everyone situation is different and their are many factors to consider. You are going about it the right way... educate get all the right info and make decision that is right for you. Wish you the best and let me know if you have questions...

Thanks for all of the advice. I have an appt on June 7th at Brigham and Women's in Boston with one of the top doctors in the field. He is chief of Urology at Brigham and Women's, did his fellowship at Johns Hopkins, and is a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. He has written or co written many articles on prostate cancer. He also performed robotic, nerve sparing prostate surgery on two co workers and they all had excellent results. I'm hoping to have Decipher testing and an MRI to confirm my Gleason 6 score. Then I will make a decision between surgery now or active surveillance for a while.