Tom Boyle

Complicated prostate cancer diagnosis

I was 73 and had an "anomaly" on my cat scan, but two biopsies had not rendered a verdict. I was referred to a specialist (who had done residencies in both oncology and urology) and he took one look and said "You have cancer." He did a peritoneal biopsy and 11 of the 20 samples were cancerous, and my Gleason score was 9.

Radical prostatectomy as treatment

Had a radical prostatectomy and all the lymph nodes removed, and surrounding tissues, because the tumor had bulged out from the prostate. Thankfully, there were no metastases (which the pre-surgery scans had validated) and in combination with the first PSA of >.02 in May of this year, I was pronounced cancer free for now. I look forward to the PSA test every 6 months for the rest of my life. Incontinence is my issue. Because of my Gleason, everything was removed that could be. I had had a TURP 12 years prior, and so my bladder was a mass of scar tissue. My surgeon (who had been doing these for 15 years) said that I was easily in his top 5 most difficult cases, maybe in his top 3.

Now in physical therapy

I am now 8 months along (as of next week) and 6 months into intense PT and daily exercises and still am almost completely incontinent. I can live with this, compared to being dead it is not so much of a big deal. One day at a time.