Health Update (Prostate)

In mid-January, I had my third biopsy to determine if I have prostate cancer. The blog post covering that delightful development is here. My PSA, a blood factor that indicates when you have cancer, has been high for years, but doctors had been unable to pinpoint the cause. The biopsy I had in January was a new technique that uses an MRI to guide the doctor performing the procedure.

Spoiler alert, I do have prostate cancer.

The good news is that I have a low 6/7 on the Gleason scale, which measures prostate cancer. That means it's a low grade cancer that will progress slowly and is unlikely to spread. And there are many options to treat prostate cancer, so it's very survivable. Basically, if lung cancer is the Thor of cancers, prostate cancer is more like Hawkeye.

What happens now? I've met with surgical and radiological oncologists, pitching me the options of radiation or removal. Because of my relative youth and the evidence in the MRI, I'm a good candidate for having the prostate removed entirely with low risk of permanent disfunction. But it's a long recovery process. Radiation would be a longer treatment procedure, and not so drastic as removing the prostate, but obviously radiation also has a risk of bad side effects. The final option is to leave it be for now, continue monitoring, which would include annual biopsies, and treat the prostate if the cancer gets worse. Carol and I are looking through the literature to make an informed decision.

I'm not looking forward to any of this (duh), but it's something I have to deal with, so I will.

Bottom line, see your doctor regularly, including getting annual blood tests. It may save your life.