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Dennis Cunningham lives in Arizona, USA. He was 52 when he was diagnosed in November, 2009. His initial PSA was 3.80 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6, and he was staged T1c. His initial treatment choice was Non-Invasive (Active Surveillance) and his current treatment choice is None. Here is his story.

THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2020 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.

I went to my primary doctor for a rash and being 52 she suggested a blood test, it showed a high PSA level. "I have not had one before" - she did a DRE (Digital Rectal Examination) and thought I should see a urologist. He also did a DRE.

He suggested a biopsy, we did a biopsy and a couple of weeks later I got a phone call from his office telling me I had prostate cancer.

I did not know what to think, I heard cancer and my first thought was chemotherapy. She said they don't do that for this cancer and told me about the Da Vinci surgery. I went into see my urologist a couple of weeks later and he told me about my options surgery, radiation, internal, external etc. He did push the surgery but he also said he was biased because he is a surgeon. I thought that was very good of him to say that, sometimes we just blindly do as our Doctors tell us.

I did a lot of research since then, here on YANANOW and many other web sites. I went to a radiation oncologist and he suggested external beam, went to another and he suggested seeds, the more you search the more confusing it gets.

I am still undecided which way I want to go but the clock is ticking more pressure. I am checking into alternative treatments, one being "Insulin Potentiated Therapy", anyone have experience or thoughts. [Quackwatch has a very strongly worded article Why You Should Stay Away from Insulin Potentiation Therapy]

UPDATED

April 2010

I am still undecided on what treatment, so in the meantime I have changed my diet - less meat and dairy; more fish and veggies and a few vitamins and still jog and or workout a couple of times a week.

I ask for and got another PSA test March 11 went to the urologist March 22 for results. It was PSA 1.3 way down from my 1st 4.4 and 2nd 3.4 I was pleasantly surprised, he said it has nothing to do with any indication of what is going on and that many men with low PSA have aggressive prostate cancer and men with high PSA can have a low grade PCa, he was kind of surprised I had not had treatment yet and of course he suggested I should not wait to long to get it and also said again at my age he suggested surgery, I had mentioned BT (Brachytherapy).

I am thinking watchful waiting but have not got any support from Doctors so far. One thing I did not mention on my initial post is that I have a 6.5mm hypoechoic nodule in the peripheral zone on the left base, not sure if that is significant to Watchful Waiting or what the protocol is for WW , any info or comments would be very appreciated.

Dennis C

UPDATED

July 2010

Not much has changed since April except that I have decided to watch and wait.

I feel fine and still watch my diet, not much meat and dairy, exercise and a few vitamins. I have not found a doctor to watch and wait with me so I will get PSA tests done every 3-6 months and keep a eye on things. I do go to YANA once in awhile and see how the men are doing especially the ones in watchful waiting, It is good to see so many men now not jumping into surgery etc without slowing down, doing lots of research and seeing what other men are doing.

Thanks you so very much for the website.

Dennis

UPDATED

December 2011

Your website is very helpful and would do whatever I can to help other men.

I feel fine, nothing out of the ordinary to report, I guess I have been slacking a bit, I plan on having a PSA test pretty soon and thinking if it is still in the normal range for me I will continue to watch and wait, I will email you the results. If you have any advice or heard of any new developments I would appreciate it.

Thanks for what you are doing.

Dennis

UPDATED

April 2013

I have not done anything pertaining to the cancer, no PSA, no exams, I feel fine but there is that worry, I wish I did not know about it. I still cannot find anything that proves any of these treatments do any good except side effects. The last article I read said a small percentage of men that had their prostate out still died from cancer, there was a portion of the men that did nothing but the article failed to say what percentage of them died, I can guess about the same. I don't want to discourage anyone from having surgery etc but I do encourage a lot of research. I am still researching.

UPDATED

August 2014

Had blood work done on 8/20/13 my PSA was 2. I have no symptoms and am getting pretty good at not thinking about it, I think this is way over diagnosed, my opinion.

UPDATED

January 2015

I suggest all men read the book The Great Prostate Hoax as part of your research, remember this is a slow growing cancer, you have time for research and you should research all options and opinions and become a knowledgeable patient, I got my copy from the local library.

UPDATED

April 2016

I don't think about it and have done nothing, I don't have any problems, I wish I was never told I had prostate cancer, please do your research.

UPDATED

August 2017

So far things are still going well, urine flow does not shut off like it used to. Not sure if that has to do with age, I am 59 now.

UPDATED

December 2018

Nothing new to report, all is well.

Dennis's e-mail address is: lwedge3 AT yahoo.com (replace "AT" with "@")

NOTE: Dennis has not updated his story for more than 15 months, so you may not receive any response from him.


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