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General G lives in Australia. He was 66 when he was diagnosed in April, 2020. His initial PSA was 3.70 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 7b, and he was staged T1c. His initial treatment choice was Other (Specify:) and his current treatment choice is None. Here is his story.
My PSA level started to steadily increase a little every time I had my yearly blood tests. It gradually went from 1.1 up to 2.2 over about 5 yrs. Then in the 18 months prior to diagnosis it went from 2.2 to 3.7. I mentioned to my GP that it seemed to be rising more rapidly, but he was unconcerned as the guideline number for further testing was over 4.5 for a man of my age (66) I persisted, so he referred me to a urologist, to allay my anxiety, who in turn, sent me for an MRI. The MRI did indeed reveal an abnormality and he sent me for a TP biopsy, which confirmed 7 out of 41 cores contained a 4+3 posteolateral tumour in the prostate which needed treatment. A PET scan showed no spread. He recommended a radical prostatectomy (which he would perform) or External Beam Radiation, performed by his colleague. When I researched the side effects profile of these procedures I was shocked and depressed with most of the patient outcomes I read about. The thought of becoming possibly an incontinent, sexually inactive guy just saddened me. A much older friend of mine I knew, told me his treatment (seed Brachytherapy) had fixed his cancer but left him needing pads and impotent. So I resigned myself to have the R.P. and booked the op. Purely, on the offchance, I asked my friend the name of his surgeon. He said he'd initially been to see Dr. Phillip Stricker, but he was too expensive, so got treated by another surgeon who did his Brachy in the public system. I looked up Dr. Stricker, and discovered that he, and his team, were pioneering a new treatment (Nanoknife) which destroyed the cancer but left the remaining tissue and functionality intact! He judged me suitable for this 1 hour procedure, so I cancelled the RP and got it done in Aug 2020. I recovered within a few days and I am totally continent. After 3 weeks, hooray! my erections and orgasms returned. My functions are normal. My PSA dropped from 3.7 to 0.61 post op. and is checked 3 monthly, 0.63, 0.44,0.46, 0.58 and yesterday 1/3/ 22 was 0.47! My yearly MRI scan has, so far, shown no visible recurrence. I am delighted with my outcome thus far, and thank my lucky stars for my friend inadvertantly pointing me to Dr Stricker and his treatment.
General's e-mail address is: erich AT carrpetright.com.au (replace "AT" with "@")
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