Prostate HIFU

Hi Dawnay

yes all went well on the 27th June, George stayed in hospital overnight as he did have some pain in the urine department..so after a couple,of shots of morfhine he was ready to come home the following day with the catheter bag attached for 1 week, which much to my surprise he managed well and had it removed a week later must admit he was glad to see the back of it??..even though he did have blood in the bag most days but it also ran clear....however he is experiencing blood on urination at times a few clots (debri) have been told this is all quite normal after HIFU and can last up to 8-10 weeks but should settle down this is 1 of the side affects after as the prostate gland is swollen and bruised, George may bleed more as he is on Antigoagulants till the end of August..

We will have to see Uroligist at the end of September for consultation on the prodecure and for psa blood test ...hopefully it should all be well as a low reading indicates all is well and HIFU has done the job...

And should remain cancer free but will be monitored every 3 months for the first 18 months then every 6 months then annually..

As regards sex that's an issue at moment as he had been on Biculmamide to send the cancer cells to sleep for about 5 months  this drug suppresses the male hormone testosterone and he is still having the side affects from this drug and will take approx 2 months to leave the system...however he is well and he said the worst part of the procedure was having the catheter for a week after.

So all is well and I just hope I can say this in 10 years time just like you??

Many thanks for asking after him

Shall keep you posted... On his progress.

I did post on ES page about 9 days ago have a read....

Ps. Can you remember if your husband had any blood on urination after catheter was removed? If so how long for...

Regards Carolyn

 

No, my husband didn't have any blood in his urine after the bag was removed.  Sounds like that was caused by the same pain he had afterwards which made him need morphine, must have hit something in that department.... 

What is ES page?

Our doctor says not to have the PSA tested for 6 months as the prostate is still healing and will put out unreliable high reading sooner.  This depends on how much of the gland was cooked...  It will be interesting to see if that is the case with George.  Just remember if it is high, that it should be lower by the next test in December.

I think the worst part is going in to be checked (psa test) afterwards.... the stress.  But that comes with any treatment that was chosen.  

Thanks for your answer... now I will see if I can find this ES page...

 

Hi there Dawnay

ES 28567 is his name I posted 9 days ago at the very top of the page the topic started of about something called Avodart...

have been reading over your post on HIFU it's so great to read so positive it does make me feel better that this HIFU works...just hope psa is normal but I do understand what you mean and Dr did say this to us...

so the next stage is the psa test????but am positive, things can't go pear shape on us so early on in this treatment..

George had about 40% of the gland burnt..and yes the clots are the debri what he is seeing now, as he didn't see any in the catheter bag just rosay wine colour!! but they do say all normal I suppose everybody is different..

and george only had cathater for a week unlike your husband ..

i shall ask about this tablet called Cali's is it just another name for viagra????..

once again many thanks for posting information

Regards Carolyn

shall keep you posted.

 

Hi Carolyn & Dawnay

Glad to here George is progressing well. I have set my HIFU treatment for August 21st. Insurance doesn't cover it so that's $25,000 I must fork over. (I think that hurts as much as the HIFU procedure...Lol).

Anyway, we fly into Florida on Sunday MRI on Monday, HIFU Tuesday, and fly out on Wednesday. Not looking forward to it but must be done and better than other options available. Just wondering if I should request pain pills and anti-spasm medication as a precaution for the trip home.

I'm open to suggestions (based on your journey through this experience) on what problems/challenges you and your husbands came across and what you did to overcome or minimize them.

Hi ES, hopefully you can use the tax write off, as it is a qualified deduction, and in the long run.... best money you ever will spend (to quote my husband!)

Carolyn....Viagra and Cialis are completely different.... Viagra makes him hard, for 4 hours, then it goes soft, while Cialis works for 24 hours, but he only gets hard when he is thinking sexy....

I had open heart surgery and the doctor only gave me Tylenol!  It worked, and I had the electric saw opening up my chest.   

Leaving town the next day must be okay by your doctor, right?  He knows how much area he has to cook... so he would know the risk, all the guys who got treated when hubby did stayed one extra night.... no one had any trouble, so ES, I am sure hope you will be okay ~ good luck to you!

 

Ronald E. Wheeler, M.D. wrote this letter ~ I thought it would be of interest here:

I am a HIFU treating expert and I have been for almost 10 years, having treated with both technologies.

HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) has been around for more than 26 years in Europe and Japan (primarily). HIFU has been approved by the FDA on November 9, 2015 for ablation of prostate tissue. In my experience, I believe HIFU is the best treatment when an aggressive prostate cancer is diagnosed with a Gleason Score of 4+3=7, 4+4=8, 4+5=9, 5+4=9 or 5+5=10 regardless of PSA value. This article from Harvard points out accurately that aggressive prostate cancer fails commonly regardless of treatment. This is true as the literature states recurrence with Gleason Scores of 8-10 is associated with failure up to 85% within 5 years so we should be looking at something other than radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy for cure. With any prostate cancer while survival is important and commonly achieved regardless of treatment, we need to be talking about cure. Cure and survival are two totally different concepts. I have had incredible success in dealing with high grade prostate cancer using HIFU and welcome men with their wives to call us regarding consideration for cure. During the process of collating our data for publication, we have found an extraordinarily high cure rate for this aggressive class of cancer that arguably makes up 35-40% of all prostate cancer. I did say cure rate based on a nadir of less than 0.13 (PSA level) at more than 2.5 years. Of interest is our intellectual property that allows us to improve our outcome data in this very significant patient group. For best results with HIFU, we prefer a PSA of 8.5 ng/ml or less. If this factor is present, regardless of Gleason score, we have 100% of patients cured at 2.5 years. While we are continuing our research we encourage folks with interest to view our website or call us to set up a no obligation conference call. While we plan to continue this research we are heartened by the fact that patients are not failing within a year which is very common with radical prostatectomy with or without radiation. I believe we are on to something that will change medicine dramatically but only time will tell.

Respectfully submitted: Ronald E. Wheeler, M.D. Medical Director

How is George doing?

Hi Carolyn,

My HIFU procedure is in 2 weeks. Just wondering how George is progressing?

Hi there ES trying ong to write reply page keeps on going down..this is th 3rd time so just letting you know

Still trying to write reply half way though and web page reloads 4th time ahhhh😬

Hi Es it went down again so angry

 

I usually write my reply in another program. Then I copy and paste it in here.

Er. Never done that ... But I'll have a go ...or just write a paragraph or so then send ..and then the next paragraph coz seems to not like you writing to much...shall update tonight ES ...but all is NOW well

regards