The Adventure: The Pathology Report

Sorry to have taken so long to let you all know the Pathology Report.  Seems there was a computer problem and the results couldn’t be transmitted from the lab to my urologist.

Anyway, by the time I had a phone conversation with my MD two days ago, this had been fixed and he had the report.  The bottom line is that all the cancer was removed during the surgery!  Yea!  The Lord has been so good to me and my family!  I can't help but praise him for his faithfulness!  And now for some details you might be interested in….

My prostate was larger than originally thought, and it was about 40% cancerous.  My original Gleason Score was revised upwards from 3+3=6 to 3+4=7 indicating that the cancer was more aggressive than previously thought.  (From Wikipedia: “The Gleason Grading system is used to help evaluate the prognosis of men with prostate cancer. Together with other parameters, it is incorporated into a strategy of prostate cancer staging, which predicts prognosis and helps guide therapy. A Gleason score is given to prostate cancer based upon its microscopic appearance.”)  The surgical team also removed some lymph nodes to see if the cancer had spread, but the lab results were negative, a very good sign indeed!

All in all, my MD said that my prognosis for full recovery was good!  We will have one more piece of the puzzle around the middle of March when I have a PSA (prostate serum antigen) lab test done.  The goal is for that number to be zero; it takes about six weeks for PSA to be eliminated out of the bloodstream.  I’ll let you know what that result is as soon as I know it.

Here are links to the previous articles that I have posted about “The Adventure” in case you haven’t had a chance to read them.  They are arranged in reverse chronological order, most recent is is first.  The last link is to a map from the Chicago Tribune indicating where Agent Orange was sprayed; as you can see Tuy Hoa-Phu Hiep-Phu Yen Province was certainly covered liberally during our time there!

http://225observer.blogspot.com/2012/02/adventure-post-op.html, http://225observer.blogspot.com/2012/02/adventure-surgery.html, http://225observer.blogspot.com/2011/12/cancer-consults-next-step.html, http://225observer.blogspot.com/2011/10/cancer-consults.html, http://225observer.blogspot.com/2011/10/tha-adventure-continues.html, http://225observer.blogspot.com/2011/09/adventure-continues-with-two-c-words.html,

Agent Orange RVN map http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-091204-agentorange-map,0,1959438.htmlpage

Thanks, as always, for your thoughts and prayers!  Meanwhile, the Adventure continues……