Medical insight, personal stories and humor from a urologist who has been where you are now.
One of the most common points made in a review of my book "The Decision" on Amazon is that it did not mention a particular treatment in detail. Treatments such as Proton therapy or some other newer form or shorter course of radiation. Here's the dirty little secret: It still boils down to whether you …
Continue reading "The more things change the more they stay the same."
If you had clinically insignificant prostate cancer...would you want to know it? If you knew it do you know exactly what that means? Or do you think the doctor or radiologist telling you that can promise you that it won't actually become, or already is, clinically significant? Would you want a biopsy to "prove with …
Continue reading "Prostate cancer detection-To MRI or Not to MRI…that is the question?"
Wonder where Otis is now? “The mind of an academic epidemiologist.
By Jacqueline Strax
Otis W. Brawley M.D. in the year 2000 was Director of the Office of Special Populations Research and Assistant Director, Office of Science Policy at the National Cancer Institute. When he worked at the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC) at the National Cancer Institute, he was part of a team that developed and launched the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, an 18,000 man trial looking at screening and epidemiology of prostate cancer and at prevention of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. He also served as chief of the NCI intramural prostate cancer clinic.PSA Rising:…
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What is Gleason's score?-Click Here Here's the thing...if you want to have your prostate removed because you've been told you'd be "done with it" that might not necessarily be true. If your cancer is Gleason's 8 and you elect to remove the prostate there is still a significant chance you'll still need radiation. Knowing this …
Blog post from years ago is still relevant today. Patients often times see clots in the urine and worry, that like clots in the blood stream, may go to the heart and lungs and cause a serious medical problem. Clots in the bladder are a problem only if they obstruct the flow of urine i.e. …
Continue reading "Common question: Are blood and clots in the urine after a prostate biopsy normal?"
Men commonly will say that they don't feel they need to be tested for prostate cancer because they have no voiding symptoms. As seen below, most prostate cancers occur in the posterior aspect of the prostate well away from the urethra. So one will have voiding symptoms from prostate cancer only if the cancer is …
The link below is to one of the most popular posts on Prostate Diaries. The comments reveal a wide range of unpleasant experiences patients have had during and after a prostate biopsy. In my practice I am fortunate in that I own a Surgery Center and we do the vast majority of our prostate biopsies …
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In Patrick Walsh’s book on prostate cancer there is a very nice chapter on post prostatectomy incontinence. It details how one person might do extremely well and never leak. Another treated the exact same way leak for months (me). During this time I fully felt the meaning of a quote from Osler mentioned in that chapter.
“The well wears a crown that only the sick can see.” Let me tell you, how I wished to be dry and free of diapers and bags and such.
Below a daily ritual around a month after my prostatectomy.
Prostate Diaries 