45 years old.  Went to the dr four years ago with symptoms I thought were of the enlargement of the prostrate.  He said everything was ok.  In the last few weeks, things have gotten very not so good.  Went back.  "Whoa, yep your prostrate is definitely the problem."  Having the PSA blood test done Monday.  Meanwhile I am taking a prescription drug to reduce its size.

He wasn't very willing to share yet any info about what this means, good or bad.  So I went on the Internet and looked up some things.

Prostrate is what produces the fluid that carries the semen out.  I had a vasectomy in 1986, so I guess all it does now is provide the fluid that comes out when I enjoy sex to the finish.

The information said 180,000 men get prostrate cancer each year and 30,000 die, within five years of getting prostrate cancer.  Not saying I have prostrate cancer yet, but enlargement is one of the signs of prostrate troubles.  Collin Powell, 66, was just in the news regarding his being removed and is expected to make a "full recovery".

So if I remove it, does my sex life end?  And the postrate also has a role, though minor, in regulating urinating and according to the limited inforamtion I have sorted through, if removed, sometimes one loses control of their bladder.

Anyone who has real life experiences and can give me their information would be greatly appreciated.

I'm 45, went through exactly what your are going through when I was 42.  Kinda young for us to have prostate problems, but not unheard of.  The good news about prostate cancer is that if you're gonna get cancer, that's the kind you want.  The recovery rate for that type of cancer is the highest, granted lots of men die from it every year, but percentages are on your side.

Get a GOOD urologist and have all the tests done, PSA and biopsy.  The biopsy is the best.  They take eight samples from your prostate and check them for cancer.  If you have cancer, your options are implants or prostate removal.  The implants are like chemotherapy, but only affect the prostate.  If I had cancer, that's what I would have chosen.  Complete prostate removal will result in you having a dry orgasm due to the plumbing being rerouted.  When you cum, the fluid will go into your bladder and not out your penis.  If your doctor messes up the operation and cuts a particular nerve, you'll never get an erection again since that nerve controls certain functions required for you to get an erection.

I see my urologist twice a year, take Cardura to relax my urethra allowing me to pee easier (also lowers my blood pressure), and have a PSA test yearly.  Good luck.

I realize this is second hand, but something you need to consider:  Following prostrate surgery many men "dribble" and need to wear always wear a "diaper" such as the one sold under the brand name of Depends.  Check out the the probability this will happen to you when making your treatment decision.

Prostate cancer can be a real bitch but there are a number of different treatments out there, depending on how severe the cancer happens to be. They prefer to do as little surgery on the prostate as possible due to the difficulties you listed and others. Please make sure you get a second opinion and get a referral to a good Urologist. Ask friends, especially older men, for recommendations and referrals.

An enlarged prostate doesn't always mean cancer. My father's enlarged when he was in his eighties. The problem with an enlarged prostate is the it makes it impossible to urinate. In his case they did a procedure that was very much like Roto-Rooter. From the layman's description given, they cut away a tube around the tube where urine flows, so that the prostate was no longer clamping down on it. The procedure was successful and he full control of his bladder, much to his relief.

I wish you luck on your diagnosis and eventual procedure.

I had problems with my prostate starting when I was 49. Started as prostatitus, infection of the prostate. After dealing with that unsuccesfully for three years my urologist decided to do a biopsy. My PSA was within normal limits but had started to go up. He found cancer. It was still in the prostate. After all my research I came across a book by Dr. Walsh about how to survive prostate cancer. I recommend you read it. It covers all aspects of prostate problems.

Two years ago I decided to have surgery. From my research and based on my age that seemed to be the best option to take care of the problem. I had it done at a teaching hospital in Los Angeles. From Dr. Walsh's book they are the best option for surgery and alot of the other options. Mostly because they do so many of them.

My recovery went well. I started having sex again in about four months, with viagra. At about the 18 month point I could have sex without the pill but I occasionaly will use have a dose.

I have had no problems with incontinance.

I don't have a VIP account right now. If you have any questions you can e-mail me at [email protected]

Good Luck

I've had several male patients with prostate CA but it has nothing to do with my field.  One was a surgeon who rather shocked me when he told me that he had decided to just let it run it's course.  He was in his early 70's and very fit and Steve McQueen looking, and had a lady in his life who was in her late 20's to early 30's.  He told me that he was not going to risk what he had goin with her for the sake of a few more years of life but unfunctional!  I'd never met anyone before that I knew had an accurate understanding of their disease and had chosed to let the cancer end thier life rather than ruin the quality of life.

Essentially, I'm told, we men will all die with prostate cancer if we live long enough.  In other words, in upper years it becomes almost a 100% certainty but most of us will die WITH it rather than OF it.

I'd recommend many discussions with as many Dr's. as possible.  Treatment is quite controversial.  You should understand that good practitioners may dissagree for very valid reasons and that just because thay do doesn't mean one is necessarily better or more right than the other.  They will tend to lean toward what they do best.  Surgeons want to do surgery and trust themselves in that arena.  Other Physicians may be more comfortable with chemical treatments and still others with radiation therapy.  

Only you can make the choice for yourself.  Learn everything you can about enlargement, hyperplasia, neoplasia, protatitis, etc.  Do be cautious about alternative treatments.  Keep in mind that alternave folks tend to not know what they don't know.  If this becomes cancerous I would lean harder to avoid the alternative types.

One more societal note.  We have a very pervasive disease here and there has been very little attention to prostate cancer relative to, say breast cancer.  Yet it takes more lives.  Where is the U.S. prostate Postal Stamp?  Where are the prostate walk-a-thons?

I posted on this subject a few years ago when my father was learning to cope with botched (cryo & implant ) prostate surgery.  He lost bladder control, and sex wasn't even a consideration.  Fortunately, he was in his late 70's at the time, but it was still very difficult to watch him deal with the consequences of the nerve damage.

Diseases have become like everything else in our media-driven world.  Without the right spokesperson, the right image consultants and movie stars to champion the cause, the public simply ignores it.  The media attention given to some diseases greatly skews our perceptions of them and the actual number of deaths they cause.  I recently read a survey of women that showed nearly all believed breast cancer was the number one killer of women.  Well, heart disease is the number one killer,  and by a huge margin.  But you wouldn't know that if you picked up a newspaper or turned on the TV.  Why?  Well, who doesn't like breasts?  Who wouldn't march to save beautiful breasts?  

Prostate cancer suffers in comparison too, because it's not "glamorous," for lack of a better word.  No movie star wants to attach his/her name to it, nobody wants to get all emotional and weepy pleading with viewers on some talk show.  Nobody wants to have a telethon or a march or a 5K run.  As a result, it lags years behind in the attentiion it's been given by both the public and the medical community.

Now that diseases have to vie for the public's attention and dollars, just like other causes, the "ugly" diseases will lag farther and farther, even if they kill a disporportionate number of people.  I guess nobody wants to wear the T-shirt you get from a 5K run for the prostate.

You added important comment to the tale of my tail.  I do think that some celeb needs to step up to the plate on this.  Witness the public response to the efforts Katie Couric gave toward colonoscopy and colon cancer when her husband died of the disease.  It does help.

The "rotor-rooter" you speak of is known as a Trans-Urethral Resection of the Prostate, or TURP.  For lack of a better description, you pretty much nailed it:  it's like rotor-rooting out the prostate growth inside the urethra.  It's not used for cancerous growth though; it's an option for BPH - Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (or a largely swollen prostate).

The reason so many men "dribble" after a radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate) is because of the length of time the urinary catheter has to be left in.  It can be left in for close to a month sometimes, and the bladder sphincter "forgets" how to close itself.  Not all men suffer the dribbles the rest of their life; a large percentage dribble for a while but regain bladder control in time.

the dry orgasims.

There are actually 4 options for prostrate cancer:

Treatment with medication to reduce cancer growth rate - for older patients with limited life left
Surgury - results vary with the skill of your doctor - find the best if you decide on that option - highest cure rate
Radiation - can have long term effects on bladder and other tissue that can weaken over time
Proton radiation - newest option - less damaging to surronding tissue

Whatever - make sure the doctor is very experienced

Enlargment and prostatitas (sp) is easily repaired by TURP or TUMP surgery. After the repair I got hornier. PSA and digital/rectal are great. Cancer was never a factor. The 2 are different and seem not to be related (I'm not an MD)

I posted on here previously and now cannot find the post even though it was recent and I tried a search. I was trying to get a recommendation for a provider who would be good for someone like myself who has had prostate cancer and now has ED. Otherwise, I am generous, clean, healthy and mostly am a cunning lingual type of man and a lover of a good massage, and a nice uncovered BJ, but I would like to get inside a nice pussy again. Being a widower of a fabulous lover, it is hard not to want it all.   I have had my prostate removed by surgery and even since have had erectile dysfunction (ED) or "can't get it up."  I still want to and decided to try a couple of providers around DC. One three times. Another just once. They were nice enough, but seem completely oblivious that prostate cancer treatment can do this to you. The two hours I spent each time were not much fun for me and probably not for them either.

I have tried Viagra, shots that are taken directly in the penis (actually does not hurt, but did not work either) and some herbal junk. The only thing that works is an battery power vacume pump. It gets me hard, but requires slipping a tight rubber band around the erect penis and keeping it on. After prostate surgery you don't ejaculate anyway, but it would be hard with this. Well, it is all I have, so I will go with it unless I decide to get a penile implant. I might have to wait as now the doctors want to give me hormone treatment to stop the possible cancer left over after the operation. My PSA test results say it is there.

Maybe I am expecting too much, trying to hard?  I have spent enough money on counselors and doctors and don't want to spend more. Mayber there is a provider or one of the guys who knows someone who would be good medicine to help me get back in the saddel again. Since my wife died six years ago, I have not had one good f--k, believe it or not. I don't bother with the amateurs as they are old and all expect me to fall in love with them and get married.    

Awaiting some answers on here before I go nuts or the docs decide to really screw me up with hormone treatment and I have to become a TS.