On April 5th
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I’ll be having a robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. After my father died from metastatic prostate cancer in 1996, I started getting PSA (prostate specific antigen) tests every year or two. Four years ago, the levels began to slowly rise, hovering just below the abnormal range. Two years ago, the level rose a little faster, and last December, my urologist and I agreed to get a biopsy, which on Feb 9th this year was positive. (Details about this here and here)
After bone and CT scans which showed no spread outside the prostate, and a couple of second opinions, I decided to have surgery. Given the specifics of my situation, the probability of my remaining disease-free for the next 15 years is close to 98%. (More details here.)
My biggest concerns, apart from the fear factor always associated with “cancer”, are the common side effects stemming from the strategic location of this organ, one of which is I can’t ride a bicycle for at least three months. This won’t be the first time I’ve faced a major recovery challenge (details here & here), so I’m pretty confident I won’t be laid too low by this.