The Prostate Papers—Chapter 3: Taking Stock

In this episode of The Prostate Paper, Gary comes out of the prostate cancer information rabbit hole and takes stock of what he has learned.

Gary Ebersole again. I’m back with another report on my journey into the “prostate zone.” As I mentioned in the previous episode, I’m not a medical professional, and I’m not giving medical advice. My objective with these podcast episodes is to share the experience and knowledge I have gained with our listeners. Make your decisions based on your research and the advice of your medical team.

Out of the Rabbit Hole

In this episode, I’ll take a break from my nonstop research and take stock of what I’ve learned. First, a personal sidebar. My journey began eight weeks ago when my second PSA test results in two months were posted to my medical portal. Damn, that was my first thought. Another big jump in two months (20%) after the 33% increase over the previous year. Not good. I had just entered the prostate zone. For me, that didn’t mean rushing to my urologist and demanding immediate treatment. I wanted more information. He ordered an MRI scan, and the intervening three weeks gave me plenty of time to understand my situation better.

My research became the catalyst for The Prostate Papers. Prostate cancer was more complex than I had thought, and perhaps what I learned over dozens of hours of online research could offer some guidance to other men entering the zone. So, here we are, eight weeks later, and I still haven’t had a prostate biopsy. What, you may say? No biopsy yet? Perhaps the best virtual advice I received during my research was listening to a YouTube video featuring Dr. Mark Scholz, a well-known medical oncologist in Los Angeles. He’s specialized in managing prostate cancer (not treating) for the past 30 years.

You Have Time

In this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aotF2SPzCmU), Dr. Scholz tells patients to “Go slow…do your research…talk to a lot of people …give yourself time to process the complexity of the situation”. The essence of his advice is simple—you have time. Yes, you have cancer—the big ‘C’—and that creates an incredible sense of urgency. Your first response is, “I want it out, and I want out now.” But stop, take a deep breath, do your research as Dr. Scholz says, and talk to your doctor. You’ll discover two important things. First, some forms of prostate cancer are what is called “indolent” and grow very slowly. Second, even if your cancer is considered high-grade or aggressive, it still grows slowly compared to many other cancers.

You certainly have a few weeks, even longer, before committing to a diagnostic and treatment pathway. Google the phrase “How quickly does prostate cancer spread?”. You’ll find many credible sources that support the premise you have time to understand your disease and your choices. Whatever you do, don’t choose to do nothing. That would be stupid. You wouldn’t be at this point if there weren’t some solid prostate cancer signals. Listen to what these signals tell you, and if your doctor recommends active surveillance, follow their advice for regular PSA testing and, in some cases, routine MRI testing. You are in the prostate zone. Deal with it.

Back to my biopsy status. I’m glad I took the time to research prostate biopsies. No, a prostate biopsy is just any old biopsy. There are several approaches that I plan to explore more deeply in the next episode when I take listeners into the prostate cancer maze. I’ll explain what I discovered and how it impacted my biopsy path.

The Buck Stops with You

In addition to the recommendation from Dr. Scholz to tak