[nUcLeArEnVoY]

ER Nurse here.

Most men who live past 80 have malignancy in their prostate and die with it. It is a very slow-growing cancer, which is why she is recommending watching and waiting. The good thing is, you are in the realm where prevention takes precedent over cure, which is ALWAYS more effective with cancer. For instance, somebody who has Barrett's esophagus, which is a condition where the epithelial tissue lining of the esophagus is replaced with the same tissue the small intestine is made of due to constant exposure and damage by stomach acid secondary to unmanaged GERD, has a higher risk of developing esophageal cancer. Those patients are ordered to have endoscopies every two years, and so if even the slightest INKLING of neoplasia or mutation is found during their preventative endoscopies, it's removed before it can ever even become REMOTELY problematic. When a potential for cancer is on your provider's radar, that is always your best chance of it never actually being an issue. It's when it is incidentally found after it had already advanced to stages where treatment is difficult that cancer develops its reputation as a death sentence. Theoretically, no cancer is ever threatening if caught in its early stages, but there in lies the issue.

I have a major predisposition toward prostate cancer, at least I suspect I do since I have three half brothers (same father, different mother) who all had it by the time they were 55 (all of them were cured and are fine, and oddly enough my father didn't have it), so every year I get my routine checkup and bloodwork done, I request a PSA count be drawn from my blood, and I'm only 36. PSA stands for "Prostate Specific Antigen," which an elevated amount can often be linked with prostate cancer. However, it's known not to be a 100% reliable way to detect prostate cancer, as levels can occasionally fluctuate based on hormones or other prostate diagnoses such as prostatitis (which is simply inflammation of the prostate). That's why PSA count is better done as a longterm blood drawn to detect PATTERN recognition rather than isolated blood draw where it's elevated. I.E., if you have your PSA drawn yearly and it slowly keeps going up, that may be a good indicator of malignancy.

Either way, fret not. Prostate cancer is very treatable, one of the more easier cancers to treat, and your's isn't even big enough that your doctor recommends intervention yet. So now your responsibility is to simply STAY ON TOP OF IT and seek guidance from your doctor regarding what intervals the tumor needs to be re-assessed before she will decide to finally take it out, even if it comes to that.

You'll be alright, my friend.