As a wife of a Prostate Cancer Survivor and a Mom of 4 son’s in their
20’s I do not understand how these medical professionals on the USPSFT Board
are allowed to recommend against prostate-specific antigen-based screening for
prostate cancer for men in all age groups. Because there is moderate or high
certainty that the service will provide no benefit and may cause more harm than
good.
In 2009 we found out that my husband had prostate cancer at the age of 56
with no family history. The day was June 19th my husband had an appointment
with the UROLOGIST! So we could discuss the results from the prostate-specific
antigen-based screening and biopsy. The UROLOGIST with a sullen face tells us
the news that my husband has an aggressive form of prostate cancer and his
Gleason Score was an 8. The doctor did clear his morning schedule to make sure
we had the time we needed to ask questions. But at first it was more of Ray and
me crying yes you heard it right we cried! Finally the news was started to sink
in more and it is time to start asking question to what now. One of Ray’s
questions was if the prostate is the cause of all of this I want it out now! The
Tumor Board met in length the day before to discuss a plan of attack. He was too
met with the Radiology, Oncology which he did. That day was a long day and at
the end of the day it was Information Overload. But the best advice that I got
from the doctor was when we go home we need to become students of prostate
cancer and learn everything that we can. I started doing just that! But then I
hit a road block! Ray my husband would not look at any of the information that
I found. He was sinking into depression and so did I but that was not going to
stop me from learning all that I can. And still to this date I am still
learning.
My husband had surgery on October 12, 2009 and we were praying for the
news of …Mrs. Hoetger we got all the prostate cancer, but that was not the
case. The cancer was an aggressive form and has escaped the prostate and into
the lymph-nodes. The Gleason score was raised from an 8 to a 9. We did not want
to hear that news, but my husband is alive! Now the recovery begins and the
treatment for the remaining cancer in the lymph-nodes. At the first follow up
appointment the plan for treatment is prostate-specific antigen-based screening
and Luporon Hormone shots every three months. When it comes time for the prostate-specific
antigen-based screening it is so stressful waiting for the results to return
and praying for less than 0.01, Undetectable,
no matter how you say it as long as it is still in REMISSION! I wish we
never had to deal with prostate cancer we have met many friends whose family
has/had been dealing with this horrible disease also. Some of them are not as
lucky as they have lost their loved ones, some of them in just months after
their diagnosis and so young. We just met a wife and twins in September at the
Summit To End Prostate Cancer in Washington, DC. The worst part about this is that her husband
was 43 when he passed away from prostate cancer on August 27, 2011. The twins
never met their dad!
No matter how you look at this I still see no UROLOGIST listed on the
USPSTF Board???????
Albert L. Siu, M.D.,
M.S.P.H. (Co-Vice Chair)
Director, Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center
James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY
Professor, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Linda Ciofu Baumann,
Ph.D., R.N.
Professor Emerita, School of Nursing
Affiliate Faculty, School of Medicine and Public Health
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Kirsten
Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., M.D.
Associate Professor, Medicine, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics
University of California, San Francisco, CA
Co-director, UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations
San Francisco General Hospital
Susan J. Curry,
Ph.D.
Dean, College of Public Health
Distinguished Professor, Health Management and Policy
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Mark Ebell, M.D.,
M.S.
Associate Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
The University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Glenn Flores, M.D.
Professor, Pediatrics and Public Health
University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX
Director, Division of General Pediatrics
UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Medical Center of Dallas
David C. Grossman,
M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Director, Preventive Care and Senior Investigator, Center for Health
Studies, Group Health Cooperative
Professor of Health Services and Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Wanda K. Nicholson,
M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Director, Diabetes and Obesity Core Center for Women's Health Research
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
Douglas K. Owens,
M.D., M.S.
Associate Director, Center for Health Care Evaluation, VA Palo Alto Health Care
System
Director, Center for Health Policy, Freeman Spogli Institute for International
Studies
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Current
as of April 2013
