Any feedback from HIFU patients?

gbgscw · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:58 pm Post subject: Any feedback from HIFU patients?

My psa level has risen from 3.7 to 5.3 in a year's time. I had external beam radiation for early stage, organ confined pc 13 years ago. Since then, my psa was on a slow, steady incline from .75 to 3.7 over 12 years, then the jump last year. I have recently had a ct scan, which was normal and I am waiting for the results of a bone scan. After reviewing results of the 2 scans and an additional psa test with my oncologist, he will refer me to a urologist, who I assume will order a biopsy and we will take it from there. I am 64 years old and in excellent health. Since there are few viable options for pc patients with radiation failure and quality of life is very important to me, I have been looking into High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). Even though my HMO will not cover the procedure and the FDA has not yet approved it in the United States, at this point it appears to me to be my best option. With my preliminary research, this is my take on HIFU: Although there are no long term studies on the success of this therapy, for the short term it appears to be at least as effective as radical surgery or radiation. It is minimally invasive, has relatively few side effects and it is repeatable. There are 2 devises in use for the prodedures: the Sonablate 500 and the Ablatherm HIFU. The procedure has been used in Europe for about 10 years and many other parts of the world for a various number of years.
I plan on doing extensive research on the subject before "jumping in" and would appreciate any feedback (good or bad) from anyone who has undergone this treatment.
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Alexa · New User Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

Welcome to the site. There is a website that is very helpful were members talk about their experiences and treatments they had.

Links:

http://www.yananow.net/
http://www.yananow.net/Experiences.html#hifu

Also, you can post your question at:

http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35

Best of luck to you.

Alexa

gbgscw · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:46 pm Post subject: Any feedback from HIFU patients?

Thanks Alexa. I will check out those links.

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