Learn More About “My Take” on the Following Topics…
Treating Prostate Cancer
As your urological cancer specialist, it’s my responsibility to assemble the team that will help you in weighing these decisions and options based on research and the personal experience and expertise of the team members. With this team in place, we can proceed together, making sure that you are thoroughly familiar with all the available options, enabling you and your family to participate more confidently in planning your treatment.
Understanding Cancer
No question or concern you may have about the disease or your treatment is out of place, or “stupid”. We need your peak performance as a member of the team. The mental space and effort taken up by having unanswered questions or unresolved issues detracts from that peak performance. By getting answers to your questions, you can become a more active participant in your care.
Prognosis for Early Stage Prostate Cancer
When we discuss the issue of “Survival Rate”, we are referring to a percentage of patients who live a specific number of years after the cancer is diagnosed. Generally speaking, prostate cancer survival rates are good, and only getting better. When prostate cancer is detected in its early stages, cure rates can be as high as 98%.
Prognosis After Prostate Cancer Recurrence
If cancer recurs after initial treatment for early-stage tumors, it is still potentially curable if it is contained within the prostate (although in most cases the cancer has spread). Even though the cancer almost always returns again, hormone therapies for such recurring cancers can often prolong survival for years.
Prostatectomy Surgery
If you’re in good health, the short-term risks of this surgery are low. The hospital stay is usually 2 to 3 days. You’re usually able to go back to work in about one month. You shouldn’t have severe pain with this surgery. Most men regain bladder control a few weeks to several months after the surgery.
The main advantage of surgery is that it offers the most certain treatment. That is, if all of the cancer is removed during surgery, you are probably cured. Also, the surgery provides your doctor with accurate information about how advanced your cancer is, since the nearby lymph nodes are taken out along with the tumor.
Hormonal Therapy for Prostate Cancer
While prostate cancer usually responds to 1 or 2 years of hormone therapy. After some time, most tumors start to grow again. No treatment can cure prostate cancer after hormone therapy stops helping. At this point, the treatment goal is to control symptoms.
Bladder Cancer
As a disease, bladder cancer is viewed as being more complex because, unlike some other cancers, there are multiple aspects of this disease, creating specific points where an individualized treatment processes can and should be considered. It is my job as your Urologic Oncologist to fully explain these aspects and to foster an understanding of the points, create your Total Picture and determine where your treatment can be individualized.
Bladder Cancer Causes and Risks
If you smoke, then stop. Do it for yourself; and do it for those family members and friends on whom you will be counting during this process. Show them that you are doing your part.
Bladder Cancer Treatment Options
Treatment decisions are hard to make by yourself. No written information can take the place of speaking directly with your doctor. It’s also important for your team to include family and friends. You’ll need the support; and involving them in the process will allow them to be helpful and put everyone more at ease.
Your treatment plan may include surgical removal, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal manipulation or a combination of these techniques. Choosing the best treatment for localized bladder cancer is based on all aspects of your total picture.
Kidney Cancer
We all know that we should be fit and that we shouldn’t smoke. Because you may have kidney issues, these directives are no longer just good ideas. They will directly affect the outcome of your treatment, the length of your recuperation and, perhaps, the quality of your life. So here is my take: If you smoke, then stop. If you are overweight, then consult your primary care physician, layout out and stick to a weight loss plan. While you’re there, discuss your blood pressure. If it’s high, begin to do something about it. Do it for yourself; and do it for those family members and friends on whom you will be counting during this process. Show them that you are doing your part.
da Vinci Robotic Systems
A little about my laparoscopic/robotic credentials…
- I was the former chief of Laparascopic Urology at UIC Medical Center and performed the first purely Laparoscopic Nephrectomy for cancer at that institution.
- I was one of the first urologic surgeons to perform a robotic prostatectomy using the da Vinci Surgical System in Chicago and have been performing and training surgeons on the system for the last 3 years.
- I always held steadfastly to the rule that it is only a technological breakthrough if it truly works. I and more importantly my patients have seen that robotic prostatectomy has lived up to its billing, offering excellent surgical and oncologic outcomes with greater comfort and a more rapid return to normal function.