My Prostate Journey: My name is Phil, and I work at the Will County Community Health Center

In January of 2022 I went to see my primary care provider (PCP) for a regular checkup. He said I was due for a prostate exam. He checked and said it was asymmetrical. He also sent me to get PSA labs done and my PSA came back at 37.5. (Ideal range is between 0 – 4) We waited another month and got another PSA lab done and it came back at 50. I was then sent to a urologist who conducted a biopsy, and my Gleason score was 8 (Stage 4).

I was then referred to having a robotic prostatectomy in May 2022. I had my prostate and lymph nodes removed with some minor nerve damage. My surgeon stated there was possible uptake in the bone, which is not good news. I went to my oncologist, and he said because of this possible update in the bones he stated I would have up to 5 years to live. That news was devastating! My PSA was then 7.9, then it rose to over 10. My oncologists stated after seeing the scans, he did think the cancer was in my bone and so the radiation was going to be aggressive. I received 37 radiation treatments between October and December of 2022 at Advanced Urology in Joliet. I was put on hormone therapy medications to reduce my testosterone levels, which feeds prostate cancer, and the medications began to lower my PSA levels. I’ve had multiple scans and labs. I had 72 medical appointments in 2022. At this point the cancer is not in my bones, and it seems that the 5 years is not in the cards for now. Phew…

In 2024, I developed bleeding and was diagnosed with radiation cystitis due to the aggressive radiation I received. I had several catheters put in to help the clotting and it didn’t help. Between September , 2024 through May 2025, I landed up going to the ER 5 times, had 4 hospitalizations, 4 emergency surgeries, 62 hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments (2 hours per treatment), several UTI’s, developed MRSA, chronic kidney infections, a PICC line in for 6 weeks and a Midline for another 5 weeks to treat my infections. I am currently in male pelvic floor physical therapy. My surgeries included 2 bladder cauterizations to stop the bleeding and clotting and the other 2 were the removal of 27 kidney stones in my right kidney and 7 in my left. While in the ER I found I was allergic to two antibiotics which gave me rashes all over my body, blurred vision and closed my throat.

Today, my PSA is <.001 (undetectable) and I am in remission. A large part of my support system outside of my wife, family, friends and coworkers is the PC Tribe Facebook page. This page is solely dedicated to men with prostate cancer who discuss their journeys. We also have a Zoom meeting every other week on Tuesdays. Health professionals also contribute in these meetings to answer questions. Everyone’s journey is different. There is no prostate cancer in my family, but there is breast cancer, which is a sister caner of prostate, something I didn’t know.