Title: My Prostate Cancer Journey at a Young Age

Hello. Sorry this got longer than I was planning. A little backstory first. Every male in my family has had prostate cancer, most in their late 60s and into their 70s when diagnosed. My father passed away December 9th with metastatic disease. We buried him December 14th at 86 yrs old after he was diagnosed at 73 and went through hormone and radiation therapy. It got us another 13 years with him. I was diagnosed December 19th after a routine PSA showed my PSA had gone from 1.3 to 2.65 in just a couple years. I realize this is still low but really scared me given family history and recent events, especially since I am almost 20 years younger than all of the other men in my family at the time of their diagnosis. Biopsy in February showed gleason 7 (3+4) stage 2 intermediate prostate cancer following an MRI in February showing multiple lesions but appeared to still be localized to the prostate and biopsy done in April confirmed, 3 out of 13 biopsies positive. I elected to have the surgery. Doctor did not recommend hormone or radiation as they can cause other problems down the road and given my age. I wanted it out of me as soon as possible as I still young kids at home and want to be here for them. Had surgery June 3rd. Been almost 2 months and feeling good. Still some minor stress incontinence. Biggest issue has been still totally unable to get any sort of an erection. All the literature says it could take up to 2 years IF you are going to regain sexual function. Taking a daily ED med, trying other therapies to help as well, but sadly still no response. Staying hopeful it will return naturally and not require surgical intervention. Still scary, had my first postop PSA this week of <0.06. Looks like a good number but was reading where the number should be lower. Wondering if that is just due to the specific test or machine that they are referencing? Still waiting to see my doctor and discuss.