When “things were not working the way hey had always worked,” at age 67, Derrill Holly sought medical attention.  A doctor visit revealed a high Gleason score, and Derrill’s primary care physician sent Derrill to an oncologist.  A subsequent biopsy confirmed he had Stage 4 prostate cancer.  

 

However, he said choosing a prostatectomy instead the less-invasive brachytherapy was an easy call.  Derrill says had he gone with radiation treatment or chemotherapy, there was always the possibility that not all the cancer would be removed and that it could spread to lymph nodes.  He thought that a prostatectomy gave him the best chance of returning to an active lifestyle. 

 

The procedure was done in one night, but because of COVID, his wife could not be with him in the hospital.  After the surgery, a catheter was inserted and he went home the next day, only to return the following day to have the catheter removed.  This began his recovery phase, which was a slow process, accompanied by the realization that where urination and sexual function are concerned, he would never be the same.  The toughest part of that phase, he says, was re-learning bladder control.  Getting back to sexual normalcy was difficult as well, what he considered a “trial and error process.”

 

Derrill Holly said among options for his future were pumps and injection, but he was not interested in either one.  However, two years after his prostatectomy, he decided to get an implant in his penis.

 

He says right after he got the implant, urinary function returned to normal.  This, he said, was a tremendous relief after two years of pads, and knowing a sneeze or a cough or a laugh could result in his urinating. 

 

Regarding sexual function, the implant is meant to return one to their functionality level, pre-diagnosis and his implant did just that.

 

After the catheter was removed, Derrill needed to visit his doctor once every three months.  Then eventually, his schedule became once every six months.  Each visit includes some tests, and Derrill admits the night before each visit would be a bit tense because he was worried he could learn the cancer had come back.  But with each visit, his numbers were fine, he could exhale, go have lunch with his family and everything was fine.  When Derrill reaches the five-year mark after his procedure, then his visits will become once a year.  Without a prostate, he knows he isn’t producing the hormones the way he once did and cancer is not spreading to his lymph nodes.  The combination of that and his numbers remaining steady, he says, put him “in a good place.”

 

Meanwhile, Derrill Holly quotes the support group zerocancer.org, which claims black men are twice as likely as white men to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He says one big reason for this statistic is that many black men are hesitant to undergo a digital rectal exam, which he says is the first step in determining everything related to one’s prostate is working okay.  Derrill would like to see insurance coverage expanded so that blood tests are covered, meaning all men can find out the status of their prostate via blood work should they have an aversion to the more invasive digital rectal exam.

 

 

 

Additional Resources:

 

Support Group: zerocancer.org  https://www.zerocancer.org.

 

Support Group: Fans for the Cure  https://fansforthecure.org