It is not unusual for a Vituro Health patient to travel to visit with one of our partner physicians. In the case of 67-year-old Don Hogue, his prostate health journey took him from Pelham, Ala., to the office of our medical director, Dr. Stephen Scionti, in Sarasota, Fla.
Mr. Hogue learned he had elevated PSA levels in mid-2015 and from there was advised by his urologist to have a biopsy performed. When two of the samples from one side of his prostate came back positive for cancer, he sought guidance from a friend who had recently had a similar experience.
After Mr. Hogue’s three-month post-treatment check-up, we caught up with him to hear his story.
“When I got my news, I thought about a friend of ours from Mobile, Ala., who had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer and chose to have HIFU therapy done by Dr. Scionti to treat it. His procedure took place before HIFU was FDA cleared in the United States, so he flew to Nassau, Bahamas (where Dr. Scionti previously performed the procedure for a decade) for his treatment. I asked my friend what he thought about HIFU and he recommended it; he is very intelligent and his wife is, too, so I took their advice and looked up Dr. Scionti.
In addition to my friend’s recommendation, I knew I didn’t like the thought of having my whole prostate destroyed, whether it was having it removed or radiation treatments. With HIFU, Dr. Scionti said there was less likelihood of nerve damage and the number one complication of traditional treatments is incontinence and I did not want to go through that. I also liked the sound of keeping half of my prostate functioning.
I went down to Dr. Scionti’s office in Sarasota in November 2015 and had an appointment; Dr. Scionti wanted to do his own MRI of my prostate. He was very nice to my wife and me, and timewise, it all went as planned. After this, we set-up another trip for the actual HIFU procedure, to be done on December 8.
Dr. Scionti treated the side of my prostate where the cancerous cells were with HIFU. It took about 1.5 hours total for the whole procedure. I felt good following it and went back to the hotel. Shortly after, we went home and played the waiting game for three months until I could get another PSA reading.
I just got my PSA checked and called Dr. Scionti and it had dropped more than half, from 2.95 prior to HIFU, now down to 1.25. Dr. Scionti said he was very happy with that result and that it is right in line with the rest of his patients. It is expected to get better on next reading, which is in another three months. My PSA score is lower and I am doing well.”
To learn more about The Scionti Prostate Center's HIFU Program, in affiliation with Vituro Health call: 866-866-8967.