Ellis: Prostate cancer serious threat

MONTROSE — Gary Ellis used his faith and modern medicine to battle a killer. Now, the Montrose resident and county commissioner is telling his story in hopes of saving other men from prostate cancer before it's too late.

"I'm just telling my story for other men," he said.

Ellis thinks there should be more awareness of the No. 2 killer of American men, which claims 30,000 lives per year. He wants the awareness to approach that of breast cancer, where survivors "race for the cure."

With prostate cancer, Ellis said, it's more like "crawling" — even though the death rate could be reduced through early detection.

"Be aware of your own body," Ellis said. "Don't be afraid to be ahead of it so when you do develop it, you can do something."

With a significant family history of cancer, Ellis was somewhat forewarned, but he wasn't completely prepared. He'd been monitoring his prostate and getting regular blood work. Then came an August 2007 physical and additional blood work. Ellis said he felt God had prompted him to request.

"My PSA (prostate-specific antigen) had risen to 6.59. My doctor was not terribly concerned, but was concerned enough so that he referred me to a urologist."

The PSA is a protein produced by cells in the prostate gland, according to the National Cancer Institute. A PSA test measures the level of the antigen in the blood.  A level between 2.6 to 10 nanograms of PSA per milliliter of blood is considered slightly to moderately elevated.

"The higher a man's PSA level, the more likely it is that cancer is present," the NCI's Web site stated. There are, however, other reasons PSA might be elevated and the NCI says the PSA test has limitations.

Other prostate conditions include inflammation, or prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia — a long-winded way of saying "enlarged prostate."

Ellis was advised of his options in October, among them, monitoring for cancer, or "watchful waiting."

"At the time, I decided I wasn't interested in watchful waiting," he said. Ellis had a biopsy Nov. 2 of last year.

"They called back on Nov. 8 and said it was positive for cancer."

He slated a surgery to have his prostate removed, but then learned of a newer procedure, called focal imaging, where 3-D imaging is used to pinpoint the cancer in the gland, freeze, and kill it.

"It appeared I was a candidate for this," Ellis said.

Fate dictated otherwise — his gland, at 126 centimeters, was too large for the procedure and he had to take steps to reduce it, including three months of medication. He had an encouraging MRI result in February, which showed the cancer was still within the prostate.

May's MRI was a different story.

"The doctor's first comment was 'This is not good. I did not expect this,'" Ellis said.

"This" was a bulge at the nerve bundle on the left side of Ellis' prostate. It wasn't known whether the cancer had spread, and Ellis opted for prostate removal. The gland was down to 96 cm — but doctors had believed it was down to 76.

Three days after his surgery in Denver June 24, a biopsy showed the cancer was contained.

Ellis continues to be vigilant.

"All it takes is a couple of cells to get out and attach somewhere else," he said. "It can kill you. I believe in my case, I made the right decision on treatment."

There are other treatment options, however, he said, and he doesn't want men to be so afraid of having to have their prostates removed that they don't get checked.

"Recognize there are other options. Don't let it (possible prostatectomy) be a reason not to stay on top of this," Ellis said.

He said his biggest gamble was delaying treatment while waiting for the experimental treatment which he was ultimately unsuited for.

"From my research, there will be times when a person only has a window of opportunity to make a decision on treatment," he said.

"But I think that was my biggest concern. You can't really predict when that window will close."

With 190,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed each year, Ellis said men need to take this health threat seriously.

"It can be very treatable or it can be very deadly. Every man who gets it needs second opinions and to look at treatment options, unless it's very aggressive. Then, they need to move on it right away," he said.

"I hope my experience will encourage other men to be on top of this. It can touch anyone's life."

Ellis said his religious faith gave him and his wife, Kathy, peace about his decisions.

"God was gracious," he said. "A lot of guys may not relate to that, but for me, that's important."

For more information about prostate cancer, visit www.cancer.gov and click on "prostate cancer" under the heading "Types of Cancer."