Steve’s Story

Steve was treated with the da Vinci® Surgical System

Steve was driving down the highway when he received a shocking call. His biopsy — which was spurred by a routine physical — came back positive. Steve, at age 64, and with no family history, was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"It was quite a shock. Doctors told me that my PSA count was elevated," Steve recalled, "but I didn't think that it was elevated high enough to be cancer." He began a proactive search to learn about his options.

Steve consulted the HealthEast Prostate Care Director, his HealthEast physicians and the Internet to find as much as he possibly could about prostate cancer. "I wanted to become educated on the condition," said Steve.

"I looked at the pros and cons and decided robotic surgery was for me. All of the outcomes were so much better compared to traditional open prostate surgery and there's less pain and almost no blood loss," Steve said.

Steve knew that St. John's Hospital had just acquired the da Vinci® Surgical System — the latest robotic technology for prostate cancer.

Feeling confident about his treatment selection, he went into surgery with a positive attitude. "I had done my research and felt confident in the treatment I chose," Steve recalled. "The HealthEast staff and physicians, including my urologist, reinforced my feelings."

Steve had a smooth recovery and after two weeks the pain was gone. "Right now, a year later, it's back to normal. It's hard to even believe that I had cancer," Steve said. "The da Vinci made my recovery quicker and more complete."

And the care he received at HealthEast was excellent. "All the patients around me were receiving the same care," Steve says.

Steve is now enjoying life again, but looks at it from a different perspective. "I don't take good health for granted anymore," Steve says. "And I am now such an advocate for men to go in for PSA testing." Steve has spent time speaking and writing to get men to encourage them to get tested. "I tell friends and neighbors that if they wait until they have pain, then it may be too late."