CANCER-FREE! (possibly)

I guess I should have waited one more day before making my previous post because on 15 December I got my catheter removed - and I say a big "Hooray!!" for that! - and then I got even better news:

I got a copy of the histopathology report on the biopsy of my removed prostate and, assuming I am reading it and understanding it correctly, it suggests that the cancer was entirely contained within the prostate and was therefore removed from my body. That is, there is a very good chance that I am effectively "cured" of cancer!

I'll know more when I have a blood test in four weeks or so. At that time, my PSA should be zero (or, at least, very, very low). Assuming that's the case, I'll still have my PSA periodically checked for several years to be sure.

As you might imagine, I was pretty happy to receive this news!

I'll repeat the main part of the histopathology report here and maybe one of my medical friends (Peter? Mike? Kim? Robert? Gina?) can let me know if there's something important I'm missing:

Histological type: Acinar adenocarcinoma
Tumour location:
Dominant nodule - Central anterior, extending into left and right lobes and spanning from upper to lower prostate including the apex.
Non-dominant (>10mm) nodules - Right posterior mid to lower prostate and apex;
Left posterior mid to lower prostate and apex.
Volume of dominant nodule: 3.84 cu cm
Volume of non-dominant nodules: right 0.43 cu cm, left 2.95 cu cm
Gleason score (ISUP 2005): 3+4=7 (all nodules)
Tumour stage: pT2c
Extra-prostatic extension: Absent
Surgical margins: Negative for cancer
Seminal vesicles: Not involved
Lymphovascular invasion: Absent
Perineural invasion: Present
Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia: Present
Neurovascular bundles: Absent bilaterally

My main area of concern is "Perineural invasion: Present". Wikipedia tells me "perineural invasion, abbreviated PNI, refers to cancer spreading to the space surrounding a nerve." So I'm wondering if this has to do with nerves that were removed as part of the prostate, or if it refers to the nerves that the "nerve-sparing" surgery left inside of me. I'm assuming that it's something like the former, but I'll get more information when I see my urologist/surgeon in four weeks or so. (Or one of my more knowledgeable readers will provide more insight...)

Anyway, it's great to know that it's likely that we have obtained the desired result! Long(er) life, here I come!