I am a 65 year old and semi-retiree. I worked in the telecommunication industry for over 40 years. Currently I am doing some consulting and teaching at William Paterson University.

Over the past five years my PSA gradually increased from 1.0 to 4. I had my PSA and digital rectal exam repeated every year. In early June of 2004 my PSA was 4, and my medical doctor suggested as a precaution that I see a urologist.

I saw Dr. Lanteri who repeated my PSA, the results came back as 3.1, he suggested since I never had a prostate biopsy I should have one now.

On June 23, 2004 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The biopsy uncovered that 3 of 18 samples had indications of cancer, 10% of each sample and a Gleason score of 6. Dr. Lanteri advised me to have a cat-scan and bone scan. Upon reviewing all of my results he advised me my cancer was very curable and he familiarized me with the Laparoscopic Robotic Prostatectomy for the first time. I seriously entertained multiple options such as visiting another hospital, a medical oncologist, and a radiation oncologist. I was advised by these other doctors that surgery would be my best option with a 95% chance to cure my cancer. I even placed a call and spoke with Intuitive Surgical, the company that manufactures the da Vinci robot. I researched the traditional surgery and decided if I were to choose surgery it would definitely be the robotic surgery because there were less side effects and a quicker recovery. With all the information I was given, the decision was up to me.

In early August I called Dr. Lanteri's office and asked them to schedule my date for the Laparoscopic Robotic Prostatectomy. My experience was just phenomenal, I entered the hospital on Friday, September 10, 2004 at 6:30am. I was in the recovery room by 11:30am watching the US open on television. I was discharged from the hospital Saturday, September 11, 2004 (yes, 24 hours later); I had an appointment with Dr. Lanteri five days later for my catheter removal. Eight days later I was at a Giant / Redskin game taking it easy. I started to resume my normal activities two weeks after surgery, which included my first round of golf on October 4, 2004. My post operative recovery was great I only wore a diaper for one day and my erectile function returned about two weeks after surgery. In December 2004, I had my first postoperative PSA and it was 0.

My experience with the entire staff at Dr. Lanteri's office has been wonderful; Dr. Lanteri and Dr. Esposito were very conscientious and attentive.

All in all, this has been a remarkable experience. I am so happy I opted for Dr. Lanteri and Dr. Esposito to perform the Robotic Prostatectomy.