An annual physical checkup was anything but routine in June 2005 for 56-year-old Rick Swist. Rick’s doctor found some questionable irregularities during a prostate examination. His PSA test, a blood test developed at Roswell Park that measures the level of prostate-specific antigen, a substance produced by the prostate, was slightly elevated. Increased levels of PSA may be an early sign of prostate cancer.

Prostate biopsies – one in September 2005 and another in January 2006 – were inconclusive. But with both a suspicious prostate exam and an abnormal PSA at such a young age, persistence was necessary. A third biopsy in November 2006 found the elusive prostate cancer.

“My doctors told me it was like looking for a needle in a hay stack, but they kept trying. It turns out that less than four percent of the prostate was cancerous and that is why it was so difficult to find,” Rick explains.

Rick’s cancer was diagnosed at an early stage so he was referred to Roswell Park for a second opinion. He had several treatments to consider including watchful waiting, radiation therapy and surgery. In the end, he chose roboticassisted surgery, which combines robotics with computer technology to enable surgeons to see vital anatomical structures more clearly. “

Surgeons are working in close quarters where there are a lot of nerves and arteries. The precision offered with the use of the surgical robot was the deciding factor for me,” Rick continued. “The surgery went well. It preserved everything and took everything it was supposed to.”

“My experience with my medical team convinced me that beating cancer – and not just my prostate cancer but all cancer – was a driving force in their professional lives. I got the feeling that a victory for me was going to be an equally big victory for them. They conveyed a strong sense of optimism that something in their toolkit was going to work and, in the end, it did.”

Rick’s message of hope for the holidays: “Never underestimate the power of perseverance. My doctor’s determination to find cancer led to an early diagnosis and gave me the power to choose my treatments and continue on with life. If you are unsure about the diagnosis or the possible treatments, never hesitate to thoroughly examine all possibilities.”