When Gunnison resident Les Lisowski learned he had prostate cancer, his doctor gave him five options for treatment. He and his wife, Sharie, started making a pros and cons list.
Lisowski, 56 at the time of diagnosis, was pretty lucky. His cancer had been discovered early thanks to a blood draw that showed high Prostate-Specific Antigen numbers (PSA), often an early indicator of prostate cancer.
While his first tests showed no cancer, his PSA numbers continued to rise and, eventually, the prostate cancer surfaced after a biopsy.
Lisowski’s cancer was highly survivable, but many of the treatments had long recoveries with a risk of impotence.
His urologist, Dr. Craig Peterson, presented him with choices: observe the cancer until it worsens, radiation treatment, surgery to remove the prostate, cryotherapy or something new.
Peterson and his partner at San Juan Urology in Montrose, Dr. Jordan Luskin, were the first urologists in Colorado to try High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treatment, which localized the treatment to the area of the prostate affected by the cancer. Les’ cancer was on the front of his prostate.
The procedure was much quicker than any of the others and had a quick recovery time, which appealed to Les.