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Anyone out there with first post op PSA detectable?

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Posted 8/25/2010 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hi again,
I posted earlier today and can't sleep for worrying about my dad. His first post op psa reading of 0.3 has me really scared for the future. I've scanned through everyones signatures and can't find anyone who has experienced a detectable psa only 3 mtgs after surgery. If anyone has experience of this I'd be grateful for some insight.
Posted 8/25/2010 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
KMAC:

Technically, my first post-op PSA was detectable. Mine was 0.01. This lab does have a <0.01 reading which would be classified as undetectable.

But when did your Dad have his surgery? (ie: how long after the surgery was his PSA done?). Also, what was his latest pre-op PSA?

Mel

Posted 8/25/2010 2:35 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Mel. His surgery was in May. Pre op PSA 4.6.
I wish I had his surgeon here to ask questions as dad didn't.
Posted 8/25/2010 2:42 PM (GMT 0)
Kmac:

Well, 0.30 is not good, as you surmised. However, plenty of HW members have reported anamolies in PSA results. I assume they will do a follow-up PSA in about a month??

If it stays at that number or above, then he still has a second bullet: he can do salvation radiation, with curative intent.

(I'm sorry to write this, as I know this is not what you want to hear, but this seems to be the situation)

Mel

Posted 8/25/2010 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
In 6 weeks yes. I want them to do another CT scan etc, find the remaining cancer cells and move fast. Dads urologist seems a bit blasé preferring to joke around and have a chat instead of getting down to business.

I know this is not helping to feel this way but dad is too young and has so much more living to do. Seeing him with his new grandson broke my heart tonight.
Posted 8/25/2010 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
The remaining cancer is usually so tiny, no scanning method can pinpoint its location.

Get ready for some HT followed by salvage radiation, which is effective (produces a cure) 30-40% of the time...

This is just general information, every individual case is different..
Posted 8/25/2010 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
Just to be sure, have you confirmed the .3 in writing. More than once here we have had people either misread, or hear incorrectly, or have the doctors nurse mistate the PSA. It could have been <.03, which is a common lower limit, or .03, or as you have stated .3. I would double check the number.
Posted 8/25/2010 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Kmac,

Yes, I am one of those whose PSA was never undetectable after surgery. You can see by my signature line that .4 was the lowest I ever received. Am I the norm of those who post here? No, I think not. My trials and travels have been well documented here from the day I received the diagnosis to my latest round of radiation for a found MET.

We are still looking for the answers, my onco and I, and we have our next meeting on Sept. 10th.

PCa is, as everyone here will attest, fickle and follows no rules or patterns. My surgery was done by one of the most respected da Vinci surgeons in the country, my IMRT was planned by a respected Rad Onco who is now head of the UCLA radiation department and my recent MET radiation was planned by the chair of Orlando MD Anderson Radiation Oncology, whose credentials are longer than both my arms and legs.

My strain just seems to have a mind of it's own, but I feel that I have approached it with all the right decision making processes, the right top notch facilities and top notch doctors in each of their respective fields.

Many have seen the blips in the road with PSA tests and then seen them fall flat and normal out. Try not to stress about things too far out. It is always good to know what is going on and learn as much as you can to be prepared for the future.

I as much as anyone could easily bury my head in the sand, I just choose not to. My wife and I live every day as the Bonus that it is. And tomorrow will get here soon enough. I can't spend tomorrow's energy today, I need it to enjoy life.

I don't know if any of this helps or hinders. Just my thoughts and trying t answer the question that you put forth.

Yes, my PSA was never undetectable.

Sonny
Posted 8/25/2010 5:28 PM (GMT 0)
kmac,


no scan in the world is going to be able to pickup or pinpoint such a minute amount of cancer. it's not even possible. if his number is truly what you said, assuming that wasn't a mistake, then he would need to talk to an oncologist, and review his options for a secondary treatment, the normal course would be radiation, or radiation and HT combined. i hope it all works out in his favor.

david in sc
Posted 8/25/2010 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
kmac, I had lunch last week with an old friend and mentor whose PSA was much like your dad's. His surgeon said, 'we've knocked it down, now we need to knock it out!' and sent him for radiation. Since then his PSA has been zero --- and that was 18 years ago.

May this be but a stage on your dad's road to also being zero 18 years from now.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless
Posted 8/25/2010 9:33 PM (GMT 0)
Kmac,
My post op psa was <0.1 (undetectable) from Bostwick, 7 weeks after surgery. But even with that my Uro/surgeon sent me straight to radiation, clearly telling me that with positive margins in all directions, there would be a psa rise very soon. I felt that he was more surprised than I was with the first <0.1, but that just gave us a longer healing window between DaVinci & IGRT. Would I have been devastated by a .3? Probably not.

The latest Walsh et al study (someone linked to it a few months ago) suggests strongly that sooner is better for IGRT, and with a Gleason 4+5 I don't have any real gray area.
I was diagnosed at 56, IGRT finished early this summer.

David's RT experiences gave me a worse, if not worst, case scenario, but on the other hand, I am not much for "wait and see" when it is such a critical resource I am gambling with here. Time will tell if I made a good decision.
Posted 8/26/2010 1:00 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone. I am feeling a bit better today after a good cry yesterday (not in front of dad). It still just feels so surreal. I'm sure for most of you, one day you are living life relatively carefree with no tell tale signs then the next a little number indicates cancer. My dad rocked my son to sleep tonight and I prayed that he will be around to see him grow up.

6 weeks to go until the next reading so until then I guess life will continue on as per usual...
Posted 8/30/2010 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
Kmac,

I just read your posting and it brought me to tears. I know how you feel, trust me.

My dad also was diagnosed with PC, and after surgery his psa was a .55. Higher than your father's. It was horrible, I literally hit depression. He completed radiation two months ago and we are hoping it got everything. You just need to take it easy and be a supportive daughter for him, don't cry in front of him. I did a couple of times and it was painful to see him hurt for me. More painful than anything.

If you need to talk please send me a private email. How old are you by the way?

You dad is in our prayers,

Lynne

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