biopsy tomorrow -- very concerned

Just wait until the biopsy results at this point. There's nothing else that can be done until then.

PB,

Welcome, and we're all ready to offer as much support as we can.

As David mentioned, there is a strong link between some prostate infections and PSA, so the first thought is to not panic.

If you have found Walsh's Surviving Prostate Cancer, he says that PSA is an indicator that something is wrong, but also makes the points:

- you can have a high PSA and not have PCa

- you can have a very low PSA and have PCa

So, the biopsy becomes important. On the other hand, a large number of biopsies (don't have statistics, but some recent articles bantered numbers in terms of well more than half) come back negative.

So the rug is still there for today.

My biopsy did pull the rug - a 7.4 PSA, and a biopsy that was more cursory than urgent returned multiple core G 4+4 results. And yes, a lot of us only go to the doctor when something is falling off. I fall into that group as well.

I was certainly thrown into a storm of tests, appointments, and serious job complications, so didn't have time for thinking about it except in the middle of the night. I don't think I slept more than 3 hours at a time from the day of the biopsy report until they put me under for surgery. Today, I look back and wish I had found this site before my surgery - I was limited to the Walsh book that was given to me, and a few other much less specific sites. I went on to find several other books (see the lists of resources at the top of the forum), and came out the other side still convinced that I did what was best for stopping my cancer.

That is a point to remember - what is best for killing the cancer may not be what is best for the person carrying it. This is a time where quality of life, family, and the like become factors, not decision makers.

My best friends (I have no close family nearby) include those who are survivors of quite a list of ugly cancers, and they helped most by reminding me that they are still here, and we are still friends. Having someone who listens, but does not judge, is one of the biggest helps when / if the rug does go.

 

The biopsy itself will have some unpleasant after effects which your husband may find alarming so prepare for that..

There is about a 90% chance your PSA score of 39 will result in a positive biopsy..PC comes in many different flavors so you will just have to wait and see how the pathology comes back..While you are waiting, read up on the Gleason Scoring System so you will be familiar with it.

In the event of a positive biopsy, most urologists call both husband and wife in for a 2 hour conference where the situation is explained in fine detail... There is little to be gained by speculating here...The Best Of Luck To You Both..

PB, just a quick note to let you know we're thinking of you and hubby today. Hang tough...we'll get you through this. The worst part (at least it was for me) was the waiting...waiting for the day of the biopsy, waiting for the biopsy results, waiting for the CT scan, waiting for the surgery...yuck!!

Sadly, all the worrying in the world won't help anything...I know, I've been there. One of the more frustrating aspects of this disease (and I suppose it's the same with most serious illnesses) is the not knowing what's next, but somehow you get used to it.

I can tell you this: being diagnosed with PCa is not the end of the world. In most cases, it is not a terminal illness (though it is certainly possible, just not likely). Prostate cancer behaves a bit differently than other cancers, so don't let the word "cancer" scare you like it did me. Even though your husband's PSA is high, this does not mean that he has PCa or, even if he does, that it is advanced. Scrolling through signatures, you will see men with low PSA diagnosed with a more aggressive form of the disease, and men with high PSAs at treatment doing very well, in some cases with no additional treatment.

Hope to hear from you over the next few days as to how your husband's biopsy went. Hopefully you will have the results very soon...we got the phone call from our urologist just over 24 hours after the biopsy to give us the "news."