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Biopsy in two weeks

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Posted 5/31/2011 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
Ok - just new to this. Doc found swelling on one side of prostate, PSA 2.7, but was .8 two and a half years ago. Referred to urologist, he found same thing - one side bigger, not hard, just different in size from other. Scheduled for biopsy June 9 and going more than a bit crazy. From what I can see odds look like 20-40% chance of cancer. Anybody else on this forum have similar history but remaining cancer- free? The more I read the more it seems like even negative biopsies eventually lead to positive results later down the road? I guess I'm just looking for reasons to be positive and hope I am the 60-80% that is negative? Meanwhile trying to learn as much as I can to be informed in case the news is bad.

Thanks for any replies
Posted 5/31/2011 9:37 AM (GMT 0)
You just really need to wait for the results of the biopsy and go from there. Only time will tell.

My PSA was 1.3 but I had nodules... Was told that the nodules could just be a calcium build up...But they weren't..Shucks..

Posted 5/31/2011 12:16 PM (GMT 0)
The odds are stacked in your favor. Try not to worry. Someone on the forum told me that worrying is like praying for something bad to happen. Think positive and cross that bridge if you come to it. Best of luck to you.
Posted 5/31/2011 12:35 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Leroy,

The best general book that is recommended here is Dr Patrick Walsh's book "Guide to surviving prostate cancer". It's a good book to own, whatever happens in your biopsy and reading it will educate you on how your prostate works and all the things (including cancer) that can go wrong with it. Most men end up with prostate cancer at some stage of their lives but a very small proportion die of the disease. The best tool you have in your armour is education.

There are a couple of things that I would recommend for your biopsy.
1. If your doctor chooses to do another psa blood test before your biopsy, get them to do a free psa blood test. This will help you work out the likelihood of prostate cancer, if the biopsy sample doesn't show cancer. A high free PSA would indicate a much smaller likelihood of cancer.
2. Ask your doctor if your slides can be read by one of the expert pathologists who specialize in diagnosing prostate cancer, google Bostwick laboratories or Epstein. Pathologists are not cookie cutter and your average pathologist has to deal with hundreds of diseases. There are only a small handful of pathologists in the world who specialise in the art of reading a prostate slide and given its your body and your life, for the relatively small fee they charge I would insist on the best.

That's my two cents worth and good luck with the biopsy.

Regards,
An
Posted 5/31/2011 6:50 PM (GMT 0)
Leroy,

I had similar stats before the biopsy. Negative DRE. The urologist told me I had a 10% chance of cancer. It was found in one biopsy specimen. He said that if it is found in one spot, it is usually in multiple locations, however, mine turned out to be localized in one small area. Because mine was found at an early stage, I waited six months before treatment so I had an opportunity to research all the treatment options available to me.

I chose surgery and do not regret my decision 5 years later. I'd suggest that if your biopsy shows you have cancer, that you do plenty of research in order to decide what treatment is best for you. I wish you well. Keep in touch with us here. You are among friends.
Posted 5/31/2011 7:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for your replies. I know where each of you has been, because I'm there right now. The not-knowing is hard to manage, but certainly a zero compared to what many of you has managed. I do wish there was more info about the "negative" biopsy results. The more I read the easier it is to convince myself that even a negative seems to be only a temporary reprieve.
Posted 5/31/2011 9:50 PM (GMT 0)
Some of these guys have had many biospy's, I "just" had two. I wish I could offer some comforting encouragement but if the results are negative and your psa goes up even more after six months or a year, you will be back. about the best you can hope for is, IF you have PCa that they find it on the first try. But the good news is you are under a doctors care and he is trying to find out what is going on and he will. As to what a negative bio means, it just means it was negative. One thing to think about is if you do have PCa and the bio is negative, that might mean the tumor is small. I would rather have PCa with a negative bio than PCa where 12 cores are positive. I hope that all this blows over and you dodge a bullet. Try to relax, yeah right! So instead, I'll say try not to worry too much. Let us know what happens.
Ron
Posted 6/1/2011 12:02 AM (GMT 0)
In January, my PSA increased to 3.4 from 2.8 six months ago. So my PCP sent me to an urologist. The urologist thought he found a nodule and so he ordered biopsy. Because of his uttering of the word nodule I was afraid the biopsy would be positive. I had to wait for three weeks before I was told about the result. I prepared myself to hear the C word. So I did. Gleason 3 + 3 and stage T1C. When I went to see a radiation oncologist, he did a very careful DRE. He said I had a perfectly smooth prostate. He also told me that my prostate was abut 45 cc. During biopsy the urologist told me that my prostate was 41 cc. When the RO did a volume study he found the volume to be 49 cc. I am undergoing seed implant on June 20.

When you hear the C word first, you are devasted. But then you learn to live with it. Afterall having low risk prostate cancer is the best form of cancer to have.

Wish you best of luck.    

Posted 6/1/2011 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
Leroy, there are several other tests besides PSA that can pin-point the existence of PC..Most of them are done with a urine sample and are genetically based..None are available at this moment as the labs and developers fight backstage to get the $% and patents figured out..

What will trigger a second biopsy is your PSA velocity, how fast it continues to climb.. Read Dr. Walsh's book, the one AN38 recommended to get a good background about the path you are on....The best of luck to you...
Posted 6/1/2011 5:10 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Leroy

  I dont' know about you but what drives me crazy is not knowing, first thing out of my mouth after the Doc. mention Biopy was " is it definitive". Read talk to the guys on the forum and you will be find.    Tim

Posted 6/1/2011 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
Yes - it's the not knowing, of course. Never been good with uncertainty. The more I learn, the more I realize that even a negative biopsy is uncertain, but I'll sure as hell take one! I've got a former neighbor I'm about to hook up with, as he's a few years down the road, playing the "waiting game." While I don't have results, I can't seem to shake the feeling of inevitability. There MUST be people out there who have negatives and continue to be OK, but I sure can't find them? Just have to find something to occupy my time until I get the test done and the results are "in."
Posted 6/2/2011 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
 Alot of the folks here get better an move on, some stay on because they appreciate what its done for them and some also have a lot of good friends here, might not be many neg. biopys still here. Just a guess.  Tim
Posted 6/4/2011 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
Saturday morning early and what am I doing? Reading my iPad about prostate cancer! Still five days to biopsy, but have learned way more than I want about this process. Can't shake the negative feeling or dread about the future. As i read th posts about the paths you have all taken, I am wondering what I will be writing in a few months? Focus is near impossible sometimes, with the weight of uncertainty. But there is some comfort in uncertainty, as today all outcomes are still possible. The coin will soon be in the air...
Posted 6/4/2011 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
My dx was less than a month ago and I remember feeling like you just before. Actually, I still do. And yeah, it kinda sucks to feel this way. Try not to get to far ahead of yourself right now. You have done the right thing getting checked out. Dont waste your time worrying about what you dont know. Try to find something else to occupy your time for now. Save your energy and sanity for when it is needed. Best wishes.
Posted 6/5/2011 3:54 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Startech - I know all the right things to "say" to myself, just a lousy listener - hardest time is the getting to sleep / waking up time when it's just me and my brain. I wish you the best in making your decision, and getting the absolute best outcome. I'll be looking for your posts, and putting my info up regardless. It 's strange, I found this site a few years ago when I had a migrainous stroke. That threw me for a huge loop, but I've been great since then. Now that feels like a walk in the park compared to sanity test this thing has been.

Again, nothing but good thoughts to you - and all of you kind enough to talk me down.
Posted 6/5/2011 1:33 PM (GMT 0)
Leroy, When my head was spinning I had a hard time sleeping for a while. The brain just wouldn't shut off, and if it did it was only for very brief periods. I talked to a doc about getting some help. The doc explained that when you have this kind of shock your Hypothalamus or "lizard brain" takes over. That keeps the Cerebral Cortex or "thinking brain" that's usually in control from working as it normally does. With no sleep it is difficult to break the cycle. By taking some sleep meds to get a good night sleep the cycle gets broken and you begin to feel like yourself again. It made sense and I took the advice. In a matter of a couple/few days I was back to feeling like my old self. Just some food for thought. This is tough stuff to deal with. Don't hesitate to use the professionals out there who can help with every aspect of your situation since none of it is easy or necessarily intuitive. Best of luck to you.
-Bob R.
Posted 6/5/2011 1:35 PM (GMT 0)
I see your from Cali , have you looked up Dr Duke Bahn? He is a protege of Dr Fred Lee here in Mi........I would give consideration to going to him for a CDU guided biopsy...JohnT can give you more detailed info on this........trust me worth the time and travel if need be!!!  Cooper wink
Posted 6/6/2011 12:57 AM (GMT 0)
One positive in this adventure - just happened to be within my open Enrollment period for coverage. Being the anxiety lover that I am, I was looking forward to being told my insurance wouldn't cover some treatments. Switched to POS plan that costs a lot extra, but has provided the peace of mind that I have a wide range of choices if needed. Picked the right week to have an abnormal DRE.

Never worried about such things - happy with whatever treatment they gave me for the flu - but this possibility is a whole other situation. I'm guessing we keep politics out of this forum, but I firmly believe we need some manageable universal care policy in this country. No one should face the "choice" of whatever treatment is available, where the choice is so wide and so crucial to the outcomes.

Biopsy Thursday - four more wake-ups, as my kids have always said!
Posted 6/9/2011 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
It's the morning of my biopsy. Can't shake the negative thoughts. The more I research, the more it seems this path has only one direction. Feeling like my whole life is on"hold."
Posted 6/9/2011 4:58 PM (GMT 0)
The biopsy was the easiest part of the journey for me - hope it is uneventful for you as well.
Posted 6/9/2011 5:05 PM (GMT 0)
Don't know if you'll see this before your biopsy, but it might help you to know my older brother has had THREE biopsies, all negative, with a PSA in the 9 range.  He's on Flomax now and doing fine.  I, on the other hand, turned out to have cancer, as my signature shows.  So, yes, there are guys who have biopsies and never turn out to have cancer, so try to think positively.

In either case, it's much better to know than to live in ignorance of a cancer.  Worrying won't change the result, so try as best  you can to prepare for either eventuality.  Good luck.

Posted 6/9/2011 5:23 PM (GMT 0)
Clocknut - thanks for that. I agreed to a biopsy immediately. Definitely not one to run from the truth. Lots of cancer in my family tree, so I know way more than I'd like to about the disease. It really does help to hear of your brother, as there are almost zero stories out there about "the other side." Regardless of my outcomes. that's one thing I'd like to see. If there are people who escape the diagnosis, others need to know that to feed their hope. Hope is all we have, on either "side." I will always have hope, regardless of this outcome, as there will be other bridges to cross and journeys to take.

Your data looks great, and I HOPE it remains steady forever, and this bridge becomes one you can leave behind.
Posted 6/10/2011 2:08 AM (GMT 0)
Biopsy over. At the moment, nothing to report - it was in itself not a big deal. Need to call Wed morning to see if results are in, 9 am appt in case they are. Doc only took five cores, out of the side that was enlarged. He said that"s really the only area of concern? Told him take what you need, I don't need the uncertainty.

Back to work tomorrow - get busy to make the next six days go by. If you have any influence, keep a good thought for me. I've had a lot of things go my way in life, could use this one big time. Best to all on this site - you are each heroes daily.
Posted 6/10/2011 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
leroy,

glad you have that behind you, good luck as you await the results. please let us know
Posted 6/10/2011 4:18 AM (GMT 0)
Purgatory - thank you, and I will keep you "posted." I will include you in my thoughts and prayers.
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