PSA Rising

 

Wow, then how do you know what to go by  ?? with such small measurements that we look at this creates uncertanty, then how do you make a decision then ??

Then I should have the test done again by my Uro's lab so I can see what is really going on, thanks for the insite

Well, just got my results back from my blood test done this morning and it is now .170, up from just a couple of weeks ago of .160 and was done by the same testing company.

I guess next will have the testing company used by my Uro and see what it is.

I am not happy about all this, I guess only time will tell.

FWIW, I doubt my gp would've realized a .16 psa result was not good news. First, they have to actually look at it on the results page that contains a bunch of numbers. Second, it's not going to be flagged as being abnormal as it's below 4.0, which is the typical threshhold for concern.

Third, .16 is far below what a guy with a prostate would score.

Fourth, cancer, and particularly prostate cancer, is a specialized area of medicine. A gp can't be an expert in everything.

However, all that being said, it's still troublesome to me that a doctor isn't giving you good advice. It's not rocket science, he is a doctor, he's testing for post RP psa. He ought to know what he's looking for. Or, at a minimum, tell you he doesn't know and suggest you consult with a uro.

To tell you the psa result looks good is just plain wrong.

Not just here, but in all areas of medicine, the patient needs to be proactive.

My uro was against injections for ed. I went eslewhere, got started on injections, and they clearly jumpstarted things. So even my uro wasn't giving me the best advice post RP.

This site is a huge educational tool.

Trimix, sorry to hear about your PSA worries. In answer to your original question, any PSA reading of .1 or greater should be of concern and needs to be investigated.

With your pathology report - which looks good to me - I wouldn't be surprised if your PSA increase is a blip or a lab error.

I'm including my signature in this so that you can see my husband's history. Note his PSA increase 17 months after surgery - his went as high as 0.3 before going back down to 0.0 without any intervention. Also note that no action was taken before that third (and final) PSA reading. I do hope that your situation is like my husband's, and that we'll get some good news about your next PSA test.

Dave 7 I tend to exacerbate, but do feel once a GP has a Cancer patient on board He has a responsibility to learn about the disease, or as you said, pass on itn and go to Urologist. Also range 0_4 is if you have a prostate, and an untreated one at that. The self advocacy is the lesson here, also as you pointed out. respectfully , Logo
Sephie, Un fortunately Trimix did a retest came bac.17. Still I believe he very well could follow your husbands route

trimix, I am so sorry you are experiencing anxiety again over your PSA score.  I pray all will go well with the test on Tuesday.  I know you want some answers today, but hopefully you will not need to know the answers.  Best wishes going out to you!

"If it goes down or stays the same, I will be extremely happy." 

142, I want you to be a happy man!  Good luck with your test.

Peace,

Aimzee

Trimix, how is your doctor dealing with this?  My husband was prescribed Cipro for 2 weeks.  Went in, the PSA was still high, so he prescribed 2 more weeks to make sure there was no lingering infection.  He did have PCa.  Yes, I have heard of it, but how much of a variance, I wouldn't know.  Good luck with this!

I think you still need to have a prostate in order for a UTI to effect your PSA.  I am wondering if your PSA holds stable that your surgeon may have left behind some prostate tissue.  If it is still rising it is probably BCR.  On the other hand at yana.net there are a couple of people who had their PSA come back and sit around .2 for 10 years now.  If it is holding stable and given your G6 status I would just sit on it for a while.

I was going to suggest this to you, but was waiting to hear about your latest PSA.  Since it remained stable for the last 30 days it is a good sign.  I am glad your URO brought it up.  I have heard about this before.  He is right about your good path report.   The odds are still high you are cured.....I know I should not have used that word.....

Hi ChrisR- Yes, I finally got them late yesterday, my PSA over the last few weeks has gone from .16 to .19, not sure yet what to think about this, 6 months ago, my first test 3 months out after my RP was .06.

I want to believe that my URO is right, that he left some benign prostate tissue behind causing this slight rise in my PSA and that it will stabilize at a low point.

I still don't understand the mechanics of this type of situation, if it is really true and seems to be rare, does anyone else understand this ??

I have an appointment with my URO/Surgeon Wed morning and hopefully will get a better understanding.

Just had another visit with my Surgeon/Uro.

One of the questions that has come up regarding my particular situation was, why did my PSA go up after my 3 mo check (.06) to .19 at 6 months ?. Some people have thought that if my elevated PSA was really just from Benign prostate tissue that I should have had an elevated PSA at 3 mo just from that tissue and then the PSA should stabilize, which is not what happened.

I asked my Surgeon about this example and his answer made a lot of sense. He said that during surgery when the prostate and bladder are surgically seperated, that the prostate tissue that is left behind has its blood supply severely compromised. It is the blood supply to that tissue that allows the PSA it generates to get into your blood system. It takes time for that tissue to regenerate it's connections to the blood supply and he also said that the volume of that tissue will also increase with time as it settles back down and completes all of it's connections.

He is also still very convinced that based on my surgery and pathology report that he would be very surprised if I really had cancer causing my current PSA rise. We decided to take me off Avodart and let my PSA go back up and see if it levels off. He believes that my PSA will settle in around .2 based on the amount of tissue he left behind. I will have my PSA checked every 3 mo and will see what happens, I really hope he is right.

Happy Holidays Everyone !!!!

My Uro believes that the SRT trigger should be at .4 PSA if it ever gets that high. This is because he thinks that my real baseline is around .2 because of the PSA my benign prostate tissue is giving off.