Also newly diagnosed

Hi All,
My story is that I had been complaining to my doctor for years about frequent bathroom trips at nights. Throughout these years the digital examination of the prostate gland did not show any abnormality. Anyway, this year my doctor decided to send me for ultrasound since I am approaching 46. The ultrasound showed a nodule on my prostate gland. I was refereed to a urologist who sent me for Biopsy.
Out of the 12 samples taken for Biopsy, one sample came with Gleason score of 6 (3+3). This sample was not taken from the nodule though.
Anyways, my PSA is 0.5 with TRUS volume of 30cc. The report says the proportion (%) of prostatic tissue involved by Tumor is 0.7%

One comment the lab had about this sample was that the tumor gland do not stain positively for PIN (AMACR) even on repeat staining. I don't know what PIN is.

I have met with two urologist, and one of them believes this may not even be cancer. They both recommend I be on the AS and do PSA
measurements every 6 months and another Biopsy in a year or two.

Like all of you I was scared and went through lots of emotions and have been reading a lot, and came across these forums. I wonder what advice everyone here has for me. Is AS an appropriate approach for me or should I take action?

Post Edited (Kevin65) : 12/3/2011 9:08:49 PM (GMT-7)

kevin,
welcome.

your one doctor perhaps might be right, you may very well not have PC, but then again, you could. in any event, it would seem on the info you provided, that it would be the most minimal possible. doing AS with additional PSA tests would be a good call in my opinion.

good luck to you

david in sc

Thank you gentlemen. I appreciate the support. One of the reason I wanted to be on AS is that I only have one young boy and was planning to have another kid soon. I am still doing lots of research on this, but hoping that I am not making a mistake.
Should I have the biopsy results examined by another lab? Are there other tests to be done to confirm if I really have PC?

Thanks John for taking the time and responding with a great details. I have some more questions and also would like to email you the exact wording used in the report when I get home tonight.

Welcome to the forum but sorry about the circumstances. After significant research, I'm now leaning toward AS, but that is a very individual choice. One thing for sure is that, with your diagnosis, you have plenty of time to make a decision.

Thank you all for the great support. It is really heart warming that many people out there without knowing me taking their time to read my story and respond carefully and provide advice.
At this time I am trying to find out how I can get a second opinion on the biopsy results and will share any new finding here.

Me, too, Dave! I think (hope) he meant digital.

In any case, welcome to the forum and good luck with determining your best course of action. You've gotten some excellent replies.

Yea, I had a hard time getting past the ORAL EXAMINATION part as well...

Welcome Kevin, looks like you have many years ahead to raise a family. Enjoy life, but stay vigilant with your testing.  If you wife is like mine the testing days are already written on her calendar.

kevin,

If it turns out you do have cancer and still want to have more kids, you're better off making donations at a center that can store your sperm. Hopkins has an affiliate nearby that does it and it's what my wife and I opted for after consultation with a fertility specialist that was recommended by my urologist at Hopkins. She was terrific and let us know that it was both more cost effective to bank it and far less painful than it would be if they had to cut a hunk of my testicle off in a year or two to collect enough sperm to work with. I still cringe at the idea.

My wife and I had just started trying for our third just prior to this whole mess with PCa we just went thru. As fate would have it, there's a bun in the oven due in April 2012. Unreal, huh? We still did the sperm banking, however, because neither of us think of a better way to thumb our nose to this whole debacle than to unleash another young dude1969 on the world. :)

Funny story about it. I went for my first donation and you're ushered into a room with a recliner and a tv, a sink, and some drawers with nudie mags in them. She says, "Take your time. Don't be embarrassed. When you're finished...." So like 5 minutes after she leaves the room out I come with my cup and a specimen that's just covering the bottom of the cup. I was so embarrassed and red faced at the "dribble" I had left. She said, "My, that was quick..." I said, "I don't have any time to dillie dallie, I need to be back to work in 15 minutes." hahahaha

So the next time I go in, the same thing. In and out. So the third time I go, she says to me, "I'm really surprised to see you back." I said, "Why the Dr told me to make 3-5 deposits... this is my third." "Well, yes," she says. "But you have enough for 13 trials form your first two visits." I high fived her and left one more deposit... since I was already there. :)

I found out in early Sept from the biopsy that I had G6 cancer, decided almost immediately on surgery based on everything I had already read about men my age, banked sperm, and generally kept my mind off it until I got it removed 4 weeks ago tomorrow. One month without a prostate and hopefully without cancer for a long, long time or forever, which ever comes last. Take your time, do your homework, and follow the guidance of experts in getting the family planning in order.

Good luck to you and here's hoping you ain't got it. ;)