New to all of this

Hi there, I am 50 years old, and after 3 successive rises in my PSA readings (last one 7.2) have just had an ultrasound biopsy and currently await results.

I have no symptoms, though flow not as strong as when 20! have no family history of cancer.

As a father, my youngest being only 3, I'm worried sick of not being around for him. I fear the worst, and feel that I'm letting my family down.

I appreciate that I'm not the only person who has gone through these emotions, but as the only earner in the family, feel that so much depends on me. Thanks

Thanks Jeff, have not been prescribed any antibiotics as yet.

Just going through the emotional wringer at the moment, as everyone must do at these times.

Nicely said IntheShop! Very nice!

For now pakeha embrace InTheShop's guidance!

Bud

Welcome to HW. Something's to check off: Did you ride a bike or have sex within 48 hrs. before the last psa test? Did the DRE occur before or after the blood draw? Hopefully no bike riding, sex and the dre afterwards. It is fairly common for a doc to run us thru a round of antibiotics and then retest before moving to the biopsy. Not much to be done about that after the fact. In the meantime, try to relax, read here and get a good understanding of what you MAY be facing, and be prepared to be shown the door if it comes back as cancer-free...lol Good luck.

We've all been where you are right now and have felt what you're feeling. I think that's why HealingWell exists....to reassure men who find themselves dealing with the possibility that they may have prostate cancer that their world is not necessarily coming to an end.

I was at work today and was talking with a friend who will be having a TURP procedure in a couple of weeks. I answered one of his questions by saying that I never had a TURP, just the surgery for prostate cancer. His startled reaction was to say, "You had cancer?"

I smiled inwardy, because it was as if all traces of my cancer has disappeared. At least that's the situation now, and I hope it might stay that way. Of course, we never know what health challenges are just around the corner.

The point is, no matter what the diagnosis, you will find the strength to see your way through this challenge, and you have every reason to hope that you'll be there when that child graduates from college. Please continue to post on HealingWell. You'll find a ton of support and a lot of great guys (and women, too). Most importantly, you are in no way letting your family down. It may feel that way, but there are some things in life over which we have no control. Your family will find the strength to deal with whatever may come about, and hopefully that will be a finding of "no cancer."

    pak  I just recently went through the same fear of the unknown turned out positive and had surgery and looks like all went well ... remember you are never alone and if it is hard to talk to the family the people here are amazing and a wealth of knowledge and support.... I know they made my roller coaster ride with pc bearable and much less frightening .... you will be fine many prayers to you and yours from ohio and as mp says always look on the bright side of life  whistle whistle  goood luck and good thoughts   ....    lumberjack

Mark,

I would take it as good news. You did not mention how many biopsy cores were taken (more is generally better).

I would ask the doctor about the possibility of an infection. This is why some mentioned a strong round of antibiotics. If that resulted in a big drop in the PSA, it could simply be an infection that had gone unnoticed. But, not being doctors here, we can only tell you about our own experiences.

We will be here if you have need of us, but I'd just as soon you find something easy to fix instead of PCa. There are enough of us in this club.

Yep, a negative biopsy is definitely good news, even if it isn't absolute.

An infection can certainly cause your PSA to spike, so here's your chance to have your doc focus on that possibility. If necessary, you can always get another biopsy down the road.

Good luck and hang in there!

Jonathan

Hi there, there were 8 cores taken, 4 from each side, and the blood tests were Oct, Dec and May, which covers 8 months. The last test was approx. 10 days before the biopsy. There was no sex or cycling prior to the tests, unfortunately..

You got lots of good advice before your positive biopsy.  You now need to make a decision about treatment  (or no treatment).   Your low Gleason scores are a good sign and in all probability you will have a long long life ahead of you.  The hardest part now will be to decide what treatment is best for you... 

you both can, you both have every reason to expect the best. I was where you both are just over 2 years ago and now everything is normal and I can't recall the last time my wife or kids acted as if something was wrong with me. Very often things go back to normal with some minor adjustments very quickly. You guys will do great.

Pakeha,

I had a 70cc prostate, which I was told could be shrunk with the use of hormone therapy and then treated with brachy. You may want to talk to a brachy specialist before settling on a treatment method ... with your numbers, AS is also worth considering.

Best of luck with your decisions.

When you talk to your urologist ask about getting a second opinion on your slides. Like you I was diagnosed as a Gleason 6 from one core from one biopsy. I had recuts made from the specimens from my biopsy (they took another slice of each sample and made new slides) and had a different pathologist look at those. My second opinion raised my Gleason score to a 7 (3+4). A second opinion on your biopsy slides is a way to wring a bit more information out of your biopsy results and getting recuts wrings out a smidge more yet. My second opinion changed the trajectory of my treatment and could easily turn out to have saved my life (or at least made it a lot more convenient.)

If the second opinion leaves you at a Gleason 6 you will be a good candidate for Active Surveillance. AS is not much fun. It's nerve wracking to wait for PSA results and it involves occasional biopsies which (after having four of them) I never learned to like very much. But for a man with iron nerves it is a sensible, grown up way to deal with low-risk PC. This year's treatment results are better than last year's and next year's will be better yet. Most low risk cancers are slow growing and if you monitor them carefully you can let the technology advance before you need treatment, if you ever do. In the meanwhile you can avoid the side effects which are the drawback, in varying degrees, to all the treatment options.

If you do decide to seek treatment you might look again at brachytherapy. Talk to a doctor who does them. Your prostate is big but not that big. Mine was twice that size and I could have done brachy. It would have required six months of hormone therapy first to shrink it to a treatable size but I could have done it. Surgery has slightly higher rates of side effects than brachytherapy. ED is a bit more and incontinence is quite a bit more. On the other hand the six months of hormones will also have side effects (which nobody seems to like) but they are *mostly* ... *usually*... temporary. Both surgery and brachytherapy have good cure rates for low-risk PC. By itself brachy has slightly fewer side effects but when you add in the side effects from the hormones... I dunno. Something else for you to think about.

Good luck. Keep us posted on your decisions and let us know if we can help.