HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

PSA test anxiety

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 9/27/2012 2:04 PM (GMT 0)
It's been 1.5 years since the prostectomy.  I still have major anxiety everytime PSA is tested.  I have been so lucky with undetecable PSA's, however the darn anxiety still will not go away.  Does anybody else feel like crap everytime PSA is tested?  I should get my test results back around 10/1/12. 
Posted 9/27/2012 2:16 PM (GMT 0)
I'm at 22 months and I don't worry at all. I know there's a chance it could rise and if it does I'll deal with it then. The pathology was good and my uro is very confident so the odds are very low and I generally don't worry about low probability outcomes.

My wife worries quite a bit and that does make me stressed about the test. She makes up in the worry department for what I lack.
Posted 9/27/2012 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
I am at 5.5 years and I still have it. I guess some of us are just going to worry. Every time I pick up the results at dr office, I take a deep breath before I look at.
Posted 9/27/2012 2:44 PM (GMT 0)
Snowbound has a healthy attitude. Maybe I'll get there eventually. At 18 months I still worry too. I know the odds are strongly in my favor but I think the whole experience taught me I can still lose even with good odds. After all the odds were the PSA wouldn't be elevated, that it wouldn't keep rising, that the biopsy would be negative, etc.

As I keep telling people, the odds are good but the stakes are high.

For what its worth, Viperguy, with your stats the chance of a recurrance is extremely small. A lot of us who worry so much about PCa coming back are probably at higher risk from some other health problem we're not even paying attention to.

I try to think of the re-checks as a regular reminder to appreciate life. As I say, hopefully I get there eventually.
Posted 9/27/2012 5:31 PM (GMT 0)
What you are experiencing is normal. I'm having my PSA tested next week and even though I have been in the zero club for 3.5 years, I still get very anxious when I get close to testing time. I'm not sure if that ever goes away, at least not for me.
Posted 9/27/2012 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
You are not alone. I just received results for my second post surgery PSA. It was undetectable but I was ready for a straight jacket right up till the moment I received the results!!

Mike
Posted 9/27/2012 6:52 PM (GMT 0)
For me what works is that I keep my mind as busy as possible between work and home stuff. I told my wife I did my part by giving up my prostate so for now there is nothing I can do but have the PSA test done...as they say,"don't worry until its time to worry"...also booze now and then doesn't hurt.
Posted 9/27/2012 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
not only do i feel like crap, I can't even bring myself to get tested. I'm going to try and go next week.

It's the idea of being brought back to that day when I was originally told. I don't want to deal with that possibility. I know it's remote, but it's in the back of my mind.
Posted 9/28/2012 12:54 AM (GMT 0)
Sure appears I am not alone when it comes to PSA stress.  Thanks for the responses, thought I was being paranoid.
Posted 9/28/2012 12:58 AM (GMT 0)
in my opinion one of the true quality of life issues many of us have that can't be debated or blamed on any treatment. I hope it wears off and that it isn't a personality trait I'm stuck with.
Posted 9/28/2012 6:25 AM (GMT 0)
I agree davidg. I ask myself the same thing..."is this my new normal?" Our test is VERY soon, and I am very stressed, more so than his first PSA post-op. I hadn't shared my concerns or worry with husband until yesterday. I was in the gym parking lot sitting in my car when all of a sudden he rolled up on his bicycle (he cycyle's) out of no where. I must have had a worried look on my face, because I was in fact sitting in my car pondering the whole PSA thing. His prescence scared me too, because I wasn't expecting to see him. He could sense I was sad, and he asked, "what is wrong"? I just started to cry, and shared with him. I asked him if he was worried and he said in a very confident manner, No. I felt dramatically better, first because I shared what I had been holding in all to myself, and his confidence was reassuring.

Anyway, I have done pretty great with all of this, but this is definitely a rough patch. The aftermath of cancer is overwhelming, and I don't want to live in this space for long. I am even visiting my therapist tomorrow to talk this through just a bit. I haven't seen him in a very long time, not even during our entire cancer ordeal. I was a rock through the storm, but am feeling the effects of it now. Anyway, stay strong you guys, and remember you are not the only one going through it.
Posted 9/28/2012 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
Arranged to have the kiddies go to school with a neighbor, and I jumped in my car and headed to my appointment. Rushed in the door, only to find out my appointment wasn't until next Friday. I must have looked frazzled as I attempted to figure it all out, because I overheard this little old man say, "wow, she doesn't have a clue"! HILARIOUS! Obviously, I wasn't going to respond, but it was one of those, "did I just hear him say that"?

Anyway, no chat regarding PSA anxiety with the doc today. I feel pretty good...it must be FRIDAY. :)
Posted 9/28/2012 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
Talking to someone qualified to listen and to advise coping strategies is a good idea. Works great for some people.

I think it is the "new normal", the trick is to make that new normal not so bad. Some are able to handle that much better than others. I'm clearly useless at it and it's counter productive to my overall health.
Posted 9/28/2012 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
A social worker with oncology experience once told me that cancer survivors (and their families) were like people whose houses had been hit by lightning. They would naturally be nervous during thunderstorms while everyone else could relax with the knowledge that a lightning strike was extremely unlikely.
Posted 9/29/2012 4:18 AM (GMT 0)
Moredata, so true!!

Davidg, this just can't be my new normal...heck no. I have to believe it gets easier in time. I never stay too long with a therapist. I jump in and out once every blue moon...run a few things by him...Often times, I already know the solution, but I get confirmation. There are days where I think my reading and need to understand everything about this disease is doing more harm than good.

Viperguy, keep us posted!
Posted 9/29/2012 3:36 PM (GMT 0)
A slight case of nerves each time. I don't think this will ever go away, maybe after ten years or so but I doubt it.
Posted 9/29/2012 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
I'll let everyone know Monday or Tuesday about the PSA results.  Thanks for the support.
Posted 9/29/2012 6:43 PM (GMT 0)
Like any other cancer, prostate cancer affects you for the rest of your life. Even though you go through a treatment whether it be surgery, radiation, or any other method, there is that possibility that it will recur at some point in the future no matter how clean your bill of health is after the treatment. We all hate it, but that's the hand we have been dealt. Having had no symptoms prior to diagnosis, I couldn't believe that I had it at all. After the surgery, the urologist told me I got the best pathology report I could get for my situation. In the next breath, he reminded me to come for PSA tests every three months. My MD related a story to me about another patient who went seven years without recurrence and then the PSA began to rise. You just have to live with it, and it really sucks. Just put it out of your head until it happens, if it ever does. Just my humble opinion.
Posted 9/29/2012 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
I've been having psa test for 13 years and 3 years post treatment. The anxiety never goes away; starts about a week before the psa test until I get the results. I have started to have the tests sent directly to me instead of 1st going through the doctor and it saves some anxiety time.
Posted 9/29/2012 8:51 PM (GMT 0)
mine starts 6-9 months before the test :)
Posted 9/30/2012 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
I'm a pretty optimistic person, which I think helps me. I have very little anxiety. Just had my one year PSA and was surprised how calm I was. My post op stats were pretty good, so that gives me some confidence. It also helps that my Uro has the lab at his office and I get the results within 15-20 minutes. Not sure how you guys that have to wait a few days can handle it.
Posted 10/5/2012 7:31 PM (GMT 0)
Receieved lab results today.  PSA is 0.01 which is undetectable, my nerves are at ease for now.  Another interesting result was the testoserone count.  Six months ago it was 369, this test it was up to 450.  The only thing I'm doing different is heavy weight training.  Does not look like I will need any Andro gel in the near future.
Posted 10/5/2012 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Viper, that's great news, congrats and wishing you a lifetime of them. In answer to your question, after 5 years of testing every 4 to 6 months, I think I am a calm veteran and don't get worked up about it. My wife informed me last week that I still get cranky before, so I think there's just a difference in opinion. tongue

In any case, back to the subject, that T level seems to be responding well to the weight training, keep it up....
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply