PSA

Hi all. Am new here to this site.. Got turned on to it by my brother.. I've read quite a few posts and fin it all helpful and fascinating..
My own case... My brother was diagnosed with PC approximately 14 months ago... Father died from PC at 72. So off I went in distress for PSA reading.. It came out at 7.8. Normally it's around 3.7. This all happened in the philipinnes. So I saw a doctor as one does .. He did rectal and sent me off for ultrA sound.. Doctor then informed me within approx 5 minutes that there was 80% chance I had PC.. he also told me my prostate was 83 gms.. ...nearly 3 ounces..He recommended trans utheral procedure to gouge out the prostate... His attitude during all this was very flippant.. I was scared at all this.. So much so fast.. I left and went home really depressed and full of doom. This was a new hospital in Mindoro in the Philippines.. I'm irish and have been going to philipinnes on and off for about 4 years.
In the end I found a doctor in Manila who gave me a totally different story.He put me on antibiotics for 10 days and the had PSA taken again.. It was 6.6 I had a 12 pin biopsy in maniLa .. The doctor advised against it... But I had allowed myself to be so wound up by the first doctor that I just had to have it... There was no cancer found.. And the prostate weight was 43 grams. ....approx..1and 1/3 ounce..
So the first doctor's opinion was reckless to say the least.. The reaction from close family members was not helpful... Comments like " The drinkers disease.." It's amazing how people who know nothing about a topic suddenly become experts.... My brother was great.. He understood my dilemma and anxiety.
I had a PSA done a week ago and result was 5.6.. So where to go from here...???? Don't fancy another biopsy as the last one was difficult. Got an infection, probably because I'm in the tropics.. Comments welcome please

Hi Scaldeagle,

Sounds like you do a good bit of travelling, I would recommend you invest in some reading material about PC to pass the time while you travel given your family history with the disease.  I am partial to Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer.  It is a bit dated (2007) and there are several other good books and you can search this forum for other forum member's recommendations as well.  Please do not misinterpret me, I have no idea if you have PC or not, but I think you should consider to continue educating yourself about this disease (and sounds like some family members need it too).  You can also check out the top link in this forum for newly diagnosed, lots of good links there too for education.

For what it is worth, I would be anxious too, given the merry go round you have been on with your PSA scores and funny doctors.  I can say almost certainly that a TURP procedure is not a good recommendation for PC, hard to believe that is what the doctor recommended.

Good luck.