Mando's date with a needle

Thank you for taking the time to read my introductory post. I’m 49.5 years old and I’ve had issues with BPH for at least 6 years now and I’ve been on different alpha-blockers, terazosin, tamsulosin, doxazosin, to help with urinary flow. Because of that, I’ve had my PSA tested for a while now and it was usually in the 1.5 to 2.5 range.

When I had my physical this year in February, my PSA had jumped to 6.4 after not having it tested for 3 years. My doctor was concerned and referred me to a urologist and said to repeat the test. It was 5.6 the second time (in March) and the urologist wanted to do a biopsy right away. I wanted to get a second opinion from another urologist which I did in April and did yet another PSA test. This one came back at 10.

I was trying not to freak out but this second urologist said there could still be other causes for this rise and to repeat the PSA test in June, which I did. Unfortunately, this latest PSA came back at 9.6, and he scheduled me for a biopsy, which I’ll be having this coming Monday, June 30th. By the way, none of the three doctors who examined me felt anything unusual during their DREs.

With all this going on with me, my wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and she’ll be having a lumpectomy the day after my biopsy on July 1st, which brings up a couple questions… I’ve read that some guys have really bad after effects from their biopsy and some have hardly any at all. Do you guys think I’ll be ok to a) ride in a car for 75 minutes one way to be at the hospital with my wife and b) be sitting in a waiting room for several hours waiting for her to come out of surgery?

I’ve been trying to read as much as I can to educate myself on the biopsy and pathology and possible treatment, and I have to say, it’s a little overwhelming. You guys here definitely provide a great service to all us novices and I just wanted to say thank you.

Hi Armando. From my experience and observations I would confirm what Peter has said, For a couple of days I had blood in the urine und an uneasy feeling in the area. This is the usual and can always be expected. However, if you get temperature you should immediately see a doctor or go to a hospital as a life-threatening sepsis may be developing, A recent study indicated that biopsies increased the percentage of men who required hospitalization within 30 days of the procedure by 4,2 percent Loeb et al. 2011 

My best wishes to you and your wife. Reinardo 

 

Thank you all for your responses. Jim, I have the Kaiser HMO here in Southern California, and there was a 3 week wait for this biopsy, so I really don't want to postpone it again. I'm already regretting that I didn't do it back in March since my PSA continued to rise rapidly over that time.

It seems like a lot of you are in the eastern U.S., but if there's anybody who's had experience with Kaiser here in Southern California, I'd appreciate hearing from them. I'm off to the pharmacy now to pick up my Cipro for Monday's biopsy.

Thanks again.

I built up the biopsy in my head to be much worse than it was. I took a Valium and the first needle was lidocaine. Honestly after that it was a breeze and was running three days later with no issues at all. Just relax during the procedure. I promise it will be ok. I love this site, lean on it.

My biopsy was one of the worst experiences ever.

1st) the lidocaine did not numb the prostate much as I felt all 12 needles pop into it, and because of the popping sound I jumped every f'ing time
2nd) I bled like a stuck pig and was never told I would, they just told me to clean up and they left the room.
3rd) I used up the pad that was under me cleaning up blood plus about 25 to 30 kleenex