Need some help

Have they ruled out BPH, prostatitis?

calm down...live your life with or without cancer....get information, learn, react...live, repeat.....it's a lot like shampoo.

You have gotten yourself so worked up into a needless froth of worry and uncertainty. I really don't get it.

How are you going to feel if you don't even have PC after all this? The biopsy should give you the answer you are awaiting, so between now and then, all you are doing is speculating and playing the worse case scenario game.

You are putting way too much into your PC velocity. I went from a PSA of 4.x to 12.x in one year. That was a huge jump. Then in just 2 months more time, went from 12.x to 16.x. Another huge jump. And for all that, I was "just" a Gleason 7. Not an 8, not a 9, not a 10. Despite really severe velocity.

Do yourself a favor. Stop reading. Stop researching. Even stop coming here, until after you have your biopsy and after you get the results of it. Best way to help yourself.

Enjoy your life as it is right now, not how it might be, or could be. Appreciate the health you know you have instead of worrying about the health issue you may or may not even have in the future.

Worry serves no useful function, totally counter productive.

Just my 2 cents worth. I have been through enough (and still am) to give worries to 10 men, yet I refuse to play that game, won't give into it. Doesn't and wouldn't help my situation or my problems.

David

I agree with the above. Your PSA is still low, and you've already had one negative biopsy. And even if you have a positive biopsy, the odds of having G9 are small.

Overall, I suggest you put the entire topic out of your mind until you have another biopsy and get the facts.

My wife likes to say:
Worrying is like rocking on a rocking chair. It keeps you busy but doesn't get you anywhere.

-Gedman

Pratoman, it's ok to be frightened, most of us have has some degree of fear when we had to face the possibility of Prostate Cancer. There is nothing you can do about it at this time. Do your best to enjoy the celebration.

We will be here if you need us when you get news. No matter if itis positive or negative.

Best of luck.

Cajun Jeff

Pratoman -- Happy Birthday to you and your daughter!!!!!

Rant all you want -- we're here for you buddy!!!!!

Thoughts and prayers for you -- Tigerfan

Relax, worrying won't change a thing except ruin the moment you are in. You can do NOTHING to change this. So if you have cancer, then you have cancer. Deal with it then and not before.

Go have some fun and enjoy life

Prato, sorry you are having such a difficult time. Hopefully the Xanex helped. Also, hopefully, you can be comforted by the FACTS:

1. There is still a chance you do not have cancer.
2. Even if you do have cancer, the chances are that it has been caught early.
3. If caught early and you may be able to monitor it via AS with no treatment necessary.
4. Even if treatment is necessary, there are options that are not very invasive and provide good likelihood of preservation of urinary and sexual health.

The odds are greatly in your favor at this point. I know it's difficult but please take some comfort in the chances you are likely to still be leading a great life for many years.

Please give us regular updates. It may help to "talk"...

Jim

Thank you all so much. I feel a little better this morning, not sure if its the responses from you all, or the Xanax i took last night not yet wearing off. Probably a bit of both. Yes, i understand that it makes no sense to worry about something that hasn't happened yet, and its important to live in the moment as best you can. As no doubt, you all know, sometimes its easier said than done. As Michael T said, I'm probably just not hard wired to do that. But doesn't mean i won't keep trying.

In fact, I'm so hard wired to worry, that i am also worried that if the biopsy is negative, then what do i do, it doesn't change the fact that my PSA is high and rising, maybe they missed it (yes, i'm truly insane)

@David (Purgatory) - thanks especially to you for your response. I have been following your journey the last two years, from the time your wife had surgery, and all the issues you have had without much resolution, over the last few years. And i really apprecaite you taking the time to respond to me. Your courage and attitude are inspiring and make me feel bad about even being a bit negative.

@ Clocknut - I'm not a very religious person. I do go to temple on the high holy days, but dont practice much during the year, not even sure of my beliefs. I am pretty sure i believe there is a God and he is good, it was ingrained in my as a kid. I sure hope so. Thanks for the thought. I need to remember that i can control only what i can control and try to put the rest in the back of my mind.

@ Adjust, Gedman, Browntrout - i need to hear what you said about my odds of getting it early, and studies that show kinetics have no bearing on the gleason score, over and over again. It seems to calm me down. Thank you.

@the rest of you, thank you for taking the time out of your day to respond.

@Jerry L. - when i had my first biopsy, 2 years ago this month, the doc said my prostate was enlarged but not overly so for my age. i THINK it was 33ccs, or something like that, not quite remembering. The path report did mention slight BPH.

Thanks to all, I'll keep trying. If any other questions come up though, I'll post.

Hey, its Sunday, i can occupy my time after the brunch watching my favorite team, the Jets. Maybe they'll win, and lift my mood...... oh.......wait. LOL

Post Edited (Pratoman) : 11/2/2014 6:20:13 AM (GMT-7)

@Redwing, Patrick, thank you

@Jim (Tudpock) - double thank you, for some illogical reason, i really do feel better when i read stuff like what you post.

i'm going to print out this thread tonight, and keep a hard copy to read when i get nuts.

I know a lot of people who have gone through this, too many. I don't ask them if they are incontinent, or if they have ED, except for one, a very close friend, who was continent from day one and still has sex (says its different but sometimes its better). But all of them without exception lead a normal life and if i wasn't told they had gone through it, i would never know. Some of them, many years ago.

So logically i know i need to chill. Will keep trying.

Prato,

I'll start with your question:

You said...
How do you guys stay so positive? Is there anything I can focus on that will give me hope of a good result, with my history and this last jump in PSA?

Staying positive is easy if you know one simple trick: lying. When most of us here on the forum talk about how calm we are, or how positive, or how in control, we are lying to you... and to each other... and to ourselves. It's very therapeutic, actually, sort of a "fake it until you make it" sort of thing. If you look at the total posts count under our names you will find that some of the calmest and most nonchalant members of the forum need the most opportunities to remind themselves how OK they are.

When one is trying to pretend to be calm, forums like this one are a good place to start. We can't see your hands shake. You have a chance to craft a calm optimistic message. After a while you start to believe it yourself. Works for me.

Another thing that helps is Altoid Smalls -- the little sugar-free mints that come in a small tin box. When you are going someplace where it will be inconvenient to be consumed with anxiety you can secrete a couple of Xantax in the box along with the mints and pop the tin in your pocket. When you are tucking into your Eggs Benedict at that brunch if you feel yourself becoming anxious, try rattling the box in your pocket and remembering that you have your doctors permission, and my permission, and your own permission to pop a pill if you need to. I found that the sound of the mints rattling around in the tin was usually enough to calm me down and I didn't need to actually take the pills -- they worked fine in my pocket.

And the minty breath from the Altoids is always welcome at that social occasion where you need a bit more confidence.

Pratoman,

I also suffer from anxiety even had a few panic attacks which landed me in the emergency room a couple of times but believe or not it never had anything to do with being dx with PC . One way I deal with it is I have a safe person (my wife ) who I can tell all my thoughts and fears without judging me. I also hit the weights and let out my stress on one of those free standing punching bags.

So IMHO , I would say talk to someone you can trust being a professional and/or family member and also get your thoughts occupied with things that you really enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !
Cmetalman

There's nothing like labeling someone who is worried about their cancer test as a double loser, because now not only might you have cancer, you are also a worrier!!
Sorry, that doesn't make sense. It does not make sense to be tested for a serious illness and not worry what the outcome might be. There are only a few people who might do this-narcissists who never worry because they are special, and people who suffer from flat affect, and maybe also those who get some chemical relief.
Some of us worry better than others, perhaps because we have had some experience with how bad cancer can be, as you have. We know life isn't a game you're playing, with options to worry or not.
And don't stay away. Use these guys to help you figure out where this might be going and what options you have. Tall Allen and some of the others are brilliant at giving you the latest up to date information. With a PSA of 4.3, you will have lots of options and lots of time to make decisions. The more you read, the more comfortable you will become with what those options entail and which ones might be right for you.

Post Edited (Beejane) : 11/2/2014 3:25:19 PM (GMT-7)