Zero club membership revoked

Thanks for the info, Bob. I've been to Tallahassee, and it does for sure have a Hicksville feel, even with FSU there. Moffit sounds like a good choice for confirmation. And, I'd want them to do confirming testing before you pull a treatment trigger. Your local guy sounds like a real winner.

There is a town about 10 miles from where I live, called Hicksville. It's suburban, densely populated, not rural at all.
I thought rcoller lived in that town near me, didn't realize until halbert posted, that he meant Hicks-ville. LOL what an idiot I am

Detectable is NOT BCR...why are folks so eager for the bad to happen...is it because they would rather be right and if the worse happens they get a gold star...be wrong sometimes...counterintuitively... it could save you a lot of grief.. I gots to exit this thread...it hurts too much...

rcroller, it sounds like you've got a good plan, assuming the insurance hoops get jumped properly. Moffitt is a well known, top end facility. Whatever they tell you will be gold.

RCroller...Get it thru thy head Detectable IS NOT BCR...IS NOT BCR...IS Not BCR...someone tell this man...Detectable IS NOT BCR.... and puh leze use the context of his thread...not some other boogie mans..just to make me wrong...good grief....I'll pass on the kool aid...Ill take the soccer field at midnite...at least they have courage... support schport...enable...enable is tail of this fable...EnableWell.con...

Bob,

Sounds like we have similar situations. I was also undetectable for almost 5 years, since Davinci in Sept. 2011. This past April I had the annual ultra-sensitive PSA test done and it comes back at .06. They re-test a few days later and it comes back at .05. I lost that < sign also. My uro/surgeon at Tulane here in New Orleans has me re-test in 3 months. That result comes back at .1. My highest PSA pre-op was 7.6. My Gleason pre-op and post-op was 3+4=7. Clear margins. Staging was Pt3a.
I got my 6 month Eligard (Lupron) injection about a week ago and I'll start my 33 sessions of IMRT in a few weeks.
I'm a relative rookie compared to some of the guys on this forum, but it sounds like the ultra-sensitive testing would give you a clearer picture of what's going on with those very small PSA readings.

Here's a very good article Tall Allen referred me to:
https://prostatecancerinfolink.net/2015/01/04/when-should-the-patient-and-doctor-consider-salvage-radiation-therapy/

Bone scan results are in. Mets to the left Side of pelvis. Bummer.

Yeah. Man.

Hate to hear Bob.

I guess I'm still learning about this disease. I was under the (I guess false) impression that BCR was .2

And it's called Biochemical Recurrence because that is the earliest way medicine has of discovering relapse in PCa. Evidently, I thinking was in error.

It's possible to have metastasized PCa without BCR?

I thought PSA had to be a certain value higher than .2 for scans to pick it up. And especially a certain value higher than .1

??

How low can PSA be and still see mets on a scan? Could PSA be undetectable and still have mets?

I'm also very sorry to hear that. But am I understanding correctly that your PSA is 0.1? I'm not the smartest guy here, but mets with a PSA that low seems very odd. I see that Pratoman asked about a second opinion on the bone scan and it does seem like it would be good to somehow get more info.

I don't want to put out false hope, but just wondering if the bone scan is showing something else. And if they are mets, as TA points out there is so much that can be done.

Hoping to get to Moffitt mid month but it isn't going to change my prognosis. I'll do whatever I can without compromising quality of life but whiskey tango f. I'm at the end of my rope emotionally.

Good questions. I wish I had a response. I'm just devastated.

Hello Bob,

I'm sorry you have to become 'active' again on this forum. Like everyone else here, I'm sure you wish you could put this whole thing behind you.

I really question that CT scan and how the doctor could determine that you had mets, especially at such a low PSA level. My understanding is that it's only the advanced forms of CT scans (C11, etc.) that can pick up mets like that. I would definitely be talking to the doctor in detail about that one, and follow-up with an opinion from a second doctor.

Another thing I would be doing is getting an ultra-sensitive PSA test so you can see exactly what level your PSA is at. I would then follow that with another ultra-sensitive test 3 months from now, and another 3 months after that so that you can see if there is a clear trend or not.

Since my RALP surgery 5 years ago, I've been having ultra-sensitive PSA tests every 3 months without fail. You can see my PSA history by clicking on the link in my signature. From the beginning, you can see I was able to establish a trend of rising PSA, something I probably would not have been able to do with standard PSA tests.

You'll note that in April of 2014, my PSA took a drastic nose dive. In February of that year, I suggested to my urologist that we try a round of Avodart as it has been shown to cut PSA and delay BCR for some folks seeing a rising PSA after surgery. My goal with the Avodart was to delay the inevitable SRT I already knew I would eventually need. The Avodart clearly bought me another year in that respect.

I stopped the Avodart in February of this year in preparation for SRT. I wanted all the Avodart out of my system so that future PSA tests would show a "real" number going forward and not one that might be suppressed by the Avodart. You might consider going on Avodart to see if you get the same beneficial results I did while you evaluate your next treatment options.

In late March of this year, I started SRT and by halfway through the 8 weeks of daily treatments, my PSA had been cut in half to .04. By the time my SRT had completed in May, my PSA had gone completely undetectable again. I hope it stays there this time. I realize that I had my SRT much sooner than most people would consider it, but I also know that earlier intervention usually results in better outcomes. With the success rate of SRT being around 50%, I wanted to maximize my chances of success.

I know this is a long post. But if it was me being dealt with the new hand of cards you've been dealt, I would (1) Get a second opinion on those CT results, and (2) Talk to your Urologist about taking Avodart as a way to slow down that possible BCR while you figure out exactly what is going on, and (3) Go to ultrasensitive PSA tests every three months going forward so that you can closely monitor any trends in PSA levels.