Husband's elevated PSA

Hello Callen3x,

From what you describe, I really think your husband may have prostate cancer. He has a pretty high rising PSA score, and blood in the urine is a very serious symptom. He is going to need to have a biopsy very soon so the doctor can start treatment. My 57 year old husband's PSA was only 6.7 and he was asymptomatic when he had his biopsy almost a year ago. Not only does he have cancer, but the cancer had already metastasized. His urologist was shocked - and I'm absolutely devastated!

I would definitely recommend that he have a colonoscopy, too.

Have you asked him why he doesn't want a biopsy? (It seems inconsistent....willing to go for bloodwork yet refusing the results. Could be he's looking for reasons not to do a biopsy....but, only he knows for sure).

It's very possible, if not common, to have those PSA numbers and not feel sick. He's also forthcoming with what symptoms he does have (blood). So....to answer the question "Is he sicker than he let's on", I doubt it. (doesn't mean he's not sick with very few symptoms).

He's telling you about the blood because he depends on you. He loves you.

Maybe you might ask him why he's refusing to know .... either...."yea or nay"?

We can specutate....but only he knows. Your fear of it releasing cancer cells into the body...I believe the evidence is spotty....but there may be a very small chance it does...(there's risks with any invasive medical procedure) Does the risk outweigh the benefit? It would not in his case. One man's opinion. (If he wants to know).

Thanks to all that responded and I also look forward to hearing from others. I guess we are both in denial. You would have to know my husband, he has been saying he won't be around much longer for 20 years, I kid you not. We have been married 37 years.

He is refusing the biopsy and I almost feel that if I force him to do it and it turns out that he has cancer, it will then become my fault, somehow. I know this makes no rational sense and I don't know what to say about it.

Both our daughters are Nurse Practitioners and have given their opinions, but he just won't listen. I guess if his blood work comes back and the PSA is much higher again, he will either have to listen or face the consequences of being so stubborn. He has said he will not get any treatment anyway, so again, what would be the point of the biopsy, in his mind, he would rather not know, I suppose. I do wonder how this will all play out.

Will he just become so ill one day and ask to go to the hospital to get the diagnosis that he has little time left? Will it be extremely painful for him? I don't suppose you just pass away quietly in your sleep from this disease?

Lioness 1, I wonder what they told your husband? How much time do they give him or can treatment at a really late date be successful?

Again thanks to everyone, I am just taking it one day at a time, what other choice do I have.

Callen3x,

Your husband needs to have a biopsy done as soon as possible. He most likely has prostate cancer and it could very well be advanced. There is no way to tell how long the various treatments will work for individual men with advanced prostate cancer, but there are many men for whom the treatments have and will work successfully for many, many years, even decades! There are a lot of men in this group who have been treated successfully for a very long time. Todd1963 (Todd Seals) has successfully been undergoing treatments for over a decade! You might want to take a look at some of his posts on here and also at his blog, Living With Prostate Cancer, http://toddseals63.blogspot.com/. He is such an inspiration and beacon of hope for so many men who have the same diagnosis as he does.

I will ask about the other blood test, thanks tall allen! He doesn't have any other issues like cardiovascular disease or diabetes. The ED started in early 60's and he tried Viagra but it made him ill. He was on Celebrex for arthritis and when he got the tumor in 2014 we were thinking that could have been the cause, although he had stopped it years before. Larry 088, I will ask about a possible infection, but wonder how he is so high functioning if he does indeed have one??

He has been told and I have read that prostate cancer is so slow growing that something else will get him before that does. Perhaps that is why he is not willing to undergo treatment. I guess I will just have to wait and see what his PSA is in April. I am still wondering how this will play out. Thanks everyone who responded. I will keep you posted.

The blood in urine issue is kind of either-or. Anything can cause a hidden one-time injury, and if this happened once, and then disappeared, then don't worry about it.

But, if it has persisted, he needs to have it checked out ASAP.

It's understandable that your husband, having had colon cancer not so long ago, is paralyzed by the thought of another biopsy and another serious cancer. Can you accompany him to the urologist's for the upcoming blood test so that you can tell the doctor about the blood in the urine? (I know, very difficult. But let your husband know you're with him just as you were during his colon cancer treatment.)

Just deal with the blood test for now in the most supportive way you can so he knows you and his daughters have his back no matter what. The doc may very well give him an antibiotic to see if the blood might be an infection. It's probably not, coupled with that rising PSA. If the blood work is suspicious, then the doctor will absolutely prescribe a biopsy. (After my husband's biopsy, we were having lunch outdoors an hour later.) It sounds as if it's not the biopsy that he's afraid of but the results of it.

If he's too stubborn to follow doctor's orders after the PSA, then it will be time for a Dear Dad/Dear Husband letter or intervention day where you and your daughters reassure him that your family can face anything. You already did! Bring up one or two other times where he's been there for all of you during your own crises, and now you are a team who will be there for him. Mention in your letter or "speech" that you're a family that tackles things head on and early on whether it's changing the oil in a car regularly or going to the doctor's. This is how your family team does things. (I'm assuming you do or will.)

This is serious stuff but will be infinitely worse if he delays a biopsy. But right now, just take the smaller step of accompanying him to the urologist's because you want to hear what possible causes there might be for rising PSA, blood in urine, etc. Maybe it's a kidney stone! An infection! Just be cool right now even as you plan for the next step. Good luck.

Thanks again everyone. I will take everyone's advice in going forward and keep reading posting, as it really seems to alleviate my stress over this entire situation! Your input has been extremely helpful and important in helping me see the bigger picture here and hopefully providing my husband with information that might just save his life.

elsa - I hope you love it there. I often went there on business to Coke, Six Flags and CNN - always had a great time.

My husband had MRI with endorectal coil because the first biopsy didn't find anything and his PSA was constantly rising. The MRI diagnosed cancer, but the whole experience was really tough, very painful. He said if he knew it would be so bad, he would have gone straight to the biopsy.

elsa-

MRI before a first biopsy is controversial. In the US, most insurance will not cover that. If he refuses to have a biopsy, I think the chances that he will agree to both an hour-long MRI and a biopsy are slim to none.