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How long after RP for 1st blood test

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Posted 12/30/2018 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
RP 11-27, Dr appt this week, after 6 weeks I would like to get my PSA but my Dr said wait 3 months. I’ve seen lots of guys with tests much earlier. Thoughts?
Posted 12/30/2018 4:59 AM (GMT 0)
3 months is often the doc's recommendation. Earlier isn't always best as your PSA continues fall post RP. At six weeks, you should have a good indication, but it's possible that it might fall a bit more. Anything earlier than a month isn't likely to be useful due to the half life of PSA in the blood.

Likely the difference between 6 and 12 weeks isn't that big a deal. Waiting is difficult because we want to know if the treatment worked. If RP failed you need to wait for 3-5 months to heal from surgery before starting any new treatments.

Personally, I'd wait till three months, just let you body heal and live life.
Andrew
Posted 12/30/2018 12:01 PM (GMT 0)
Like Andrew said, at 6 weeks, it will show the trend--it should be much lower than your pre-surgery PSA, but it may not be undetectable. For the definitive answer, wait to 3 months.
Posted 12/30/2018 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
Agree with the others, 3 months. 6 weeks may or may not show undetectable, but if it doesn’t it may be meaningless and cause unnecessary stress
Posted 12/30/2018 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks guys, Prat, our stories are similar in lots of ways, so glad I found this forum
Posted 12/30/2018 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
A signature as always...always helps......your post op pathology.usually hints at whether psa is gonna be good or not...you might as well get used to dealing with the waits now...or its gonna be a long life of angst...depending on personality...that could still happen..good luck....whatever you do...try not to photoshop your own life...no I will not explain that one folks...


8 weeks should be good...a month will just increase your angst....you could get a psa on your own right now...
Posted 1/1/2019 6:48 PM (GMT 0)
I had my first test at 6 weeks. This is what my URO recommended. It came back at .1 from 34 pre RP. My second test was at the 3 month mark and was at .2
In my case I started adt and rt just that much sooner. Right or wrong it all seems to have worked ok.
Posted 1/1/2019 7:46 PM (GMT 0)
I would say 6-8 weeks would be sufficient as 3 months seems to be on the long side.

Bobby Mac
Posted 1/1/2019 8:58 PM (GMT 0)
My urologist is 3 months for first PSA after surgery. He said you cannot really do anything for six months anyways and you want to be far enough down the road to get a representative value. I hate to wait but would like to get a 0.00 like everyone here and waiting 4-6 weeks does not really matter much.
Posted 1/1/2019 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
You can see from my signature that I was fortunate to have an undetectable PSA 5 weeks out.

As logo said depends on your path report and pre RP PSA. Do get your signature in your profile.

If your pre RP PSA was Less than 5 and you have clean path report than you should be <0.1 at 6 weeks out.
Posted 1/1/2019 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
Mayo Clinic likes to wait 3 months.
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