In another thread, new member gabsdad2003 posted...
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gabsdad2003 said...
Glad to hear everything is alright, I am newly registered to this forum to just let others know that psa's are not definitve
as to having cancer but I strongly suggest getting tested regularly to see if it is elevated.
My diagnosis was only due to back pains that I continally kept working through, as i am a self employed contractor and couldn't take days off. Finally one day the pain was so bad i couldn't ignore it and (work through it). The initial doctors visit was 06-22-2018, they ran blood tests and I (finally got them to issue an xray order because I only had back pain) noticed my ribs, sternum, collar bones and hips hurt severly at times.The initial PSA came back with a reading of 7,330. The number was so high that they wanted a second blood work order to check the PSA again, so on 06-29-2018 I had another PSA ran and while I was waiting for the results, they weren't back yet and on 07-05-2018 I had worked that day through the pain and couldn't get out of the back seat of my brothers truck due to the back pain and sciatic nerve issue.I went to the emergency room the did blood work, a CT scan and MRI. THe blood work came back as elevated, above their 5,000 PSA cutoff and the scans showed a fractured L-4 and L-5 vertebrae that was causing the sciatic nd lower back pain. They immediately had me transferred and admitted to Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. louis,Mo. in their cancer center. I was admitted on 07-05-2018. I had a biopsy on 07-06-2018 came back positive. The PSA result from the 06-29-2018 blood work came back and my PSA was 7,800. I was dignosed with stage 4 or advanced metastic prostate cancer that metastsized into all my bones thus all the pain (that I so stupidly tried to work through). I have 9 lesions on my spine 2 at L4 and L5, 4 in the middle of my spine in the T vertebrae's and 3 on my neck in the c vertebrae's. I was released on 07-25-2018 nearly 3 weeks after admittance. My weight, as I am 6' tall had dropped from 170 down to 134.9 when I was released. I am still battling it as I sit here. I am on ZYTIGA and prednisone that thank god is covered by my insurance as the zytiga costs just over $10,000.00 per month. My PSA is down to 29.6 as of 05-10-2019. Not near normal but I will take it for now. I am on disability right now due to the lesions. Sorry this is so lengthy but if explaining what i have gone through, am going through and will be going through helps 1 other understand this disease then it's worth the typing! I told all my doctors while I was in the hospital to "just do what they have to do and i will do what I have to do to beat this". It is very hard somedays but I know I can't let up or give up. To all that read this I wish you all the best in the fight and just realize that it can be beat, if we don't give in and continue to fight, Sincerely JEFF!
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