I Need some answers fom you guys

Hi.

An elevated PSA does not necessarily mean it's cancer. It could be elevated from prostatitis or BPH (benign enlargement).

If it is cancer, it's not a death sentence. Caught early, it's very curable and just a bump in the road, as Dr. Walsh would say. It's almost never a wildfire like breast cancer and other cancers can be. It's more of a turtle, usually. If he has it, it has been developing for years--decades even.

Don't fret about chemo. That's not a first-line treatment for prostate cancer. IF he has cancer, and that is a big unknown, he will go over the stage and Gleason score with his doctor and evaluate his options. Treatment for localized prostate cancer is usually a choice of surgery (open or robotic), external radiation in the form of X-rays or protons, or brachytherapy (seed implantation). There are other therapies possible as well, such as cryo and HIFU.

You're worried about something that hasn't happened yet. Hang in there, and let us know how it goes, okay?

dandan,

we welcome you here to HW, and can honestly say we would know how you feel. when i got my PC dx. last year at this time, my two sons, at that time 25 an 31 were shocked. your reaction is very normal, and I can understand why you are upset and even scared. the others have given you sound advice. his rising psa doesn't mean cancer for sure, there are other non-cancerous reasons. with the rise that has taken place so far, it makes good medical sense to do a biopsy. for most men, its a bit uncomfortable, but we get through them. as suggested, a good doctor will make sure that it is painless to your father as possible. i had 3 of them along the way, none of them were terrible.

even if cancer is detected, as mentioned above, there is a wide range of options to be considered before he would need to make a primary treatment choice. we have men here experienced in all of them, so we would be happy to help you and him with information and experience that we can share.

we are a brother hood here of prostate cancer survivors, you and your father are most welcomed here. there is no such thing as a dumb question, so ask away, and we will be happy to steer you to the right source or share an experience with you.

for your father's sake, and for your peace of mind, i sincerely hope that it isnt cancer. but if it is, it doesnt mean its a death sentence by any means.

please keep in touch and keep us posted of what is going on.

david in sc

Hi Dandan,
Welcome to healingwell. Thanks for joining and count on your father being around quite a long time.

Your father's high PSA is concerning in that cancer must be verified. The medication he likely took was an antibiotic. As suggested above, the first part of verifying prostate cancer is eliminating other things. The doctors were correct in administering an antibiotic. Next is the biopsy. This is used to see tissue samples of the prostate. If they are cancer, they will be graded as to their aggressiveness, and a clinical stage will be assigned. From my experience, if your father has prostate cancer, he likely has a very treatable case of it. Many guys get discovered with PSA's in the hundreds and that too can be managed.

There are several effective ways to treat localized cancer. Surgery, radiation, and others can be used to stop the disease progression. In such cases, the cancer can be cured or it will be managed. prostate cancer can be managed many years even decades. It is important for you and your father to educate yourselves of these points. It will help take away the fear you and your father are likely feeling.

You are very welcome to follow along with us. Since your father is headed to biopsy, then have him ask for a copy of the pathology report. It should be available withing a week or so of the biopsy. It is very important to not move forward with any treatments until he has that in hand. This will help determine what to do if anything at all...And I mean that, it is possible to do nothing safely...

Tony

From a daughter that has been through the process, I just wanted to let you know that I also agree with the above posts. Stay calm and know that PCa isn't the end of the world. Is it terrifying? Absolutely. Is it curable? In most cases absolutely. Stay positive and believe that if your dad has PCa, that it will be caught early and cured. At this point, you have absolutely no reason to think otherwise. Keep us posted and know that we are here to answer any questions and offer support.

I think that almost no one here would say that their treatment was "life altering" at least in terms of work My younger brother had seed implants and was back to making sales calls the next day. I had surgery and was back at work in 2 1/2 weeks carrying my full load (could have gone back at under two weeks if necessary.)

Here is what is likely to happen:
Biopsy (takes 1-2 hours as an office procedure) If you are a workaholic you can go back to work afterward but I took the afternoon off.
Wait for the result -- about a week of senseless worry.
If negative -- go away unless there are symptoms like problems urinating. If there are, the doc can prescribe drugs to help.
If positive -- you get scheduled for a cat scan and a bone scan. Both are hospital procedures, but you walk in and walk out a couple of hours later and go back to work. This is extremely scary because while you are waiting for the scans and the results you imagine that the cancer has spread throughout your entire body. If fact, it almost never has.
So, with positive biopsy and negative scans you have localized prostate cancer and lots of options and months and months to decide (there is generally a minimum 6 week wait after the biopsy)

The odds of prostate cancer treatment working (no recurrence) run about 80% in the patient's favor. Even if follow-up treatment is needed, the odds of success are still better than 50%. A PSA of six is at the low end of where doctors start to worry, so it is reasonable to expect the best.

By the way, PCa got quite a few of us to look at our diet and lifestyle and make changes. Even if your dad doesn't have PCa, lifestyle changes help avoid a lot of diseases. My son has been encouraging me in these. Previously I reported about how a bowl of chips that I set out for watching a ball game was magically transformed into a bowl of carrot sticks.

Dear dandan:

In answer to your questions:

1.  Without seeing the results of a biopsy it would be impossible to characterize the potential cancer in terms of "life threatening" or not.  However, I can say that the chances are very good for a cure from multiple options.  We just need to learn more from the biopsy to be able to give you even educated guesses in the terms you want.

2.  "Life altering" is highly subjective.  Certainly, if he does have PCa, his life will be changed if he chooses to treat it.  I say "chooses" because, even if he does have it, he may decide to "watch" and see if it worsens...many men with very early stage cancer choose that course and do very well.  And, if he chooses surgery or radiation to treat the disease, both are highly likely to cure him (depending on the initial diagnosis) but with very different side effects.  Chemo is not a treatment of choice and the side effects are very different from chemo.

I'll repeat my earlier advice, i.e. be as cool as possible and, if you really want to learn about the disease, buy a primer like Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer that will give you an excellent background.

Tudpock

True, Tud, at my dr's practice, they only do the bone scan/cat scan with a biopsy of Gleason 7 or higher, and even then, its more of a formality.

Dandan, I also have seen what chemotherapy could do to people. However, not all drugs are the same and not all people are the same. I had chemo to improve my chances of successful surgery prior to it. I worked through the whole thing. My job has me travel every week, a lot of pressure and stress. Major sideeffects were a mild fatigue towards the end of the treatments. I did the treatment on Thu, felt great on Fri (they give you steroids prior to treatment) then got tired over the weekend and back to work on Mon. I worked Mon from home my last couple of treatments. I am telling this so that you don't feet it. While it is unlikely that your father will ever need it, if he does, it does not automatically mean he is going to be miserable.

Piano, good points. Also, I think it should be noted again that at best, a biopsy is an estimate of the extent of cancer, the staging and gleasons are preliminary. We know from experience, that in some cases, the gleason is upgraded one or two numbers if surgery is chosen, based on post surgery pathology. So a biopsy of a gleason 6 doesn't guarantee you that is all it is inside you.

If he chose open surgery, would be thinking more like be out of serious action for a month to six weeks, definitely no real lifting during that time. If keeping recovery time down, then robotic would make the most sense from the experiences I have seen and read here.

Not to scare anyone, especially a new person dx. with prostate cancer, but it is a major cancer, and while it can move slow, and act indolent at times, it should still be taken seriously. Time should be well spent checking out all available treatment options, and getting some good opinions across the board.

But I think it is important that all men considering surgery, whether it be open or robotic, it is still a major complex surgery, and the side effects vary so much from case to case.

David in SC

I agree with all the previous posts.

Don't get to far ahead of what is going on.  While I do have PCa I started with up and down PSAs and negative bios 10 years before I was finally diagnosed with PCa.

Hope this is a false alarm for your dad. If it is he should still stay proactive with his health.

Rich

www.gleasonscore10.com