New Member - Spouce Might Have PC

My 43-year-old husband has apparently been having symptoms of PCa for over a year. He ignored them because he just assumed that they were side effects of his other conditions. He has nerve damage in his lumbar spine as a result of spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease, and lumbar nerve damage can sometimes cause urinary issues. However, when he recently saw a list of all the symptoms of PCa and discovered that he had every single one (including blood in the semen, which freaked me out), he went to his regular physician, told her the symptoms, and had a PSA test. It was 6. His urinalysis was normal. They referred him to a urologist (is that even the appropriate referral?) for further examination and testing. The earliest they could get him in is two weeks from now. This stinks on so many levels. But one particularly depressing aspect is that he was just starting to get his life back. He has been on full SSDI disability due to his constant pain from his spine, and in April he had a spinal cord stimulator implanted in his back that has helped his pain immensely. He was just starting to look for jobs so he could get off disability, and now this. I don't know how I can wait 2 weeks for this appointment. Also, he can't have an MRI due to his implant. Does this affect the ease with which he can be diagnosed? What do y'all think the odds are that he really does have cancer?

Post Edited By Moderator (Steve n Dallas) : 6/17/2011 11:01:58 AM (GMT-6)

No. She offered to do one, but she said that the results wouldn't change her treatment plan (which was basically just the PSA, urinalysis, and referral to URO), so my husband declined, figuring if what she was going to do would be the same either way, what was the point? I suspect this is the drawback to having a female GP when you're a man. He probably would have gone ahead with it if the doc had been male. Grrrrrrrr......

Hubby insists that 2 weeks isn't going to make a difference one way or the other even if it is aggressive cancer. But can't days count when it's aggressive?

Thanks so much for the warm welcome and support. It's particularly difficult because my husband doesn't want to talk about it. My fear that it's aggressive is based on a combination of the facts that he has ALL the symptoms, and his age--don't younger people often have more aggressive forms? I'm trying very hard to Be Calm (hence the screen name), but it isn't easy.

Thanks so much. It's good to know that the DRE just by the urologist may be the better path.

My book list also includes:

Slightly less technical than the Walsh book, but updated in 2010, is "Dr. Peter Scardino's Prostate Book" (2nd edition).

I've read both, and find Scardino's book a good alternative. In the new edition there are more useful diagrams, and some areas that I though were vague in the older edition are improved. Also, being a 2010 edition, some of the factual details are more up to date.

Walsh is more brutally clear on some points.

Thank you all so much. It's very helpful to know what to expect. If he does have a cancer diagnosis, I will get the books.

Hi BeCalm. I'm another wife on this forum. My husband was diagnosed at age 50 and had NO symptoms. He doesn't talk about it, either. We've had cousins call with all kinds of symptoms, they were fine. Hopefully your husband will have a few tests and get a clean bill of health.

Either way - you will find this forum very helpful with lots of kind people to share your concerns with.

I am definitely going to show this to my husband, because I very much want to go to the appointments with him, but I'm not sure he'd be comfortable with that. As it happens, I've gone with him for appointments related to other conditions, and he has usually appreciated it. I think maybe because his mother is a nurse, he tends not to question doctors as much as he should. I do. Unfortunately, he is very embarrassed about this, and I don't think he'd let me go with him to the urologist. I've hesitated asking him so far, because once he makes his mind up about something he doesn't like to change it, and if he says no, I don't want to spend the next two weeks trying to convince him to change his mind.

What do I think?  Your husband should take the advice of medical professionals he trusts.  Two week is not long to wait for an appointment.  In fact, it's a short wait for a good Urologist.  Your concerns may not be his.  Encourage your husband to read and participate in the discussions here.  Or, back off.