How I was diagnosed; incontinence

I am 3 weeks post prostatectomy (da Vinci) and this is my first post. I want to say how grateful I am to have found this site and how much I appreciate the information everyone has provided. It certainly has taken away the feeling of loneliness. I have two questions.

First, the way I was diagnosed is very unconventional. My father died at 60 of PC and when he was diagnosed, it was stage 4. He died 8 months later. For 21 years, I have been faithful with the yearly PSA and DRE (I am 51). My 2013 PSA was 1.9 and DRE detected nothing. In December, I had my first kidney stone attack. After it passed, a friend suggested I see a urologist. I hesitated, but she insisted. The urologist saw my father's history and shared that his father had died of prostate cancer. He gave me the choice of repeating the urinalysis in 3 months or doing a cystoscopy. If I chose the cystoscopy, he was willing to biopsy the prostate, although he did not feel it was really needed (my GP said a biopsy was "over-kill"). I chose to be aggressive and have the biopsy. Needless to say, the urologist and I were stunned when it showed 7 out of 12 samples were cancerous, in both lobes and a Gleason of 6. I have so many emotions that I have dealt with as this was a fluke. My PSA and DRE were not showing anything. Had it not been for the options the Dr. gave me and my decision to be aggressive, I doubt I would have lived to the age of my father. I am posting this because I have not read of a similar experience and because I have become keenly aware that there is so much to be done in regard to screening. If anyone has had a similar experience or just a comment, I would appreciate it.

My second question is much shorter. Three days after having my catheter removed, I started passing blood clots. They continued to get larger. During this time, I was not incontinent and was thrilled. Two days ago I stopped passing clots and now am leaking to the point that I have started using shields. I am really not complaining as I feel so fortunate, but just find it interesting that I now have to use shields. Were the clots "damming" up the urine and now that they are not there, I have less control? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

My diagnosis was strange also. Because I am a big bicycle rider during the summer, an elevated PSA was a common occurrence for me. My PSA never went above 4.0, but would often jump from my "normal" 2.3 or so to 3.8 or 3.9. They would put me on Cipro for 6 weeks and down it would come back to "normal". In late 2011 I went on Cipro again because of an elevated PSA at the end of the biking season. DRE were always fine and I had no family history. This time the Cipro again dropped my PSA, but not back to my "normal" reading. My urologist was not concerned because the PSA dropped indicating infection. I, however, being the eternal worry wart asked to have a biopsy to be sure for my own peace of mind and the rest is history. I had many people who thought I was crazy to request a biopsy, but for me the constant worry was far worse than the biopsy procedure. I would have loved to have been proven wrong, but I am equally glad I insisted on the biopsy.

Tom