PSA 9.8, free PSA 9, scarried

Unless you want to waste money a pelvic CT scan will not show anything. CT scans are only recommended for high risk patients with a high psa as they will only show tumors greater than 10mm outside the prostate, which would indicate an advanced case of PC.

Welcome to HW, sorry you need to be here.

Now is the time to start learning every thing you can about PC. Checkout the sticky threads at the top of the forum.

The biopsy is the thing to wait for. PSA and free PSA are just indicators that you need to go looking for PC, they aren't all that good a predicting the outcome of the biopsy. I never did the free PSA test because my PSA was rising fast enough to warrant a biopsy. I didn't bother with the imaging scans until after I selected my treatment method.

For your husband, it's doubtful that the scans would show anything useful at this point.

Take it a step at a time. I know this is scary and likely all kinds of bad things are floating in your mind. Get the biopsy - they don't come much less invasive than the standard 12 needle one. The procedure is annoying, uncomfortable and undignified but there are a lot worse things to endure. The worst of it is a sore backside, some bleeding and the fear of infection.

and even if the worst is true, relax, there are plenty of treatments and while it won't be fun to deal with, but there is every hope of a positive outcome. Don't let the 'C' word scare you - we've come a long way in treatment and there's every hope in the world he'll be here in ten years still forgetting to take the garbage out.

Andrew

Pick up a copy of Dr. Pat Walsh's book How to Survive Prostate Cancer..This will give both you and your husband a clear understanding of what you MAY be dealing with.

Thank you all, wish everyone speedy - full recovery.

Looks like my husband has pretty high PSA to start with it compared to yours all. Monday, we will make an appointment with another urologist at Emory hospital. Emory's head of prostate cancer is a friend of us. He will be guiding us through this journey. Of course, I am praying that he just has an infection and everything will come back clean. Myself had a breast cancer scary just last March and ended up getting preventive double mastectomy.

Emotionally is draining me. But your posting eases the fear.

motherof3,

I am a father of 3 (grandfather of 9) and live in the Atlanta area (live in Cumming and work in Dunwoody). My wife had her second bout of breast cancer four years ago which included a double mastectomy.

If there is anything we can assist you and your husband with, please let me know.

As you can see my PSA was significantly high at dx, but not nearly as high as some others. Your husband's PSA is high, but it could be something other than cancer, so you do have to be guided by the biopsy for confirmation.

Relax and take the time to start learning, but do what it takes to reduce the anxiety.

Best wishes,

Jack

Hi everyone,

My husband had an 3T MRI yesterday and THANK GOD nothing was seen. Now, we are waiting for the biopsy date.

One again, I truly appreciate for your all input.

Best,

Good to hear of the results so far.

Do let us know how the biopsy goes.

Andrew

An unwarranted and unnecessary MRI and biopsy, imho. Sadly, it's very typical. It demonstrates why our health insurance rates are skyrocketing in the US. Big Pharma and hospitals are easy targets, but we seldom stop to consider what we and our doctors should be doing.

- Allen

Allen, I'm curious about your statement that both the MRI and biopsy were unwarranted. Why is that? Are you saying it was unwarranted because they didn't rule out prostatitis first? Or because the PSA varied somewhat? Or maybe do a PCA3 first? I would think a 9.8 PSA in a 54 year old would be a reasonable indication that something is going on. And I'm sorry if I've missed a prior post about your position on that, but I don't recall it anyway.

I had a biopsy indicated from a 5.2 PSA at age 55 with no other indicators, (un?)fortunately finding a pretty unpleasant situation hopefully in the nick of time. I'd liked to have had the MRI first, and maybe decide then on biopsy or not. But I sure would have wanted at least one or the other.

Jerry

Jerry and Tall,

This would be a lovely topic for another thread. Motherof3 has enough stuff to be scarried about without feeling responsible for the cost of your insurance.

Don't mean to quash your discussion. Feel free to start another thread and let the buck stop there.

The one positive out of this is he does now have a baseline PSA for a reference point for the future.

At 70, my PSA of 5.8 wasn't considered abnormal by my internist. But the rise from 4.9 to 5.8 in 8 months was a concern and led to the biopsy and DX of PCa.

Mom, this is hard to hear, but the reality is that you're in fine hands at Emory, it's truly a top 10 center. It's as good there as you'll find anywhere. The combined 9.8 PSA and 9.0 free PSA is concerning. The biopsy is unpleasant, but not awful. In my experience the worst part was the antibiotic shot in the butt cheek. Then there is the wait for results.

Oh, another thing to be aware of, as the wife: following biopsy he'll be passing blood for a while. Possibly in his stool, maybe for a few days in his urine, and for several weeks in his ejaculate. It's unpleasant, but can be dealt with.

Also, don't be surprised if you wait a while before the biopsy. My Urologist was running 6 weeks ahead scheduling for biopsies, and that's not uncommon. The really good news is that PC is very slow growing, and delays are not usually an issue for outcomes.

I'd reiterate the suggestion that you read the sticky threads at the top of the forum, and start your research. The biggest thing is to slow down, get some rest, and understand that his chances, even if he does get a positive diagnosis, are very, very good. He'll be around to torment you for a very long time. I'm just a couple years older, and I have every intention of seeing my 10 month old grandson grow up and have children of his own.