Husband possibly has PC....freaking out!

So is he freaking out or or you? Take it one step at a time, biopsy. He aint gonna die from it. But if you or him or both have anxiety issues that can more dangerous physically than a 6.8 psa. prostatitus infections are notoriously well hidden and can escape antibiotics.{was he given any btw} and can be chronic in their own right. Relax, he will be fine dispite a season of unrest ahead.

Allison: Elevated PSA is not an indicator of PC. It simply means that something is going on with the prostate that needs to be looked at by a specialist in the field, a Urologist. It would help if you had the last two PSA readings. I say this because trends are what Uros are looking for to aid I their diagnosis. Take a deep breath, be happy that your GP gave you good advice on seeing a Uro, and keep us updated. Be assured that you have come to a place where people will give great advice based on experience and knowledge.

Stay tuned as others will be along with more words of assurance and sage advice. The very best to you and your hubby.

Welcome to HW.

No, you shouldn't panic. You don't know what is wrong. PSA isn't a test for cancer, it just tests prostate activity and is a possible indication that something may be wrong with his prostate. All it means right now is that your doctor is correct and a referral to a urologist is in order find out what is going on in the prostate. Possible problems there are:

Infection, prostatitis is hard to diagnose and harder to treat (it's often missed by GPs and even UROs).
BPH, enlarged prostate. The bigger it is, the more PSA gets kicked out.
Error in at the lab (happens sometimes).
Sex, bike riding, heavy lifting can sometimes do this.
it could be normal for him.
yes, it could be cancer, but that is very low on the list.

So deal with what you know, high PSA, normal DRE which tells you to see a URO for an evaluation of all the other possibilities. Likely, they'll want to repeat the PSA to confirm the reading and do another DRE. DREs can be somewhat subjective. The URO might want to do a round of antibiotics just to see what the PSA will do - if it is prostatitis you'll see a drop in PSA.

And finally, PC is a very slow growing cancer so even if the worst is true, you've got plenty of time to get proper testing. 19 days to the end of the month is nothing, other than the stress of waiting and not knowing. We've all done that an understand it's easy for us to say, "Relax, don't worry," but we do have to say it even though we know you can't.

And finally, finally, don't panic and rush into wacky things, you've got plenty of time to do your research, get tests and stress over what to or not to do.

Hang in there and let us know what the URO says,
Andrew

Thanks to you guys as well. My husband does work out A LOT. In fact, he was at the gym right before his blood work but just did cardio that day. It's going to be hard waiting because I am the most impatient person ever but I'm going to try to STOP Google-searching this topic because I always seem to find the worst case scenario sites and it's really depressing. :-(

Allison,

No matter what the condition is, listen to these long-time members/posters.

The knowledge and feedback I have received since my diagnoses (OCT 2015) is invaluable.

Great advice here. There are a few things I'd have done well to learn prior to consulting with urologist a bit more than a year ago. There are more incisive tests than PSA. % free and, better PHI. So perhaps learn about those. I gather some here have used MRI to image. And if it comes to biopsy, check about some sort of anaesthetic. Likely routine with many uros. Not my first one.
Wishing you and your husband the best. The first days with the possibility of cancer are a bit sleepless for most everyone. You're not alone.
Wildernezs

Allison, as others have said, the PSA is not a cancer test. It is, as one commenter has said, a "check engine light". It means that something is happening down there, but what it is is unknown for now. His doubling time is a concern, and may indicate something bad is going on. Biopsy is the answer. Once the biopsy results come in, we can help translate.

You don't say where you're located, but it might be time to start researching where the best people near you are located. There are good people all over, and they aren't all at Johns Hopkins or MSKCC. If you tell us where you are, someone in here will have experience near you.

A single PSA below 10, is like a yellow alert, something to follow up on and see it thru. That is not an orange or red.

Mine was 6.79 on July 14, when I was denied a life insurance policy.

It was like a slap in the face, I go see a URO, and he wants to do a biopsy without even running another PSA test to see if there was a lab screw up. Thankfully, I found HW early on and read the sticky and started learning. Tried another, better URO and after several more tests he wanted to do a blind biopsy. A standard blind biopsy doesn't cover all of the prostate, so I elected to wait till I could have a Fusion biopsy where software fuses Ultrasound over a Multiparametric MRI to guide the biopsy.

One of the things that I learned is that most PCa is indolent (slow.)

Another thing I learned is that you want to go to one of the top centers, not only for treatment and diagnosis if that is possible, and sometimes it is not feasible.

There are no easy answers here, the path you are embarking on will likely not be black or white but varying shades of grey. Tinted by where you live, what insurance will cover, and it will likely be confusing.

You guys will handle this in the best possible manner by taking the time to learn the complexities. This forum is one of the best places you can find for realistic info and support. Read the sticky, read other threads. Keep in mind that there are a lot of success stories who don't post, a lot of people that were diagnosed negative and have never come back.

Here four months after my 6.79 PSA, I have an appointment at Duke the day before Thanksgiving for an initial consult, no biopsy as of yet.

You have plenty of time. Take it easy, the more you know, the calmer you and your guy will be and you will make better decisions.

Post Edited (Ken) : 11/11/2015 8:41:35 PM (GMT-7)

HI Allison,

Hopefully you are just visiting for awhile and this will be just a bad memory months from now.

In October 2000, I had a PSA of 9.1, I had a biopsy and it was negative. Then in October 2004, it went back up to 8.9, had another biopsy and it also was negative.

I had a physical in April 2012, PSA went to 18.5, I had another biopsy and found now my luck had run out and I was diagnosed with PCa.

Hopefully your husband follows my path and this time it is just a rude awaking that he has something else going on this time. If so, make sure he continues to get his PSA checked yearly. I was tired of the biopsy scares and went 8 years before another PSA test. I thought my PSA just ran higher than average.

Prostate Cancer almost never shows any outward symptoms and it does not discriminate. Most of us said the sane thing, "I eat right, work out, watch my weight, etc."

Good luck in the coming weeks. PCa is a slow growing cancer so if you have to wait a few weeks to see a urologist, it will be fine.

Bill from Florida

...and another thing.

I didn't find this forum on Google, I was referred to this site by a high school friend of mine who is on here. Thank God he did, because left to my own devices, and Dr. Google, I'd most likely be sitting here right now with no prostate, some level of ED, and possibly incontinent. I literally thank my lucky stars every day that I found this place!

Allison, I went back and read your initial post. In my case, it was about 3 weeks from the high PSA to the first Uro visit, and 6 more weeks before they could schedule the biopsy. Good news is that PC is slow growing, so a few weeks--even a few months---makes no significant different 99% of the time.

Chances are that even if it IS PC, it's early and low risk. His PSA is slightly high for his age, but it's not astronomical. There are reports in here of PSA in the high 3 digits or even 4 digits. You're not even close.

I'm a pretty new member also and although past the initial shock of what may be ahead you have been given some great advice. The 30 days of Cipro is the real deal and will rule out prostatitis. Although you'all are upset and anxious please try and be nice to the caregivers if you want special consideration. They will be much more likely to cooperate. I'm sure you already know there is a wide spectrum of opinions but a couple facts remain. The unknown is pretty tough to deal with and so do your best to get the information you need vs the what if inclination. Take the advise of second opinions as well if at all possible as it will collaberate what your being told to help you make decisions. Good luck on your journey and please check back as needed with any questions. There are alot more experienced and smarter folks here than I that can get you the answers you need.