New member greeting

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to say hi for my first post here and I will do a lot or reading before asking a lot of questions that have already been answered. I'm 49 y/o and recently had a PSA test come back with a reading of 9.92 so my Urologist wants to do a biopsy. No symptoms to speak of, during exam he didn't feel anything other than some slight enlargement. I like my doc but he is a local guy and wants to do it in office. I've been through a lot medically over the years due to work related injuries and I am a bit of a "professional" patient. I research the hell out of what my diagnosis is as well as the Dr. treating me. I firmly believe in getting it done right the first time if possible after going through all I have in the past. So I did some research online and found Dr. Ravi Munver down at Hackensack UMC who sounds great. We'll see what he says in a couple of weeks and we'll go from there. I found this site while researching Dr. Munver as a member here wrote a great journal about his treatment. Glad I found you all as its always good to talk to other patients.

Well I wish you all well and I will get back to reading and praying for a negative biopsy. God bless

Sincerely,

Bill

Thank you Michael, I have been fighting chronic sinus infections since October and I am scheduled for sinuplasty surgery tomorrow. I will be ending yet another course of antibiotics by the weekend. I asked my general physician for a script to do a retest of my PSA week before my appointment with Dr. Munver. I am on bactrim now and before that I was on Doxy, I don't know if either of these are used for the treatment of a prostate infection. I will reach out to my doc and ask, thank you for the idea. One my reasons for seeking out another doctor was how casual he was to jump right to a biopsy. Hey if it were a simple biopsy I would say sure go for it. Thank you for the advice and kind words!

Awesome thank you Allen that is great advice, no idea how big my prostate actually is. I did mention that test as well as ultrasound, mri's or CT studies to my doc and his reply was they are all great but they still won't tell us if you have PC or not. He does have a point but it was right then that I told myself I need to find another doc.

Bill

Welcome Bill. IMO, good move on a different doc. After my first biopsy missed, I changed from my local practice to Johns Hopkins for similar reasons. I didn't like where we were headed when a saturation biopsy was suggested as my next option by the locals. When I had my second 'fusion' biopsy (post 3T MRI), I kept thinking "didn't I just go through this? Why didn't we do the MRI the FIRST time?" I realize much of it is insurance related.

Thank you guys, so glad I found this forum! Great advice and my background for being the way I am is I basically I suffered years of harm (PAIN) by doctors missing what was really wrong with me in the past. If someone told me of the best place on earth to get this first step done and treated the best way possible I would be on a plane there and doing it. Having gone through the painful medical meat grinder/tests/therapies/surgeries more than once I am all about going into this as knowledgeable as possible. I plan on looking up the best books on the topic as well. I picked Hackensack UMC based on their long track record of excellence overall as well as many recommendations and then of course looking up "best doctor" in the field in my area. I know fromm experience you usually get good care at the teaching hospitals and if I need treatment its easier for family to drive me there than into NYC. Thank you again! I am looking into that PHI test now, they said they don't have a license for it in the state of NY but I am close to NJ where they do so I have a name for a doctor down there who does it. Strange that only a very few doctors are doing it.

Hi medbill,

The purpose of a prostate biopsy is not to determine whether you have prostate cancer or not. You probably do. * see below

The purpose of a prostate biopsy is to help determine whether you need to take aggressive action for treatment or not. You probably don't. ** see below

That's pretty much it in a nutshell for now. Good luck.




* An important study--an autopsy study--was completed on men of all ages who had died in accidents. It revealed that in round numbers that 50% of men in their 50s had a detectable level of what today is called "prostate cancer." Roughly 60% of 60 year olds had PC, 70% of 70 year olds, etc. Most didn't know they had it, and it likely never would have caused them any problem and were it not for the accident which sadly ended their lives they probably would have lived their normal life expectancy. Even 90% of those who are diagnosed with PC life their normal life expectancy.


** The NCCN publishes a guide for patients to understand their risk category. (You should at some point read more about this in the sticky thread titled, "Newly diagnosed -- read this thread first.") The largest single group category, the one most men are diagnosed as, is the "low-risk" category. Active Surveillance, and specifically NOT pursuing aggressive, irreversible treatments, is typically recommended for "low-risk" patients.

Bill, I'll add my welcome to our club none of us wanted to join. I hope your stay is short. That being said, it does sound like you're making some solid moves. I'd suggest that if you do wind up having a biopsy, it's always a good plan to send your slides off for second opinion, and the best at PC slides is Dr. Epstein's team at Johns Hopkins.

A phrase from the advertising world applies to PC diagnosis and treatment---i IS a tricky beastie--is 'go big or go home'. It sounds like you're doing that already. It means, to me, to get yourself to a top center with top people. If you do come up with a diagnosis that suggests treatment, then more research is needed to find top people in each of the various treatment modalities. The nice thing is that PC is generally a slow mover, it's only in rare cases where treatment needs to start immediately. Most docs tell patients they have months to decide what to do.

Hang in there, you'll get through it.