UROLOGIST SHOULD HAVE ACTED ON BLOOD TEST RESULTS FROM 1/31/13

I edited the title to try and get some opinions -

Bobby Mac,

Aren't you about 5-6 days out from surgery? How are you doing. When do you expect the post surgery pathology report?

J

The test did not show high grade cancer it showed the odds of having pca not necessarily high grade… don't take the bait Bobby Mac. turn the corner..no periscope like when we were kids...

Bobby Mac,
Your analysis seems correct, I concur with your thoughts. Add me as one of those stories where the Urologist and GP both did not act or convince me or explain the seriousness of a rising PSA, 4.6 in Jan 2008 and 6.1 in March 2008. Always hindsight is 20/20, but cant dwell with regrets and remorse, cant change what happened, or beat ourselves up or the Docs either. Just have to face the future with hope, and make the best of it. And share and explain to other newbies what to look out for and to keep vigilant and educated. My advice, as always, keep the faith.
Dan in So Cal

Bozo,
I get what you're saying. We must be responsible for our own health and educated. My DH has much more faith in the potter than I do. I tend to micromanage and oversee the dimensions and development of the pot and want to make sure I like the color too!
Simply put, there are no easy or correct answers on this one Bobby Mac and others. We can file malpractice, but does that accomplish anything? IMHO, NO! Educate ourselves, others..that's my goal. Knowledge is power. Live each day to the fullest and try to move forward without regrets.
Beth
PS..I hope you are wrong about the pilots and air traffic controllers

We are on the other side of this. Thanks to a vigilant doctor who saw that my husband's PSA had jumped 2 points in a year, he sent him to a urologist. The urologist poo pooed it all because the PSA score was a measly 3.6 and then the PSA free test came back at a 8%. Then he sat up and took notice.

The problem with all of this is that we are all told how slow growing PCa is so what's the hurry? My husband was told by his urologist that he had 6 months to decide on the course of treatment. 2 weeks later we see the surgeon to get his take and when we told him of the urologist telling us we had 6 months to decide, he shook his head and said, "no. More like 2 months." Who do you believe? There is no crystal ball and while breast cancer can be visualized as to size and whereabouts, the same cannot be said for prostate cancer which I find appalling. We don't know if it is still inside the prostate or has decided to set up a vacation home in the bladder and even though he had a ct scan and a bone scan that both came out "clean", the doctor gave us the good news with one hand and then promptly took it away with the other. "You realize that cancer cells are so small that millions of them would have to band together to be seen on a ct scan or bone scan? So, basically, you could have bone cancer or lymph node involvement, we just can't see it." So outside of the fact that there is no visual proof that the cancer has spread, we still have no idea what will be found once it is removed and even after that have no idea what the future holds. So the pendulum hangs over my husband's head just waiting to strike.

So whether you have a vigilant doctor or one who poo poos you or one you choose to ignore, we are all still in the same boat ... hopeful to be a prostate cancer survivor instead of victim.

Annie, very well put.
Bobby, as Compiler said, let's just hope you get a great path report and none of this matters in the end.

My mom died of Breast Cancer at age 54. When she was 51, she felt a lump and saw her Dr, who based on feel, told her to "relax it was nothing to worry about, just a cyst" 6 months later another Dr disagreed. By then it had spread to her lymph nodes, and in less than 3 years she was gone. In the last 6 months she suffered terribly.

Back in those days, 30+ years ago, nobody questioned a doctor. So she did what anyone would do.
After she died, I thought about that Dr a lot. But I decided not to sue, and not to even bring it up to my dad. I felt if I did either, it would just drudge up bad memories f the last few years that I'd have to live all over again.
I don't know if I made the right decision, maybe I should have gone after the Dr to make sure he didn't take such a lax approach with another young guys mother.
But hopefully, he learned from it, and was more careful after misdiagnosis G her,

Could we take away from such accounts of MD inattention or worse that choosing our medical providers/monitors is paramount? There is general consensus here about employing the best surgeon or oncologist. Does that also apply to GP s? Perhaps that's the most significant decision we can make in exercising responsibility for our health care.
Might it be useful to hear from each other about how we do that - specifically for a GP?

The stories in this string are tragic and common.

Wilderness

Bobby Mac,
I too should have had further tests but my doctor chose to ignore it and in fact made a statement on my health summary that everything looked A.O.K. Maybe if mine had been caught sooner, I would not have the life threatening disease I have today. But that's water under the bridge.

Yes, the drs are human and see a lot of patients. The moral of our sad story is that I finally took the bull by the horns and went around and over the head of my DH s PC to a gastro specialist, who finally ordered a PSA. So more than just telling people to get a PSA, I say be your own best advocate and be a part of your treatment plan. If it doesn't feel right, keep looking. Most Drs today want you to do so.
@Bozo nocal..Mendocino Coast.

Lloyd Bridges with cigarette dangling from mouth Halbert??

The past is exactly that, the past, over and done with.