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An (unfortunately) interesting oncologist visit today... a bit lost here...

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Posted 9/1/2016 11:36 PM (GMT 0)
Redwing, you'll never surpass me in the anxiety department, of that, I can assure you LOL.

But I'm glad you've got it under control. I knew you would, you are a very deliberate and reasoned guy.
Posted 9/2/2016 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with John T and TA......I would give things a while to settle down before I started throwing money around looking for shadows and ghosts ...When the time comes, there are effective scans your insurance WILL cover...You still have a prostate gland so you can expect to have some small amount of PSA...
Posted 9/2/2016 1:09 AM (GMT 0)

compiler said...
Redwing:

I did not know that PSMA was being done at Umich.

I just scheduled the C11 scan at Mayo. I wonder if I should look into it (my PSA is now probably between 1.5 and 2.0).
Who is your new guru?

I am seeing Dr. David Smith at Umich. I like him better than Hussain.

Mel

Hey Mel, I'll be seeing Dr. Smith. His CV looks outstanding, and I did recall you saying you liked him.

It'd be worth asking about the PSMA scan. That's apparently an active program right now. They must be trialing it to see if it's useful or not, worth the money or not. We didn't go into much depth about it.
Posted 9/2/2016 2:52 AM (GMT 0)
When will you be seeing Smith?

I am scheduled for Mayo 10/6-7.

I may ask Smith and see if I should go the PSMA route instead.

Mel
Posted 9/2/2016 4:30 AM (GMT 0)
Redwing, sorry to hear of the bump in PSA. Sounds like you are doing your homework and are getting a good plan of action. See you guys real soon at GFMPH.

Cajun Jeff
Posted 9/2/2016 8:37 PM (GMT 0)

compiler said...
When will you be seeing Smith?

I am scheduled for Mayo 10/6-7.

I may ask Smith and see if I should go the PSMA route instead.

Mel

Hey Mel - I'll be seeing Dr. Smith on 9/26, soonest available.

I'm pretty much all calmed back down now, too. Though now, based on some conversations through this, I'm far more aware of all this recurrence stuff, metrics, scans, and on, and on. Things I've spent the last 3 years pretty aggressively attempting to put out of my mind. That stuff just seemed like pessimism that I didn't want to entertain!

Sigh. We'll see what another doc has to say. Meanwhile, I'm running out of links to chase on the subject, so I'm about "funned out" with it. ;P
Posted 9/2/2016 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
Redwing...for what it means since finishing HT a couple of years ago my PSA has ranged between 0.15-0.13, so a relatively tight consistent. My last reading was 0.2 (previous was 0.13). My MO, Dr Lam, didn't see the rise as significant and I'll just do my next regular PSA test in November. Just providing an additional data point to the extent that it's at all helpful.
Posted 9/2/2016 10:27 PM (GMT 0)
I did leave a message and sent an email to Dr. Smith regarding PSMA

Mel
Posted 9/2/2016 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Mel,

You may be interested in this...

Comparison of 68Ga-labelled PSMA-11 and 11C-choline in the detection of prostate cancer metastases by PET/CT

But that comparison doesn't include fluciclovine, any of the other PSMA tests (like DCFPyL), or any of the newer PET ligands like bombesin or uPAR PETs. I'd go for the cheapest and most convenient. It really doesn't matter that much for a guy in your situation if they find every met. There will always be micromets they don't find, and cancer cells that don't express every characteristic surface protein or metabolize the same things.

- Allen
Posted 9/2/2016 10:59 PM (GMT 0)
TA:

The link doesn't work

Mel
Posted 9/2/2016 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
Try it now.
Posted 9/3/2016 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks -- that worked.

Mel
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