Well SOB, ....I'm VERY happy

So I went to my Onco today and we discussed the usual, but specifically my PSA going up and then not rising.

To catch up, 4 or 5 months ago my PSA was at about 0.09, then a month ago up to 0.19, then last week DOWN to 0.17.

Well, it turns out that the lab got new equipment just before my increase, so the increase was likely due to the change in the equipment. Every machine has it's own calibration and apparent sensitivity.

So this amounts to my new nadir is at 0.17, as long as it ain't rising, I'm good with that!

Yes, yes it is.
I just wish the lab, the Onco, someone would have informed me of this back a month ago.

It seems like they don't realize how much something like this affects the patient.
I spent the month between the last two tests, worried as all get out.

But as I said, I'm good now.

CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's great. But back to equipment calibration. I believe that the techs calibrate each machine regularly (perhaps daily) with samples of known concentrations. My hunch would be on the human side, such as sample preparation, calibration procedure, etc. rather than the equipment itself. Granted, these are all centered on a change of equipment, procedures, etc. and lead to the same outcome of unreliable test results.

Djin