Welcome, Busman! Upon my diagnosis in April, 2014 by my urologist in Austin, I scheduled an appointment with the multi-disciplinary genito-urinary clinic at MD Anderson....
Folks, I'm looking for your collective thoughts on some recent PSA swings and Finasteride usage advice. My recent history: - MRI on 10/31/2016 (happy Halloween) is unremarkable; previously known PCa...
Update: Since my last biopsy I have been taking Finasteride. 5Mg if memory serves correctly. My most recent PSA reading from 04/26/2017 is 1.6 - the lowest it has ever been, since I have been getting...
I don't think my doc is advocating going off AS and beginning therapy just yet, but he wanted me to start thinking in that direction....
Thanks, Jim. I'll look Ziggy up....
Thanks, TA. I have not decided on any therapy yet, but I am still considering proton radiation at MD Anderson when that time comes....
My doc speculates that the jump in PSA is due primarily to prostate inflammation; pretty much all of the non-PCa cores in my recent biopsy were described as showing "chronic inflammation," when none...
So, I received the results of my biopsy (No. 4) a few days ago. Two (of 12) cores with adenocarcinoma, Gleason 6. I will have the slides retested to make sure, but at this point, my doctor wants me...
Waterfalling - I just had my fourth biopsy a couple of weeks ago. This time, my doctor offered me a Xanax prior to the procedure. I highly recommend that route, as I was very relaxed, and it seemed...
2017 update. 3T MRI taken on 10/31/2016, nothing remarkable PSA taken on 01/05/2017 was 6.73, the highest it has ever been. As a result, I had biopsy number 4 (random 12-core) on 01/17/2017;...
GOP, I'm not a doctor, and I don't advocate any particular 'off-the-menu' treatment program, but I'd be willing to experiment with your choice of beverage... Now, if you had said 'Bud Light,' I may...
I have done just a few things... I have been deficient in Vitamin D, so I take 10,000 units a day and try to get more sun; I have cut down on eating red meat to no more than once a month, if that;...
It's been 20 months since my diagnosis in April of 2014. My local urologist has changed the frequency of my PSA tests from every 3 months to every 6 months; my last test on 11/03/2015 was [i]2.2 !...
UPDATE: Although I had to reschedule it a couple of times, I had a follow-up biopsy done at MD Anderson earlier this month. It was a general pattern biopsy, and not targeted to my earlier MRI. The...
Now that's funny... Biopsy number three coming up for me next week. This time, the good folks at MD Anderson will be the ones up my tailpipe. I'm a bit curious to see how they compare with my local...
The MRI I had done at MDA in June took about an hour and 20 minutes... yes, it was a bit uncomfortable with the coil in that long. As I tell folks, this disease is all about people sticking things up...
Thanks, folks. Tall Allen, I spoke with my doc about sending my slides to Bostwick or Epstein, but I haven't received confirmation of that yet. The slides were originally read at a lab in San...
Hello, all. This is a follow-up to my first post, about going on AS with Gleason 7 (3+4), here: http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=3098668 So, my current status is this: I am...
Congrats, GeetarMan. I'm in a similar situation, although my numbers are a bit different - G7 (3+4), and my PSA went down from 4.8 at diagnosis to 3.8 this week. I'm planning on staying with AS for...
Ravineman430, I was told that the AS group at MD Anderson in Houston accepts patients with Gleason 7 scores. There are 800+ participants in that group, and approximately 15% of them have Gleason 7...
Melaine, I was told to wait at least six weeks after my most recent biopsy to get an MRI. It ended up being about 8 weeks....
dennis h - I did not see Dr. Pugh; it was Dr. Chapin who ordered the MRI at MD Anderson with the e-r coil, even though I previously had an MRI done locally with a 3 T machine. As I've discovered, the...
dennis h, I had an MRI at MD Anderson in June done just that way - feet taped together, hands folded across my chest. It was a 1.5 T machine, with endo-rectal coil. A bit uncomfortable, to say the...
Melanie - I have had two MRIs done this year; a 3 T magnet with apron done locally (Austin, TX) in March, and a 1.5 T magnet with endo-rectal coil at MD Anderson in Houston in June. In my case, the 3...
I have been following this thread, as CyberKnife is at the top of my list of therapy options. I'm sorry you are dealing with this, dennis h. Every doc I have talked with describes the fiducial...
Hrpufnstuf, my biopsy had one core of Gleason 7 (3+4), 15% involvement, and I am scheduled to formally join the MD Anderson Active Surveillance group in September. The doctor running the AS group at...
Hello, re:search. I am in Austin. Where in central Texas are you? My doctor told me this week that his practice just acquired an MRI-guided biopsy machine. The way he described it was that it is the...
Ms. SSTX, those are good questions that I did not happen to ask of Dr. Ghafoori. If I recall correctly, I think Seton/Brackenridge acquired their Cyberknife in approximately 2006. From what I could...
Certainly, Ms. SSATX. My urologist is Dr. Eric Giesler, of the Urology Team. He's very knowledgeable, and very patient with me....
Hello, Ms. SSATX. I am in Austin and have been recently diagnosed myself (04/22/2014). I have met with Dr. Ghafoori, the director of the local Cyberknife center. He was very helpful in explaining all...
Thanks again, guys. PeterDisAbelard, according to my MRI on Tuesday, my prostate volume is 51.678 cm. TudPock18, on my first visit to MDA in early May, the docs only discussed RP (I presume RALP, but...
Thanks all. One thing I forgot to mention - my previous biopsies were done locally (Austin, TX). The doctors at MD Anderson say they looked at my April 2014 slides and have confirmed the Gleason 3+4....
Hello all. First post here. Here's the history of my journey so far: March, 2012 PSA = 4.6 June, 2012 PSA = 4.1 July, 2012 - Biopsy; one core was "highly suspicious of carcinoma," but no Gleason...