So angry about PSA test

Sally, we can all do this and no it is not helpful or rational. Even if he had had the test 4 years ago it could have come back as normal or your OH could have decided not to agree to a biopsy or the biopsy could have come back clear (they weren't doing MRI prior to biopsy so much at that time and for all you know he may not have had PCa then so you could still have been in the same position now. The temptation is to look back and pinpoint a moment or decision and then convince ourselves that things from then on would have happened a certain way but of course they probably would have been just as random as that moment.

For my part if i am in a self blaming mode i beat myself up for using a microwave oven for many years and for feeding him so many ready meals with processed meat. But a bit of me knows that he might still have got cancer.

The attitude of GP's varies on PSA. I had no symptoms other than needing to have a pee more often than some which had been the case for some years and the subject of a previous examination (tube and camera through penis). I was put on Tamsulosin for the sphincter valve which was deemed to be the cause of the problem. So no thought of PCa. Fast forward to 2007 and my GP wanting a blood test for an entirely different problem I have. He said, almost in passing, that he thought it would be worth adding a PSA test to the blood tests. I don't think he detailed what this was for or might lead to or perhaps I cut him short because i said something like "well I won't be getting the sample back so do what you like with it". (I knew absolutely nothing about PSA or PCa the time so didn't understand the significance). The result was a PSA of 17.6 and the start of my PCa journey which only started at that point due to my proactive GP. This is the main reason for me joining those advocating men be offered the PSA test at 50 or earlier if they are more at risk. Some GP's and non medical people are opposed to this because this can lead to treatment which in many cases would not have been necessary because in many cases PCa will not be a problem if left untreated, also widespread treatment would impose an unsustainable demand on the medical staff and equipment in the NHS along with attendant costs.

I, and I am sure that many that have been diagnosed with PCa wish we had been aware of PCa earlier, so that it could be treated in a timely way when there was a better chance of cure. GP's and men need to be better educated about tests, treatment and consequences. PCa is much more in the news these days andthis charity has promoted awareness by an advertising programme and other ways but the message doesn't always get through or is ignored.