PSA 7.3 - referred to urologist

Thanks Chris. So this suggests that the MRI scan is fallible. I have already been advised (on here) to ask for a biopsy if the scan reveals nothing. Of course, being a coward, I'd like to cut my losses and run at that point (if it is clear), but as I have also been advised, I'd never truly know until the biopsy was done. I thought one of the reasons for the MRI was to target the area for biopsy more clearly. How would they know what part to focus on without the MRI info? 

The wait time though seems immense. I am basically looking to be going in on 4th December and with the Xmas period, and from what you suggest, I may not fully know until the New Year. 

Anyway, thanks for all the info - I am building a picture of it all in my head now. 

Haig

Thanks John,

I will be sure to ask what machine they have (I'm in Thames Valley - Royal Berks Hospital, Reading). In general, how long after an MRI (which revealed bad news) would they pull you in for a biopsy?

H

H,

Well, if potential cancer is suspected, you are on an accelerated route, hence your ‘two week’ appointment, which in the case of prostate cancer is probably an over-reaction as it’s usually very slow-growing over many years, unlike some of the buggers!

So everything will happen tout-de-suite. It seems now that no one seems to know what resolution my mpMRI scan was as Tommy the Tumour (R.I.P.) was large and would have shown up anyway. It’s in marginal cases where hi-def is important, like watching football or Formula 1 on Sky HD or 4K.

If there is a mass on the MRI - if you ever have one - you will be invited in shortly for a biopsy, and then around two weeks later called back for the results.

I think all you should do now is try and keep as calm as you can and wait until your December appointment. If you want to read a ‘good news’ story, read mine.

I just updated it today, a year after my raised PSA reading.

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 26 Nov 2018 at 13:45  | Reason: Not specified

Cheers, John.

Haig,

As regards waiting time etc...i had mri 6th august, biopsy 15th and diagnosed 24th.  Did take four months of faffing around prior to that. I got quite insitent in the end and asked for a template biopsy, after trus was mentioned. Surprising how fast things moved when i was proactive.

Also,  if they offer you antibiotics without signs of infection, question their reasoning. Waisted 10 weeks taking pills in my case. Avoid ciprofloxacin...few cases of serious side effects - i can vouch for that.

Neil.

Edited by member 27 Nov 2018 at 01:17  | Reason: Not specified

As Neil says, anti-biotics are best avoided where possible. But having said that, I do keep a little stash of Cip and Amoxillin at home in case we need them, as it takes about three weeks to get a GP appointment here. Some are prescribed by the vet for our dogs, some I pick up over the counter on my world-wide travels.

We find the prescriptions interchangeable, as we are all mammals, so the species jump has no side effects whatever. Woof woof!

They say with partial nerve-sparing prostatectomy, it can take up to two years to recover from surgery, so I am looking forward to rampant sex around 2020, when I will be 65.😉

Cheers, John.

Thanks Lyn. PSA 3.1 - that's really low. I'm 7.3 and now getting very worried I have Pca. I thought being 50, I was low risk but the more I hear the less optimistic I am tbh. I am slowly resigning myself to having Pca and hopeful with a PSA of below 8 that it is fairly localised. After that, the various treatments confuse me and I think I'll need to sit down and talk these through if and when. 

In short though, it sounds like the MRI & the biopsy is the sensible way to go in order to eradicate any doubt. I also seem to get the impression that the Template biopsy is way better than TRUS.

Haig

Thanks Lyn - you call a spade a spade, which is good - no frills. Right now though, hearing that blokes with PSA 6 having Mets all over, only heightens my anxiety and plunges me further down the drain. 

Indeed, in the recovery ward after my template, there was another guy who was on his second biopsy as the TRUS was inconclusive.

We read here weekly of others who have the same quandary.

Possibly the the number one prostate cancer specialist oncologist in Britain - not a self-promoter with a PR department, as far as I know, although he does charge £400 a consultation - said: “The TRUS biopsy is as bad as we thought it was”.

Keep calm and carry on, H.

Cheers, John.

You are probably quite correct, but as I have said here before, I am not Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Health, and I couldn’t be bothered about the NHS being swamped, they get billions, so sort it out!

It’s about self-preservation, and diagnosis with one bite of the cherry rather than a second attempt months later.

It is pertinent that yet another friend who had BUPA cover went straight to a template biopsy with no mention of the inferior TRUS.

I seem to be accumulating friends with PCa on a regular basis now - maybe I was contagious!

All clear now. So far so good, fingers crossed.

BTW, mine was bigger than yours at 15mm, but with what’s left of mine post-op, you are likely to be the overall winner. 😉

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 27 Nov 2018 at 01:00  | Reason: Not specified

Hi Haig,

I can completely sympathise with how you are feeling at the moment.  The waiting and not knowing is the worst thing, but then I suppose the knowing is pretty crap too. Hopefully you just have an enlarged prostate, which is causing your raised PSA.

My husband had a uti, his first PSA was 9.5, thought this was raised due to the infection, but then after the antibiotics his PSA was 7.3. Still too high!  We then found ourselves on this path of MRI, then template biopsy, now told we have PCa.  Gleason 6, grade 1, but because the MRI showed the tumour up against the prostate capsule, they have staged it at T3a.  I'm devastated and worried about my husband.  He is due to have the robotic surgery on the 10th Dec.  The surgeon said/hoped this procedure would be enough to cure him of cancer.  I'm praying it is.

This disease has just snook up on us, no real symptoms, husband is fit and well otherwise.

I know it's so hard not to worry, this is all I've thought about for the past few weeks.

Good luck, thinking of you.

Michaela

Hi all. I rang the specialist nurse today. They are such lovely people. It helped to talk to someone. Thanks for steering me their way. 

Not really okay. I am just about surviving - I have eaten nothing but a few bits of fruit since last Wednesday. My PCa or BPH symptoms have been hard at it today with that "not emptying feeling" & basically Tuesday's uro appt. feels miles off, let alone the eventual mri and biopsy. Can't even imagine the diagnosis day. Have to keep going for my wife and son, otherwise I wouldn't.

Oh, & my dog had his anal glands emptied for the 3rd time in a month and needs them "flushed". It's all ass round my joint, I tell you.

Evening Bob - hope all is well with you.

H

He didn't look particularly enamoured to be fair.

Mine's a 44kg labradoodle (black) crossed with a standard poodle. Unsociable as hell - takes after his owner. He wasn't keen having them emptied first time, but he had that resigned look on his face today about it all. You know sort of "bloody get on with it so I can get into the woods" look.

Listen, wave a half a sausage at mine and you got a friend for life. Jango was my son's idea - some dodgy guy in a suit from Star Wars, if memory serves.

H

I ought to, I know. I want something that works though - and fast. 

I'll make an appt. today for tomorrow. How long does it take to kick-in, so to speak?

H

Thanks Chris - I'll be sure to ask for both.