Dad just diagnosed. Need advice

Just a question. Dad had PSA done on 13th Feb. Oncology appointment was for 14th March. He is away in between. We just received a letter to say Oncology appointment has been changed to 18th April. That is nearly 2 months after PSA test. Does dad need to have another PSA test done before April's appointment? I doubt a lot will change in that time but i guess you never know... Any advice?

Thank you!

Thanks Bob,

Spoke to Oncology today. They said he doesn't need another PSA done for April as his PSA has been stable. They will try and bring the appointment forward if they can. Hope all is well with you!

Hi Sr12, I am lucky my GP surgery just gives me PSA tests whenever I ask for them, and indeed I went in for something unrelated and the nurse just said "may as well do a PSA test whilst here, it's the same blood phial".

I have found when dealing with bureaucracies you should never ask permission for anything, you just tell them what you expect them to do. Of course you might get knocked back, but you are no worse off than you were before.

So if you want a PSA test prior to April appointment tell them that's what the consultant wants (I presume at some point in the distant past that is what he said). If you want a PSA test in August tell them consultant expects six monthly tests last one was in February so one is due in August.

It isn't a nice trait, but I have observed the people who get what they want from life do so by taking it, not by waiting for it. So if you ever find yourself in a room with me, and someone is giving away free cake, don't hang back - grab it whilst you can, because if you don't grab it, I will have scoffed the lot.

Hi, I imagine they're short staffed or strikes are putting them back.  I noticed my 3m appointments became 4.5m until a new nurse started, now they're 12wks apart.

 The appointments should be based on your original appointment and blood test date.  If he is stable then April should be fine although my Macmillan Nurse will give me the result if I ask and I have her mobile.  Your next appointment should be August although if he is stable at a low level I wouldn't be over concerned about a few weeks.

I was intrigued by Dave's nurse saying it was the same phial.  I had thought some blood tests go into a different regime as I asked for a random psa test and got a random result which was concerningly detectable for the first time, although at a different hospital.   I didn't know if it was the change in assay or if the random test went into a higher threshold as someone once wrote on here. GPs don't use the < sign. Anyway I went to my own hospital a week later and it was undetectable at a lower threshold.  Although my next test 10m later was detectable so perhaps there was something going on.. That was a bit long. All the best, Peter

I have had a few blood tests for various things, and there seems to be about three different phials identified by a different colour cap. I assume they contain different preservatives, and some would interfere with one set of tests and some with another set of tests. So if your blood sample is going in a "blue" phial for a cholesterol test and PSA tests are also "blue" then she just ticks both boxes (above are just examples I have no idea what the colours are or what tests go in the same phial). On one occasion I had about 20 tests and she used three phials with different coloured tops.

Great PSA Bob. Ah, my dad had some blood a while ago and it was piles. Yours is bound to be the same due to piles. Keep us posted. Hope you are well otherwise! Dad has his PSA in August. Will post results on here.

Gosh that sounds very painful. Not the best place to have it. My dad was told that piles can be common after RT. Hopefully you will recover soon. Lots of Epimax! Lol! Ah yes, name is Stevie but actually people just call me SR! 

Sorry just seen this msg Bob. Hope it goes well. Keep us posted.

Dad had PSA included in his routine blood test this week. The PSA result is 0.03. In February this year (5 months ago) it was 0.02. Is this rise something to be concerned about?

The onco appointment isnt until September so we will ensure he gets another PSA test done just before. 

Not sure how much of an increase is worrying?

Thanks in advance.

Thank you so much Steve. This is very reassuring. We will get it repeated in a few weeks just before onco appointment. Just hope there isnt another increase. They have always said 6 monthly checks. Time goes quickly though! Hope all is well with you.