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Scoliosis Back Pain and PC return?

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User
Posted 10 Jul 2021 at 10:10

I was diagnosed with PC back in 2006, treatment was 30 sessions of Radiotherapy followed by 36months of Hormone therapy, at the end of this my PSA was down at 0.1.

Over the years PSA has varied but never been higher than 0.84, which it was in March of this year.

My question is how would I know if the cancer has returned, bearing in mind that I already suffer with scoliosis with symptoms of back pain, pain down right leg and numbness in both feet.

I have been told that I will have to live with the pain as surgery, injections and various pain killers have been tried and all not bringing any relief. 

Asking now as my pain has been constant for the past couple of weeks and just wondered if PC could be a cause, although I suspect the PSA reading of a few months ago would not seem to confirm this.

Any thoughts.

Thanks for reading.

User
Posted 11 Jul 2021 at 21:25

Hi Devonroy, as long as your PSA stays below 2.1 (2.0 plus your lowest reading which was 0.1) you should be fine. Generally speaking, if the cancer had become active again and managed to metastasise to your bones, the PSA would have risen significantly. 

If you are concerned about your back and struggling to get a scan, remind the doctors that you have had prostate cancer in the past, plead recurrence anxiety and they may be more amenable.

Edited by member 11 Jul 2021 at 21:28  | Reason: Not specified

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 12 Jul 2021 at 12:06

Thanks both for your replies, I do not think that I will be going private, cannot afford that sort of money.

Reading Lyns advice I think that I will wait and see what my next PSA reading is and take it from there, just noticed that my PSA went up to 0.75 in 2016 and then back down to 0.56, and in 2018 up to 0.82 then back down six months later to 0.71 where it has hovered since my last reading in March.

In many ways I feel fine can manage to walk 3 to 4 miles although it is painful and at 81 suppose I must expect a few aches and pains.

Maybe I am being anxious over nothing.

Thanks, Roy.

 

 

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User
Posted 11 Jul 2021 at 20:44

You have done well if you were first diagnosed  and treated 15 years ago and your PSA is still "only" 0.84. I guess the fact that your PSA even at that level is the highest it has been post treatment and, notwithstanding your scoliosis, the fact that you are experiencing constant pain does make you start wondering whether the cancer has returned. I assume that your doctor/the hospital has told you there is nothing to worry about and won't agree to a MRI scan or biopsy until the PSA count is a lot higher? 

If it was me and I was concerned, and if the NHS was not at this stage prepared to take any action, then I would go private. An MRI scan costs around £500 and a T.P. biopsy around £4.5K

 

Ivan 

User
Posted 11 Jul 2021 at 21:25

Hi Devonroy, as long as your PSA stays below 2.1 (2.0 plus your lowest reading which was 0.1) you should be fine. Generally speaking, if the cancer had become active again and managed to metastasise to your bones, the PSA would have risen significantly. 

If you are concerned about your back and struggling to get a scan, remind the doctors that you have had prostate cancer in the past, plead recurrence anxiety and they may be more amenable.

Edited by member 11 Jul 2021 at 21:28  | Reason: Not specified

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 12 Jul 2021 at 12:06

Thanks both for your replies, I do not think that I will be going private, cannot afford that sort of money.

Reading Lyns advice I think that I will wait and see what my next PSA reading is and take it from there, just noticed that my PSA went up to 0.75 in 2016 and then back down to 0.56, and in 2018 up to 0.82 then back down six months later to 0.71 where it has hovered since my last reading in March.

In many ways I feel fine can manage to walk 3 to 4 miles although it is painful and at 81 suppose I must expect a few aches and pains.

Maybe I am being anxious over nothing.

Thanks, Roy.

 

 

User
Posted 26 Sep 2021 at 17:11
Hi all,

Just had my latest PSA test which has now gone up to 0.95, and hospital advise new test in 6 months.

Should I be concerned?

User
Posted 26 Sep 2021 at 20:57
assume you mean it is proposed that you have another PSA test in 6 months time. This is understandable bearing in mind your quite low PSA now and the fact that it has cycled up and down within relatively small extremes over many years. Having said that, there are a few men who have low PSA but some spread. Your oncologist may not agree to an MRI unless there is a significant rise in your PSA. However, if this is the case, and with your other back problems, you might think it worth paying for one.
Barry
 
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