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Wait time for a biopsy

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User
Posted 01 Dec 2021 at 20:11

Posting on behalf of my 30 year old husband

Symptoms mainly urine Issues

had MRI results last Monday showing nodular enlarged area with PIRAD of 3. We’ve been advised that he now has to have a biopsy under general anesthetic. Can anyone advise how long we will wait until he has the biopsy? He has rang the hospital but they couldn’t give us a timescale and just said to be ready at any time.

we have a very young baby and I’m so worried.

 

thank you 

User
Posted 01 Dec 2021 at 22:07

Pirads 3 and at the age of 30, cancer is unlikely, so don't be too worried, but obviously get it checked out. Which country do you live in? If England then there are targets and I think 28 days is what you can expect, if you get to this timescale start complaining and it will get done. If you live in Wales targets are different and we have had members who have waited many months, which most would consider unacceptable. But in Wales they get free prescriptions, so it is swings and roundabouts. I think Scotland processes the cancer patients fast and they get free prescriptions, but they have to listen to bagpipe music, so once more it is swings and roundabouts.

Dave

User
Posted 01 Dec 2021 at 23:39
Wait for a procedure such as Biopsy will depend on the number of cases a particular hospital has and perceived priorities. The present hospital can't even give an indication apparently so the waiting time is likely to fluctuate. You could contact two or three other hospitals reasonably near you to check whether they can be more forthcoming but you have not even said which country this is in, yet alone which town. Assuming this is somewhere in the UK there are targets but I was told these were unattainable where I was to be treated.

30 is a pretty unusually early age to be diagnosed with PCa if this is indeed confirmed to be the case and as PCa is generally a very slow developing disease, a delay of a few months with an early diagnosis is unlikely to make much difference, other than playing on your mind.

Barry
User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 06:14
Thanks for the responses.

Yes we are in the UK

If not cancer, what could it be? Dr google isn’t throwing up any suggestions other than the big C

User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 06:14
Sorry should have said we are in the east midlands
User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 06:53

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
If not cancer, what could it be? Dr google isn’t throwing up any suggestions other than the big C

Urinary tract infection, prostatitis, cystitis, pregnancy  . If you use Google for long enough, you always find you have cancer, and you always get Rick rolled eventually. Do you know his PSA?

Dave

User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 08:08
Ha! Hopefully not pregnancy - we’ve already got our hands full here. The consultant said PSA is low but didn’t give us the exact figure. Hoping that’s a good sign.
User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 08:29

Yes low PSA is a good sign. It might be worth finding the exact figure, as PSA is most useful when you compare the trend over time. Hopefully whatever his problem is it will be sorted soon, but if he still had problems in a year's time, comparing the PSA and finding it had not increased or only risen a small amount would pretty much rule out cancer.

I'm surprised biopsy is recommended even with pirads 3 the chances of this being cancer are very low. However once on the cancer pathway, NHS England should move things fast, all hospitals have a PALS service, if no biopsy by January start making a fuss. It is not fair to leave you worrying.

Dave

User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 09:54
Yes we were also shocked by the biopsy recommendation, we thought the low PSA would be the end of it. I think the turning point was finding that it was nodular only on one side.

Thank you for your advice Dave. All the best.

User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 16:43
Just had the phone call. Biopsy is Monday. Fingers crossed
User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 17:15

Good, now chill out and relax over the weekend. The chances of this being serious are fairly slim. Don't think of it as looking for cancer, more a case of ruling it out so they can find the real cause.

Dave

User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 19:05
Thanks Dave we’ll try, any idea of pain etc afterwards? Unsure whether he’ll need time off work after
User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 19:26
If it's a TRUS biopsy (which I'm guessing it is unless they have said there will be a general anaesthetic), there shouldn't be any great pain afterwards, but he'll have a sore arse. At my local hospital, I was given three different types of antibiotics to take, as there is a real risk of sepsis. So, you should be atuned to the symptoms of sepsis and keep an eye on him for the next 48 hours. Get him into A&E pronto if he has any such symptoms.
User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 19:56
Thank you for your reply! He’ll be having general and it’ll be via the perineuim (sp?)

Love the bluntness by the way. Poor arse.

User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 20:28
In that case, the sepsis issue doesn’t apply. I’ll let someone respond who had a template biopsy.
User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 20:45

Transperineum is the more modern biopsy. Less chance of infection, general anaesthetic means he won't be able to drive home. I think I have seen some reports of bruising and pain for a few days, I don't think he will want to do any cycling for a few days. 

Obviously the day of the biopsy he will need off work, the rule with driving is 24 hrs after general anesthetic, so I would say any job where someone may die if he makes a mistake he should take the next day off work as well. 

Not too sure how long he should leave things before ejaculating perhaps a day or two but not more than a week. The colour of what comes out will be alarming, things will slowly get back to normal over about a month.

I hope this turns out to be nothing, but you can tell your OH he will have it all to look forward to again in about 40 years.

Dave

User
Posted 02 Dec 2021 at 22:32
Wow that's quick! When I had my last TP I was required to isolate for 5 days, and provide a urine sample for culture test which takes time. The ordinary urine dip test is not considered good enough. Also a Covid test was required. Bloods and other preop tests could be done in a shorter time frame so less urgency. I understand that above is still applicable except the prior isolation time has been reduced to 3 days.
Barry
User
Posted 03 Dec 2021 at 07:59
Yeah it was very quick and not much notice!! We’re all isolating from today (fun weekend ahead). To be honest we’ve not really been told anything about aftercare etc. We’ve got to get some antibiotics from the pharmacy after but apart from that Dr Google has told us most of what to expect. I don’t envy you all :(
User
Posted 20 Dec 2021 at 09:02
Hi all, so the biopsy was pushed back a week - he had it last Monday. Was in quite a bit of pain which suprised us both. It’s now been a week and (sorry this is a bit graphic) ejaculation is causing pain around the prostate and his urine flow is now just a dribble.. does this sound normal? We are guessing swelling?
User
Posted 20 Dec 2021 at 19:40

Hi Brannyhat. I had a TRUS biopsy last month. I didn't experience either of the problems you describe. Blood in urine/semen, yes but no real pain. Urine flow more or less the same. I had 18 cores taken. Do you have a specialist nurse you can speak to? Chris

User
Posted 21 Dec 2021 at 07:05
Thanks Chris, we are awaiting an appointment with the consultant to discuss results, we are going to wait until then and see if the issues are still there. Thanks for replying!
User
Posted 21 Dec 2021 at 14:30
Chris, recovery from the TRUS biopsy is almost immediate and many like me pulled up their trousers and drove home. The cores are taken through the rectum and when you sit down your buttocks absorb your weight. The template biopsy on the other hand is very different, the cores being extracted through the Perinium under general anaesthetic or occasionally using spinal block as this is much more tender area. After the Template biopsy procedure, I found it better to rather slouch back in a chair. If You sit upright or forward the punctured area of the Perineum tends to be compressed and hurts. However, as both methods take samples from the Prostate, some small amont of blood in urine and semen can be expected for a few days or rather longer in semen as this is flushed out less often than urine, whichever method is used.
Barry
 
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