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A Holiday Predicament

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User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 07:42

I have a bit of a predicament: I have been on active surveillance since 2018 with a Gleason 3 score (3+3), and only 1 of 12 cores from the biopsy as positive. As the consultant felt that the main cause for the increased PSA, originally starting at 7.1, was a “very, very large prostate”, I was released back to my GP for annual monitoring 3 years ago. Over that time, my PSA has gradually crept up: 9.1 May 2024 & 11.3 May 2025. The consultant was informed and seemed comfortable enough and said they would set a threshold for re-referal of 13 PSA because of the very enlarged prostate (previously measured by MRI).

This May we reached 15 PSA and my Doctor wrote a referral note to the hospital on 20/5/2026 (I guess I won't hear from the hospital until early June).

I am not sure how long the hospital will take to respond and contact me.

As fate would have it, I have a long 6-week tour of SE Asia commencing 4/6/2026 & I am not sure if the hospital will contact me before my flight date.

My predicament is: would it be wisest to cancel that trip, I return on 14/07/2026?

If I have to have further investigation for the rise of the PSA, I am asking myself if I would be irresponsible to go ahead with my trip and then pick up on the investigation once I return from my trip in mid July.

 

I have to admit, I am erring on the side of cancelling my trip. Life is more important than the financial loss of the tour.

Any thought would be much appreciated, especially as my timelines are very tight.

Edited by member 23 May 2026 at 09:30  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 18:26

Ring the hospital, tell them your availability and go on holiday. Life is too short!

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 20:22
My husband was diagnosed with much more advanced case than you. But if there is one thing we absolutely do not regret it is multiple trips to Asia in the diagnosis/treatment period. These proved to be welcome complete escapes from extreme stress and we delight in the memories from those trips.
User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 12:02

I am not medically trained but my understanding is that for a man of over 70, the "normal" PSA range for screening purposes is 0-6.5.

It is also my understanding that PSA is, in general, roughly proportional to prostate size. At 110cc I think yours is more than twice the average size. Hence, on a crude arithmetic basis, the "normal" PSA range for you might extend up to something like 13, which may be why they set that as the trigger for re-referral.

Your PSA has gone above that level now, but on the other hand, it has gone up slowly over a period of years and you already have a very plausible explanation for this, over and above your age, which is that you have a relatively small amount of low grade prostate cancer. This generally grows very slowly so that delays in getting treatment (if indeed any treatment is even needed) are very unlikely to affect the outcome.

In the light of this, I tend to agree with Adrian and I think that it would be a shame to cancel such a major event in your life, especially if there is no guarantee that you would be seen in that period. On the other hand, you will of course want to be guided by your medical team and only you can judge how you would feel if you went on holiday having postponed a consultation.

Best wishes, whatever you decide

Kevin

 

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 08:54

Could you phone the urology department at the hospital to check what the likely appointment date would be and let them know about your plans?

Hope all works out well

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 09:29

Thanks for your comments Adrian, I have updated my post Gleason 6 (3+3)

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 19:10

Thanks for your comments Kevin; very much appreciated.

 

User
Posted 24 May 2026 at 08:52
My husband was due to have a biopsy 1 week before our cruise along the Amazon , he was advised not to have the biopsy before as if he had an infection it couldn’t be treated properly. He was told a couple of weeks wouldn’t make much of a difference and to go and enjoy ourselves. He was Gleason 4+5 . This was 10 years ago and we still enjoy as many holidays as the budget allows .

Best wishes

Debby

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User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 08:51

Hi, Henry.

I'm not medically trained, however from what I know about the disease, this is my take on things.

You say, in 2018 that you were Gleason 3. Do you mean Gleason 6 (3+3)? If that's the case, and its taken 8 years for your PSA to have  doubled, plus youve got BPH, I would not be canceling the holiday.

I very much doubt that if any further treatment is required, a six week jolly would make much difference.

Best of luck, mate👍

Edited by member 23 May 2026 at 08:52  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 08:54

Could you phone the urology department at the hospital to check what the likely appointment date would be and let them know about your plans?

Hope all works out well

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 09:29

Thanks for your comments Adrian, I have updated my post Gleason 6 (3+3)

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 12:02

I am not medically trained but my understanding is that for a man of over 70, the "normal" PSA range for screening purposes is 0-6.5.

It is also my understanding that PSA is, in general, roughly proportional to prostate size. At 110cc I think yours is more than twice the average size. Hence, on a crude arithmetic basis, the "normal" PSA range for you might extend up to something like 13, which may be why they set that as the trigger for re-referral.

Your PSA has gone above that level now, but on the other hand, it has gone up slowly over a period of years and you already have a very plausible explanation for this, over and above your age, which is that you have a relatively small amount of low grade prostate cancer. This generally grows very slowly so that delays in getting treatment (if indeed any treatment is even needed) are very unlikely to affect the outcome.

In the light of this, I tend to agree with Adrian and I think that it would be a shame to cancel such a major event in your life, especially if there is no guarantee that you would be seen in that period. On the other hand, you will of course want to be guided by your medical team and only you can judge how you would feel if you went on holiday having postponed a consultation.

Best wishes, whatever you decide

Kevin

 

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 18:26

Ring the hospital, tell them your availability and go on holiday. Life is too short!

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 19:10

Thanks for your comments Kevin; very much appreciated.

 

User
Posted 23 May 2026 at 20:22
My husband was diagnosed with much more advanced case than you. But if there is one thing we absolutely do not regret it is multiple trips to Asia in the diagnosis/treatment period. These proved to be welcome complete escapes from extreme stress and we delight in the memories from those trips.
User
Posted 24 May 2026 at 08:52
My husband was due to have a biopsy 1 week before our cruise along the Amazon , he was advised not to have the biopsy before as if he had an infection it couldn’t be treated properly. He was told a couple of weeks wouldn’t make much of a difference and to go and enjoy ourselves. He was Gleason 4+5 . This was 10 years ago and we still enjoy as many holidays as the budget allows .

Best wishes

Debby

User
Posted 24 May 2026 at 19:41

Thank you for the note. Holidays are always a great relief and I am so pleased that you have had such enjoyable times.

My best wishes to you

H

User
Posted 24 May 2026 at 19:48

Thank you Debbie for your comments.

I think your outlook on holidays is so very encouraging. May you have many more enjoyable times in the future.

 

Best Wishes

 
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