First PSA Test Came Back Elevated

Welcome to you, hhughes.

Your wait until December is not an issue. Prostate cancer (PCa), which you may well not even have, moves very slowly.  It is nothing at all like having leukemia; I had advanced Lymphoma a few years ago, which is a sister disease to leukemia, and learned a lot about them at that time (both are cancers of the white blood cells).

Your urologist will most likely recommend a biopsy, which is a fast, outpatient proceedure, and then proceed from there. As medical proceedures go, it is relatively inexpensive.  There are some forms of scanning that can give information in cases of advanced disease, but it would be backward to do those before even knowing that you have PCa. 

So basically, there is no cause for panic or worry over the delay. PCa is nothing like the fast-killer cancers, forms like lung, colorectal, pancreatic, brain, that take people fast, if they are latter stage, at least.  We have guys here who, even with metastatic PCa, are living good lives almost 20 years after diagnosis.

Please continue to update and ask any and all questions as necessary,

max

Sorry to hear about your wife. 

This is an excellent forum that is very capable of providing you with advice.  When my PSA rose to 4.72, on a routine blood test my GP doctor sent me to an urologist.  You need to find out what is causing the pain (urinating and groin) and why is your PSA elevated.  The urologist will put you on a path to find that out.  Please ask your questions.  Let us know what your results of tests are if possible.  We are not doctors, but can ceratinly give you the experiences that we have had on our journeys.

hhughes3 said:

Thank you

I am worried about ED and incontinence. Also, was your surgery robotic?

Yes, my surgery was robotic. I also had an excellent and very experienced surgeon. Regarding ED, if everything worked well before the surgery the chances are that everything will work well after. Four days after my surgery I woke up at night with erection. I was shocked, to say the least.  It was a painful experience because of the catheter but I rejoiced nonetheless. :-) Since then (today is two weeks since my surgery) I had erections just about every night. Normally I would not wake up but the catheter makes it painful. When I told my surgeon about it he was very happy. He said that the ability to have erections is linked to continence. So I have a chance to be dry within the next few weeks, fingers crossed. I guess ED has a lot to do with age. The younger you are the better chances of full recovery. I am 54 and looking forward to many years of great sex.

Tomorrow I will have my catheter removed. I had to have it longer than a week (normal time) because of some complications. Apart from cancer my prostate grew into the bladder and the surgeon had problems separating the two. He said that this was an unusual situation. As a result, after the removal of the prostate he had to do more careful stitching and I got stuck with the catheter for two weeks. Tomorrow I will find out if his stitching worked. I suspect so, because I am healing very well. 

In your case, I hope it is not cancer. But if it is, life will go on and never again you will have to worry about prostate cancer. Although I don't like the idea that I had (notice the past tense :-)) cancer, I am super grateful it was caught early and removed.  Personally, I know three people who died of prostate cancer which metastasized. I will not be one of them.  

Be of good cheer. :-) 

hhughes3 said:

Thank you

I am worried about ED and incontinence. Also, was your surgery robotic?

Hey hhughes! During my annual physical on July 3rd, I had a PSA of 1.4, but my GP felt some abnormalitity during a digital exam and referred me. It was cancer on both sides of my prostate, but very early and totally isolated. I'm 59 and I've never really had too many health issues before. My doc recommended DaVinci RP and I had the same two worries that you shared. I spoke with one of his older partners that put my mind at ease. The older partner gave me some perspective that my doc couldn't. He remembered the days before DaVinci and explained that my chances for recovery to normalcy are much better these days. The bottom line for me was that I didn't want cancer in my body.  I went forward with the surgery the day after Labor Day.

43 days later and I'm getting things back together. For me, the incontinence hasn't been too bad, but I'm still seeing some minor leakage while I'm at work.  Mainly at a desk nowadays, so I try to get up and walk, take a leak about every 45 minutes. That works pretty well. As for the ED, I didn't even want to think about that during my post-op appointment when they removed my catheter, but after 6 weeks I decided (with advice from some folks on this board) to start exploring what's in store for me on that front. My doc has prescribed some ED meds from a compounding pharmacy that will customize my dosage and he says the cost will be less than my local pharmacies.

I believe most all of us shared your anxiety at some level, but I'd suggest looking for some perspective in the hand that you've been dealt and hopefully it will help make your decisions a little easier to accept. Hang in there and I wish you the best.