Appointment wait time

moogle4166
moogle4166 Member Posts: 7 *
in Prostate Cancer #1

My name is Retha and i have a question. My husband recently had an MRI and was told he had 2 lesions with PI RADs of 4 on each and that they needed to be biopsied. That was on the 7th of October, its now the 1rst of November and we haven't heard from anyone about an appointment for the biopsies, is this normal .

Comments

  • Wheel
    Wheel Member Posts: 124 Member
    #2

    Retha,

    Was the MRI ordered due to an increase in his PSA? What number? Does your husband see a urologist or was the MRI and PSA tests ordered by his regular Doctor? If he does not have a Urologist he needs to get referred to one right away. Often it is the urologist who performs a biopsy and if he seeing one the Urologist immediately get it on his biopsy schedule. My urologist performed Biopsies on Wednesday afternoons. Definitely call and check and find out as that is a long time without even hearing of an appointment. Typically as I said they get scheduled fairly soon although the procedure might be scheduled for two or three weeks out. It always possible it fell through the cracks.

  • moogle4166
    moogle4166 Member Posts: 7 *
    #3
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1718695#Comment_1718695

    My husband goes to the VA, and on a regular yearly checkup his blood work showed a psa of 4, the doctor put him on antibiotics for a couple of weeks in case it was just an infection, when went back his PSA was 6.39, since we don't live near a VA facility she referred us to a urologist in our area and thats where we did the MRI, the doctor said if we didn't get an appointment within 30 days we would have to do another MRI, I called the Urologist office and she just said they were working on it. Haven't heard anything else.

  • moogle4166
    moogle4166 Member Posts: 7 *
    #4

    My husband says he is just not going to worry about it cause if it was important they would have gotten back with him. I am worried about it cause I think he has just gotten lost in there somewhere He is 64

  • moogle4166
    moogle4166 Member Posts: 7 *
    #5
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1718700#Comment_1718700

    Let me rephrase that, its not that hes not worried about it, he just thinks maybe his lesions aren't serious because they haven't gotten back with us about the biopsies, he thinks no news is good news. If thats the case great but I just don't know.

  • Wheel
    Wheel Member Posts: 124 Member
    #6

    PIRADS 4 lesions definitely need biopsy. Your husband is wrong about dismissing it because they seem in no hurry. They cannot know what the lesions are and by definition a PIRADS 4 lesion has a strong probability for suspicion of cancer, although not always . Also he needs what is called a MRI fusion biopsy where the lesions are able to be specifically targeted to get several core samples from the lesions and not a random grid core biopsy. You may call back the urologist office and ask if they have the capability to the MRI guided fusion biopsy. If they are unable I don’t know if you can contact another urologist that can or you need a VA referral. Also I don’t understand why they are working on the biopsy appointment. Again I don’t know if the holdup is another specific referral from the VA for that. I would ask the office what the difficulty is in getting the biopsy scheduled and whether he does the biopsies, and when does he schedule them. If they say it’s waiting on the VA, maybe you have a contact with his VA Doctor to move it along

  • moogle4166
    moogle4166 Member Posts: 7 *
    #7
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1718703#Comment_1718703

    Thank you so much, yes when we were given the MRI results the doctor said we would be doing the MRI guided fusion biopsy, and thats the last we heard from them, the receptionist did seem a bit out of sorts when i asked about the biopsy appointment and then she just said we are working on it.

  • Wheel
    Wheel Member Posts: 124 Member
    #8

    just politely keep contacting the receptionist and can as they say play dumb and ask her if their is some issue that is delaying the biopsy maybe we should get in and see the Doctor again.

  • Marlon
    Marlon Member Posts: 103 Member
    #9

    I went back to look at my calendar. It was 9 weeks between my MRI and my biopsy. I dont remember how long it was before I heard from the doctors to schedule the biopsy, but it was more than a month after MRI. I took them at their word that PC is so slow growing that there was no urgency. But also noting that their schedules for biopsy were pretty full.

    It was easier to communicate with scheduling staff through their online portal than calling and leaving messages.

  • moogle4166
    moogle4166 Member Posts: 7 *
    #10

    Thank you Marion, ok then if it took you 9 weeks then maybe everything will be ok, surely they will get with us soon. Thank you

  • moogle4166
    moogle4166 Member Posts: 7 *
    #11

    I will probably see about calling on Monday.

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