Blood Drawn Today

Had my blood drawn for my 6 months post surgery PSA test today.  New nurse was one of the kind that couldn't hit it right and kept twisting the needle all over the place, all for one tube.  Good thing, from the time I left the house till I came home was exactly 10 minutes.  Now I play the waiting game till 1010 Monday morning when I meet with my urologist/surgeon.  Hoping hard for a second zero, definitely got the PSA anixety thing going on in my head.

Purg,
Much mojo headed your way for an excellent result. The six month one is only just less stressful than the 3 month test..............but the apprehension does get a little easier as time passes. Best of luck mate,
Bill

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1/05 PSA----2.9 3/06-----3.2 3/07-------4.1 5/07------3.9 All negative DREs
Aged 59 when diagnosed
Biopsy 6/07
4 of 10 cores positive for Adenocarcinoma-------bummer!
Core 1 <5%, core 2----50%, core 3----60%, core 4----50%
Biopsy Pathologist's comment:
Gleason 4+3=7 (80% grade 4) Stage T2c
Neither extracapsular nor perineural invasion is identified
CT scan and Bone scan show no evidence of metastases
Da Vinci RP Aug 10th 2007
Post-op pathology:
Positive for perineural invasion and 1 small focal extension
Negative at surgical margins, negative node and negative vesicle involvement
Some 4+4=8 identified ........upgraded to Gleason 8
PSA Oct 07 <0.1 undetectable
PSA Jan 08 <0.1 undetectable
PSA April 08 <0.001 undetectable (disregarded due to lab "misreporting")
PSA August 08 <0.001 undetectable (disregarded due to lab "misreporting")
Post-op pathology rechecked by new lab:
Gleason downgraded to 4+3=7
Focal extension comprised of grade 3 cells
PSA September 08 <0.01 (new lab)
PSA February 09 <0.01

Hi David

Hope you get a big fat zero

Mika

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age at dx 54 now 56

All the best- wishing you a good outcome.

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Hoping for the best for you that you get the big zero. Someone posted P.I.S.S. a couple of months ago - PSA Post Intverval Stress Syndrome. I feel that I suffer from that. I actually wait in my doctor's office until I get the results. I get them about 10 minutes after the blood is drawn.

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Thanks guys for the kind words. Unfortunately, my blood is sent out from the satelite office that I go to that is so close to my house, and being that tommorow is Friday, won't get it till I see the doctor. Don't you all just love how things line up to have to wait out a weekend. Just the mood I am in, but sometimes, I feel with PC, there is never going to be a time when you don't have to worry. Don't feel like its ever really going to be over with. Perhaps in time, with hopefully a string of zeros, I will feel differently.

I hate this disease more than every other malady I have ever dealt with in my life, but such as it is.

David in SC

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Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3,9/8 14.5

Hi David,

Hope you get the zero you deserve. I've followed your journey and it's been a real inspiration to me. I recently got through the 2nd PSA test with an undetectable. I sure felt the anxiety until I got the report a week later. It's a real relief when it comes back a zero. Many more to get through though.

Good luck and God bless,
Bob

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Age 69, First ever PSA 7.8 taken June 2008, Biopsy July 2008, 10 of 12 cores positive, Gleason 3+3=6
da Vinci surgery December 10, 2008, catheter removed December 29 2008
St. Lukes Hospital, Bethlehem, Pa.
Dr. Frank Tamarkin

Prostate weight 73.0 grams, Gleason 3+3=6, stage pT3a
Tumor locations: right anterior apex, right posterior apex to mid
left anterior mid to base, left posterior apex to mid
extensive perineural invasion in right anterior apex, right and left posterior apex to mid
seminal vesicles negative

First post PSA < .1 Jan 16 2009
Second post PSA < .1 Apr 17 2009

Thank you Bob, and the same towards you too and your journey

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Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3,9/8 14.5

Good Luck Purg, I follow your posting daily, and for that I thank you for regularly contributing to this site.  Alot of what you have to say, makes alot of sense to me, and I often liken my stats to yours.  Will be going for my six month psa shortly, will hopfully post another zero also.

Cheers..............Nothard (still)

Hey David, i wish you all the best, you responded to several posts that i listed and helped me with great information and to stay positive. I want to thankyou for that and I will be looking for your zero psa on Monday, Jake Age 56
DRE 12/22/08 PSA 1/09 3.4 PSA 2/09 3.8
Biopsy 3/9/09 3 out of 12 positive
one core 80% one 40% one 2%
Gleason 6 Cat Scan Neg.
di vinci robotic surgery at Mount Sinai NY 4/23/09
both nerves spared
margins and nodes clear
catheter out in 7 days 4/30/09

Good morning Guys,

One thing we all do and continue to do is look at the numbers and statistics. If it is any comfort to you for the weekend, statistically speaking, the probabilities are heavily in your favor. Deep breath. Walk in the Spring air, listen to the birds.

Best wishes while we all wait for your report.

TeddyG

Being a math person and a number's person, I understand the stats, the percentages, and the relationship between the numbers. Unfortunately, I am a mere human too. Been through a lot of medical stuff, especially since age 28, so half my life has been fighting one malady after the other. It's no wonder that I looked 10-15 years older than my actual age. Good thing, is I get great senior discounts without either asking or being old enough.

I always seem to be the exception, the low percentage guy. With my prior cancers, they still know so little about it, they have actually lowered the already low number of known cases in the world, become they know now that some were mis-diagnosed. As it stands, my other cancers were one of only five known cases in the world. Can you believe that. I would have had more chances of winning the Lottery 4 consecutive weeks in a row, then to contract such a rare cancer.

Other than being exposed to a lot of toxic chemicals in my 20's, there is no rhyme or reason why I came down with it 3 times in a row.

I think that some people are just pre-disposed to certain things, perhaps because of genes, or defectivie genes. I am left handed, the only natural lefty my entire known family tree has ever known, and I am color blind, again, the only known one in my entire family. Where do traits like that come from?

Now, and call me paranoid, with this PC, I am fighting my 4th known cancer in barely 10 years. I don't smoke, I don't drink, don't do dangerous things or activities, not around noxious or toxic environments.
So something has to make the difference.

Sorry guys, just in a rare funk, probably slipping away into major depression again day by day. This PC doesn't help, neither does being out of work since last July, and at age 56, starting to feel like I have been cast aside and no longer needed.

I will get over this, eventually.

David in SC

PS> There is an entire mental health side to dealing with PC, or any other cancer. Often our spouses are unaware or don't know how to help. I am convinced that most regular doctors and specialists, i.e. Urologists, etc. are just plain numb to the mental effects of having the stigma of cancer, let alone living with it ,and dealing with it. Wish there were more concern in that area, because I know that many suffer everyday from the unseen grips of low self esteem and depression.

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Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3,9/8 14.5

Fingers crossed for ya..Hope it goes well.

I had blood drawn Wednesday for my 12 month'er...Get to wait till Thursday for the results.

 

David hang in there....it's a big strain on you for the last year...take the weekend off and if possible go out and enjoy life and family and just forget about PCa for a few days. Mondays visit will be uneventful day with another zero.... I am sure.

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You are beating back cancer, so hold your head up with dignity

I got my break for 5 days in Florida recently, now it's back to reality, and sometimes, despite our best efforts, reality sucks.

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Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3,9/8 14.5

Thinking of you and praying for undetectable!!!

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Father's Age 62 (now 63)
Original Gleason 3+4=7, Post-Op Gleason- 4+3=7,
DaVinci Surgery Aug 31, 2007
Focally Positive Right Margin, One positive node. T3a N1 M0.
Bone Scan/CT Negative (Sept. 10, 2007)
Oct. 17 PSA 0.07
Nov. 13 PSA 0.05
Casodex adm. Nov 07, Lupron beg. Dec 03, 2007 2 yrs
Radiation March 03-April 22, 2008- 8 weeks 5x a week
July 2, 08 PSA <.02
Oct. 10, 08 PSA <.02
Praying for a cured dad.

Co-Moderator Prostate Cancer Forum

Greetings, David.  I have confidence you will get that zero that we all wish for.  One other reason that I really like my doc - he says prostate cancer is enough to deal with without the anxiety of waiting on a blood test.  I go in, they draw the blood, and 20 minutes later I have the results.  Only have to see him every other time but still get the blood work every 90 days.  I am blessed to have him and his partners as my doc's and am grateful for their sensitivity.

David, you and I have exchanged messages several times over these past months and I'm grateful for all that you do to stay active and share your experiences on this board.  You have definitely helped me along the way.  While I have a great wife, loving children and grandchildren, good friends and co-workers, and probably most importantly an abiding and enduring faith, I still get down and in something of a funk from time to time.  I think this disease - maybe any disease - does that to us.  I think prostate cancer may be worse than some others because of the sexuality and "manhood" issues that get tied up in our recovery.  Even when things are going well like it seems to be for both of us, there are still issues that you have to work around.  It is only natural to get down every once in awhile.  Then you throw in being without a job for an extended period while you are fighting this disease and it multiplies the issues you are dealing with.  As much as we don't like it, I think it's only natural to have days when you think about it more than others.

Hang in there, my friend.  Don't let it get you down.  You are a winner and a survivor.  It's okay to get down sometimes but get right back up and knock this disease down where it belongs.  I know you won't let it get the best of you.  Keep us posted on how things go.  David

Thanks David, as a former CFO, I know you have your hands full. My wife, a nurse, says a lot of same things to me, but there are times I feel cursed, not blessed, useless, and almost invisible with the world passing me by at age 56. I should be at my peak in life, not on the outer edges. Right now, I make the perfect "housewife", being somewhat OCD, I keep up with everything, so that when my wife comes home, she has nothing to do but relax. This week, all the on and off rain everyday spoiled all my outside work plans, so that didn't help my mood. I am more than certain my PSA will still be as low as before, but you never really know. I am hoping that my post surgical gleason being downgraded from 4+3 to 3+4 will help my cause, and I know I had about the best surgeon I could get in my small state. Still, I don't know.

David in SC

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Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3,9/8 14.5

I, too, have had to deal with PSA anxiety issues. I am also a math and numbers person, and I keep going back to the statistics to help me out. Your good pathology means that the odds are very much in your favor. Here's another thing to think about: now that your prostate has been removed, I bet that the odds of you having prostate cancer are far less than the average guy walking down the street. Yet, here you, I and others worry, mostly needlessly, about a bad test result that will probably never come to pass.

CaPCa

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Age:45 (44 when diagnosed)

David,
I hope that you will get a fat zero on Monday. I wonder if the PSA test anxiety will ever go away.

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Age: 67
PSA 9/05 1.15; 8/06 1.45; 12/07 2.41; 8/08 3.9; 11/08 3.5 free PSA 11%
Dx 12/30/08
2 cores out of 12 were positive Gleason (4+4) and (4+5)
Negative CT scan and bone scan done on 1/16
Robotic surgery performed 2/9/09
Surgeon: Dr. Randy Fagin, Austin TX.
Pathology report:
Prostate weighed 57 grams size:5.2 x 5.0 x 4.9 cm
Bilateral 10-20% involved
Gleason 4+4
both nerve bundles removed,
pT3a Nx Mx
Negative margins
seminal vesicles clean
Lymph nodes: not dissected
1st PSA test 4/7/09 result <0.1

David, wishing you another zero. I go in Tuesday for my nine month PSA. I've started to "get that feeling" already. Ref. your comment about feeling cast aside, you're not done yet. Your contribution on this forum, while it may not pay $, pays real dividends to many that are fighting a major battle. You're making a big difference. Hang in there brother.

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Age 51, (50 at DX)
Pre - Op PSA, 4.3
Gleason 3+4=7
Stage T1C
da Vinci Prostatectomy 8/1/08
No issues with incontinence since day 1 after catheter removal
ED, need a little help from Levitra
First post op PSA 11/11/08, 0.00
Second post op PSA 2/10/09, 0.00

Thanks other fellows above this post, feeling a little better about things tonight. Took my daughter out to dinner tonight, while my wifey had a "hen" party filling the house with wine drinking nurses! Figured it was a good time to step out.

I am a realist at heart, what is meant to be, will be, or as my ex boss said, "it is what it is", so good or bad, I am not going to change anything thinking it to death. But I think a lot of us do that here.

Cox, my comment on being cast aside referred only to gainful employment. I need to be working, I have worked hard all my life, but once you pass 50 or so, you start feeling that invisible age bias line working against you, that unspoken thing. Nothing to do with my health or PC. Plus with the economy now, whatever I apply for, they are telling me they are getting 150 to 200 resumes, and not just from my area, from all over the country!

Looking forward to talking to my doctor Monday, regardless of the PSA. He's a good listener, takes good notes, and never, ever hurries you, not even with my long winded stories.

David in SC

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Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3,9/8 14.5