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My latest, PSA, the rocket still is climbing away

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Prostate Cancer
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Purgatory
Elite Member
Joined : Oct 2008
Posts : 25448
Posted 12/13/2011 1:02 PM (GMT -8)
Got the phone call today from my uro's office, a day earlier than expected.  In the last 6 months, my PSA has climbed from 5.8 to 14.0.   That is a rise of 8.2 in six months, or, since I like percentages, a rise of 241%.

I fully expected it to be in the 10-12 range, but even this rise took me a little bit back.  I am not good at figuring doubling times, so if anyone wants to, go for it and let me know what that works out to.  At this rate, in another six months, I could be at or above 30.

How's that for a Gleason 7 (3+4) case?  Kind of breaks a lot of the thinking on such matters.  It is now higher than when I was diagnosed  (12.3).  It's been 40 months since my diagnosis of PC.

I am scheduled to meet with my oncologist on January 4th, the next PSA is scheduled for June.  Still awaiting (after 5 weeks) the scheduling of an advanced PET scan test, don't know what the current hangup is all about.

Now it's time for the holidays ahead, whatever needs to be discussed with my oncologist will simply have to wait till that January appointment.

So much for my surgery experience and the debacle of the whole SRT experience.  Every day I am reminded of that ordeal while dealing with all this severe nerve damage.  Life just gets better and better for me, lol.

David

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Steve n Dallas
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2008
Posts : 5240
Posted 12/13/2011 1:26 PM (GMT -8)
David or should I call you Mr Trooper... Your post had a nice "up beat" to it and I know you'll deal with just like you always have.

Keep us posted.
profile picture
F8
Veteran Member
Joined : Feb 2010
Posts : 5702
Posted 12/13/2011 1:33 PM (GMT -8)
your whole case is surreal to me David.  i don't know what to say anymore except i am glad you have found some peace in your life and you are mostly comfortable and post regularly.  i'm no mathemetician but that's not a 241% increase.  a quick guess is your PSA doubled in about four or five months from your last reading. 

my own journey started two years ago.  back then i thought i only had 2-3 years left.  we showed them buddy cool .

ed

 

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Southern Comfort
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2011
Posts : 1058
Posted 12/13/2011 1:36 PM (GMT -8)
David,

Sorry to hear about the PSA rise. I did quick and dirty calculation using the Sloan Kettering web site: DT = 4.7 months.

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142
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2010
Posts : 7298
Posted 12/13/2011 1:39 PM (GMT -8)
Nothing to say but put the number in a box, and hide the sucker till after the Holidays.

And Hang in there.

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dude1969
Regular Member
Joined : Jul 2011
Posts : 438
Posted 12/13/2011 2:24 PM (GMT -8)
So sorry about the news, David. Try to put it to rest for now and enjoy the holidays.
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Tony Crispino
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2006
Posts : 8160
Posted 12/13/2011 2:44 PM (GMT -8)
David,
What were your last three or 4 PSA tests and dates?

Use them combined to calculate your doubling time.

Tony
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Newporter
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2010
Posts : 225
Posted 12/13/2011 3:04 PM (GMT -8)
I am so sorry you are dealt such a crummy hand. I hope the new year will bring you better luck.

Fight on and don't give up my friend.
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Ziggy9
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2008
Posts : 988
Posted 12/13/2011 3:11 PM (GMT -8)
God %!*n it Dave you just can't get a break can ya? Keep up the good fight is all I can say. I'm in awe how well you keep it together and stay in fairly good spirits always.


An old friend of mine called me today about to have a biopsy in 2 weeks. I told him he's lucky for not only will he have me for advice from my own ordeal but also with knowledge I gained here from you and others. If he has PCa I 'll advise him to come here too before deciding on any action.
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Dreamerboy
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2011
Posts : 601
Posted 12/13/2011 3:46 PM (GMT -8)
Just saying that I'm wishing the best for you and success with your treatments.
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ChrisR
Veteran Member
Joined : Apr 2008
Posts : 849
Posted 12/13/2011 4:20 PM (GMT -8)
Dave,

Sorry to hear about your increase. I know it does not matter, but like you said Gleason 7 (3+4) and your experience is not that typical. I wonder what your pathology would be like if you had it re-read at Bostwick or Johns Hopkins. In light of the recent article that I posted about and most people Gleason scores being mis-diagnosed unless they are sent to someplace like J.H. It might shed some light on your situation, not that it would make a difference as to what is happening to you.

Again, I feel for you brother......I wish it would help.....
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maldugs
Veteran Member
Joined : Jun 2007
Posts : 813
Posted 12/13/2011 4:22 PM (GMT -8)
David, I am stunned by your latest result, you have had a raw deal all round, I admire your courage, don't really know what else to say except that I hope your medical team can find some way out of this.

My very best wishes.

Mal.
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Northfoot
Regular Member
Joined : Mar 2011
Posts : 82
Posted 12/13/2011 4:27 PM (GMT -8)
David,
I HATE this disease. You are always there for everyone else, and it is just wrong that you have such a resistant case. I hope that the oncologist can initiate a plan in the new year that can slow this down for you.
Bill
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bogerman50
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2011
Posts : 107
Posted 12/13/2011 4:41 PM (GMT -8)
David , sorry about your latest results.Im so glad that you continue to send me positive vibes.I know that you will figure out whats the best next move. For now injoy your holidays .
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BillyMac
Veteran Member
Joined : Feb 2008
Posts : 1858
Posted 12/13/2011 4:44 PM (GMT -8)
Well so much for my fortune telling abilities sad ---------- I was pretty far off the mark with my guess. Easy for me to say but there is not much point worrying about it over the holiday season. Probably of greater immediate benefit would be a relief from your ongoing pain issues. You are due a goodly bit of "le joie de vivre" my friend.
Bill
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Jerry L.
Veteran Member
Joined : Feb 2010
Posts : 3197
Posted 12/13/2011 4:57 PM (GMT -8)
David,

This might sound crazy, but at least you have a PSA that doesn't lie to you and you can use it as a reliable marker.

Hang in there...Have a great holiday and kick it in the butt next year.

Jerry L.
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Worried Guy
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2009
Posts : 3790
Posted 12/13/2011 5:10 PM (GMT -8)
David,

You know I'm a numbers guy and simply cannot resist calculating it for you. Your PSA doubling time = 143.9 days 4.8 months.

Not that it matters or that it is even remotely close but, coincidentally, my PSA Doubling time was 132.7 days and 144.6 days for my presurgery tests.

Where I was climbing the walls, bouncing off the ceiling (and loading the firearms) you handle it with the grace of the true gentleman you are.

I wish you the best.
Jeff
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Purgatory
Elite Member
Joined : Oct 2008
Posts : 25448
Posted 12/13/2011 5:15 PM (GMT -8)
Thanks one and all.

I have been remarkable calm through all of this PC nonsense. It was earlier this year, that I decided, that I would not, and will not, let my PC dictate my life, my thoughts, or my being. I am sticking by that plan.

Some of you my think I am nuts for not seeking any other treatment at this point, but my entire medical team is in agreement with that direction. Unless my oncologist does a u-turn in January, and I don't think he will, we will continue to keep an eye on my situation. Despite this steep increase, still planning on waiting a full six months for the next PSA reading.

I think what makes my case interesting, is not so much all the difficulties, set backs, and side effects I have had to endure for 3 years plus now, but that sometimes, PC will act in manners and ways, that no study or nonogram can possibly cover.

We have plenty of T3 guys here, and/or Gleason 8/9 guys that are faring so much better than me, but I am glad for that. If everyone's PC was acting like mine, we would have guys dropping like flies.

It shows me that we need much better and more accurate diagnositc tools, much more than what we have presently. I tire of all the talk, arguments, etc, about should we test or not testt, is there overtreatment, and more recently, this (what I feel in my opinion) is this nonsense about renaming cancer to something other than cancer.

None of that will help. We need to know exactly what variant we are dealing with from the start, that would take so much guess work out of treatment choices, or not making treatments at various stages. My physical life was ruined forever, because of faulty SRT, especially knowing now, that it was destined not to be evenly remotely effective for me in the first place. That is one decision I wish I could undo in time.

None of these thoughts will help me personally, I am simply dealing with the hand dealt, and that's that.

I do feel if one more person (in their ignorance) tells me that I am lucky to have only prostate cancer, I may forgo my non-violent ways. But then again, 3 plus years ago, I was in total ignorant bliss about PC, or even my prostate as far as that goes.

Whatever time I have left, I intend to enjoy to the best of my abilities, and limitations. That's all I can do in the game we call life.

So to you fortunate guys that have contained or eliminated cancers, think twice before getting into a hissy because your PSA moved from .002 to .003, things like that. In the bigger picture of things, think how silly that really is.

I still feel for the guys at the losing stages of this PC battle. I am not there yet, but I am starting to understand their pains and their fears. PC is no way to go, that's for sure.

For now, life goes on for me and my family. I am the same husband, the same father, the same grandfather, the same friend to my friends. Even my doctor said I was looking good, such is the silent deception of having cancer. I only wish I felt the way that people think I am feeling.

So on goes the battle, but for me, I just want to have a good Christmas and New Years with my friends and family. Those are the things that count most in life. I am already scheming next springs sailing season, toying with the ideal of starting a new novel at the first of the year, and see if I can get feeling well enough to get back into my filmmaking work.

Spiritually I am ready to check out if needed, but in the flesh, not quite ready to give it up. Too many people counting on me.

David in SC
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Jazzman1
Veteran Member
Joined : Sep 2010
Posts : 1196
Posted 12/13/2011 5:17 PM (GMT -8)
Man, David -- you just can't seem to catch a break.

I'd like to reiterate 142s advice, which is always sound. Put it in a box and try to forget it for now. It'll still be there in January.

Hang in there, and know that you've got friends here.
profile picture
Purgatory
Elite Member
Joined : Oct 2008
Posts : 25448
Posted 12/13/2011 5:40 PM (GMT -8)
thanks jazz. don't worry, it was already in a box on the shelf before i got the reading. there really wasn't any real surprise or shock to this reading, there was no reason to think it had gone down, or was only the question of how much in the rise.

david
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mvesr
Veteran Member
Joined : Apr 2007
Posts : 823
Posted 12/13/2011 6:11 PM (GMT -8)

Dear David.  Sorry for the continued rise in your PSA.  Don't forget we need to have that lunch sometime.

Mika

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clocknut
Veteran Member
Joined : Sep 2010
Posts : 2889
Posted 12/13/2011 6:18 PM (GMT -8)
David...not much I can say, except that I definitely don't think you're nuts.  You seem quite sane to me :)

I wish the numbers were better, but I definitely admire the way you're dealing with it.  Bill

 

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spottydog10
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2009
Posts : 364
Posted 12/13/2011 6:30 PM (GMT -8)
David,

Tough break but you handle it with your customary dignity.

Wishing you and your family well over christmas,

Mike

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Julietinthewoods
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2010
Posts : 309
Posted 12/13/2011 6:42 PM (GMT -8)
I'm sorry, David. :(

Juliet
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Raddad
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2011
Posts : 1857
Posted 12/13/2011 6:46 PM (GMT -8)
My Brother

Its just a number - Sorry to hear it is not what we all wanted to hear for you.

Hang in there - we are all here for you.

Enjoy your holidays.

Bud
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