5 year anniversary,and 1 year since big jump :)

Not too shabby! Well, I am a couple of months past 5 years since diagnosis, and a few weeks shy of 5 years since RP, with not the greatest post op path: G9, SV+, and positive margin. Bummer.

But, it is also the one year anniversary since I got a bit of a scare when my PSA TRIPLED between 10/17 and 01/18, from the .02 it had been stable at for almost a year, to .06 just 3 months later. ( turns out there was new machinery)

Well, I just got the e-mail for today's test: "A secure message from your provider's office
This test was normal. Your PSA was 0.06. ".

So still not quite high enough for me to make the jump to RT and/or HT, not quite yet. And that suits me. At first, following Vanderbilt's Joseph Smith's advice- to my great amazement- to just wait for some clear signs of significant advance, I just hoped to get a few months or maybe year or 2 of healing from that dang surgery trauma before possibly doing some more damage down there. But praise the Lord, here I am officially at 5 years and still holding for at least 3 more months! Where is my Cabernet Sauv? ;)

Also of note and general interest for all of us folks who get a scare from a PSA reading: During this last year, except for one brief foray to < .05, I have remained exactly at that .06 that gave me such a startle. Imagine: something supposedly going on inside of me that could cause a triple in just 3 months, but the same thing can not cause one bit of extra increase in an entire year. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Of course I think we all suspect it was more the machines, than the actual numbers. But it does raise another question: which numbers were/are the true numbers? .02? or .06? I do not know. I guess it is possible both are accurate, and I really did jump that much just to settle back down. But, seems unlikely to me.

OK, belly up to the bar, boys, this round is on me!

---

PSA 10.9 ~112013
Bx on 112013 at age ~65yrs, with 5 of 12 pos, G9(5+4), T2B.
RALP with lymph nodes at Vanderbilt 021914. (nodes clear, SV+, G9 down graded to 4+5, 1 focal margin )
only rare pad use after 1 year
PSA <.01 on 6/14 and all until 9/15 = .01, still .01 9/16, .02 on 3/17,6/17,10/17, .06 1/18, .06 4/18, <.05 7/18, .06 10/18, .06 01/19

BillyBob,

This PCa stuff can be a long and winding road. Always wondering what is, or isn’t, around the next bend. I think you deserve a break.

I’ll have a drink with you, but none of that whiskey. 🙂

---

Part I
2015 (Age 54) PSA: 20.8
Bx: All cores high volume G7 (4+3)
RALP & Adjuvant RT
Pathology: G8 (4+4), focal areas of 5; Positive margins; 3 LNs negative
PSA nadir: 0.1
Steady PSA increase. June 2018: 22.3

Part II
2019
Starting Lupron/Zytiga soon.

That's great news. A friend of mine who was treated for breast cancer says: "You're only as good as your last scan." So it is with PCa, but substitute "PSA" for "scan." Five years is a good long run, but I just wish that at some point you were truly in the clear.

---

Age: 63
Diagnosed in July 2016 with G7 (4+3) & PNI
Bone & CT scans clear
Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC, 9/12/2016
Post-surgery pathology: G7 (3+4), with +SVI, +PSM, +EPE, and -LNI
Post-surgery PSA, 10/16: <.008; 12/16: 0.01; 6/17: 0.05
IMRT begun: July 18, 2017 (35 fractions)
Post-SRT PSA, 11/17: <.008; 1/18: <.008; 07/18: <.008; 11/18: <.01

Great report after that bounce, pass one down!

I’ve wondered the same thing on both counts Bill.

1). Are these numbers accurate? Can a .02 really be a .06....and vice a versa? How much credence can a man put into these “numbers”? And....

2). Maybe I’d be better off with less testing. (The thought has crossed my mind to stop it altogether). A large part of me remains skeptical/unconvinced that testing from here on out has any bearing on the life I live....or....for that matter...the length of it. Could be, I’d be just as well, if not better, off not running to the doc every 12 weeks, forever checking on my “cancer” status.

I’ve been watching lately for your results. Bingo! Good. Good. Good.

Mines tomorrow. This is rediculous. Good on ya Billy..

---

PSA 2010 thru 2014...4.0 +/- .7
Dx 12/14 @ 56 yo...2 cores G6 <5%, 1 core G6 20%, 1 core HGPIN.
RALP 11/25/15...3+4. 3 to 5 mm surgical margin 15% involvement pT2+
G6 at margin. 5% grade 4 cells. PSA's....2/16-.01...4/16-.00...7/16-.00...10/16-.01...1/17-.01...4/17-.02...7/17-.02
10/17-.02...01/18-.05...03/18-.014...04/18-.02...07/18-.047...10/18-.028

You dodged a bullet for sure, I’ll have another glass of Chardonnay to celebrate for you...

---

My age= 52 at time of diagnosis
DRE=negative,
PSA went from 1.9 to 2.85 in one year, biopsy ordered,
2 cores positive, one 5%,one 25% G=6
Bilateral nerve sparing robotic surgery on 09/11/08, pathological stage T2A,
No signs of spread, organ confined,
all PSA'S 0 since surgery, diagnosed with low T, doing TRT now, still using trimix for ED