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Make your mind up time

Posted , 10 users are following.

jesse88671
jesse88671

Hi guy`s hope you are all coping well , Me it`s make your mind up time do i go with active surveillance with endless appointments PSA tests Biopsies MRI scans ect or the nuclear option and be done with it, Would like some feed back on both options please.

2 likes, 33 replies

33 Replies

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  • georgeGG
    georgeGG jesse88671

    Posted

    Review the biopsy risks. There is a newish report from USA indicating that the risk of serious infection is rising. Multiple biopsies  carry multiple risks. Worth careful reassessment of risks v benefits each time
  • raymond71733
    raymond71733 jesse88671

    Posted

    jesse before you do anything have a look at apricot kernals/laetrile, baking soda and molasses, all available to watch on youtube, you don't have to keep the doctors in work just remember  it's your life, don't be afraid to say no to them............. good luck
  • david41094
    david41094 jesse88671

    Posted

    Would echo George's comment - I have just had a biopsy and don't intend to ever have another. You need to provide more info - what is your Gleason score, PSA doubling time, age etc? The one thing you do have on your side is time, so use it wisely. Jay Cohen M.D has a book (Prostate cancer breakthroughs) which has a table of risk factors which helps to identify which group you belong to. Also, Dr McHugh has a similar decision matrix on his website. Whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck.
    • jesse88671
      jesse88671 david41094

      Posted

      Hi david PSA 14.5 glesson 3x3 tiny focus least agressive going back in a couple of day`s for results of second biopsies.
    • david41094
      david41094 jesse88671

      Posted

      For what it's worth I would go for active surveillance. There is a website called Watchful waiting which might be worth a visit. As George says above, there are definite risks associated with any invasive procedure; for prostate biopsies it is 1% hospitalisation for sepsis and a 1/1000 risk of death. There was an earlier posting by a wife of a patient who continues to suffer from the effects of the biopsy some six months after the event. Worryingly, the risks actually seem to be increasing. I would prefer to monitor with MRI scans and have regular PSA tests to monitor doubling time. There was an earlier posting from Carl who had a much higher PSA and has been undertaking active surveillance for about 20 years. One final point - I would have an MRI anyway to accurately measure your prostate as much of your PSA reading could simply be due to size of the prostate. Once again, all the best.   
    • jesse88671
      jesse88671 david41094

      Posted

      Thanks david41094, I have had rectul examination followd by PSA test ultrascan biopsies MRI scan and another ultra scan where the ultra scan is over lapped on the MRI scan and biopsies results in a few days time, Thanks again.
  • ken47739
    ken47739 jesse88671

    Posted

    Hi

    Four and half years post diagnosis and still here.  I really did not have a decision to make between monitoring and intervention.  If you are being offered monitoring theh presumably your current condition is not life threatening.  I would put my trust in somebody that has studied and practised for years rather than anything you find on the internet.

    Tough call to be made, hope the above puts things into context

    Ken

    • jesse88671
      jesse88671 ken47739

      Posted

      Thanks Ken 3x3 gleson tiny focus thats what they tell me.
  • terryw
    terryw jesse88671

    Posted

    Hi Jesse

    I started a thread called 'Should I have a prostate biopsy?' which included all the information I got from research and has attracted a lot of interesting comment.

    I haven't made my mind up yet - I'm waiting to see what the numbers are from my next two PSA tests - but at present I doubt I will have a biopsy or any further specialist appointments, though I will continue with PSA tests twice a year, and might change my mind if my PSA starts going up rapidly.

    At present I have no symptoms and my PSA has gone up only by a third in five years.  I may have a tumour - though I'm told there are no signs on rectal examinations - but on the PSA numbers it certainly doesn't seem to be aggressive, which makes me think that a biopsy is unnecessary, and could result in me being pressured to accept treatment I probably don't need, though I don't think the overtreatment problem is anything like as bad here in the UK as it is elsewhere in the world.

    Based on research on the subject, if you do nothing you have about a 3% chance of having an aggressive tumour which is not diagnosed until it's too late - and about a 6% chance of having serious complications if you have a biopsy.  If you have treatment following a biopsy you have a 100% certainty of impotence and from later treatment a risk of incontinence - which might be acceptable if it's the price of saving your life, but pretty galling I imagine if you didn't really need the treatment because you have a slow developing tumour which is no threat to your life expectancy.

    At my age, just coming up to 71 - and I must stress, given my circumstances above - I think quality of life is what is most important to me, and given that my risk is probably fairly small anyway I'm likely to take my chances.

    I think it's worth keeping in touch with your PSA figures, but my doctor has accepted that I probably won't continue with consultant appointments or have a biopsy unless my figures change dramatically.

  • jesse88671
    jesse88671

    Posted

    Hi jesse88671 my PSA is 14.5 gleson 3x3 tiny focus least agressive going for results of 2 biopsis in a few days, From what you have said it could be i am jumping the gun would you say.
  • alfred5
    alfred5 jesse88671

    Posted

    Hello, my other half was pushed towards AS he was 57 at diagnoses, psa 3.7 gleason 3+3 that was June last year, the biopsy gave him an infection in his prostate or prostatitis which wouldn't go. Anyway by December psa was 4.9 we both didn't like just leaving it. He was told if he left it he would need a much bigger biopsy so in the end he had treatment. 

    He had brachytherapy in January. In a way he regrets it as he has had very bad side effects. Apparently only 10% of men suffer as much, he has radiation induced cystitis and the prostatitis is back, though apparently not due to an infection this time. There is no cure for either of his side effects, his psa was down a little 3 months later, but it can take 2 years to see if this treatment is effective. I expect if the psa gos down it will be worth it. But he had no symptoms before treatment so he is finding it hard. Good luck. 

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