Hi Sandwich.

I can understand your worries. But when I was diagnosed, my PSA was way up at 70. But due to my dear wife making me go to the doctors, it was caught early. I was treated with hormone therapy and also radiotherapy and my psa dropped down to 0.01, the lowest they can measure. It is still very low some years later so I hope you can take comfort in my story. 

I wish you and your husband good results. Please let us know how he gets on, Brian

Hello woodworm and telemando, thank you for your kind words and useful information. Well the results show prostate cancer but looks to be contained. Will receive a letter for a biopsy appointment and then radiotherapy. Half expected but still a shock when you actually hear the diagnosis :(

He was given the choice to have the prostate removed, but seems to have opted for radiotherapy due to the side effects. I'm not sure whether it would be better just to have the operation and at least have reassurance that it was all removed??

janei1 makes a good point. If a man has radiotherapy first then surgery after a recurrence is always difficult and may be impossible. However, if he should have a recurrence after surgery then a course of radiotherapy is successful in producing a cure in about 80% of cases.

Of course, recurrences are rare after treatment for early prostate cancer. 

Thank you janei1 and telemando, its sort of a blur after the results yesterday. The consultant seemed to think radiotherapy was a good option and although no treatment is pleasant or risk free, in my mind surely removing it would be a much better safeguard. Will have another chat to discuss the options, dont want to put pressure on him. Still waiting for biopsy appointment letter so I guess until then he can still change his mind on the treatment he opts for??

Hi sandwich2

Your husband is in the driving seat. If he opts for a different treatment then they will obey his wishes. 

There is a prostate cancer UK website with its own forum which he might find useful. 

Hi All,

Finally some more news...turns out to be a gleason score of 7 and T3. Hospital are arranging a bone scan just to be on the safe side as this wasnt done at the the time of the mri and biopsy.

Going to start him on hormone tablet form and then radiotherapy and follow up injections. 

Staying positive and trying to be light hearted as the side effects sound like something I can relate to - hot flushes, etc, etc ;)

Hi Sandwich

Your comment regarding the hot flushes rang a bell with me. When I was on the hormone therapy, I suufered badly with hot flushes. My wife and I had a contest to see who was having the most. At one point I was way in the lead both for the amount and for the severity. If I had a £1 for everytime I heard my dear wife say, "Now you know what us women have to go through" I would be a very rich man ha ha.

I found those hot flushes are crafty littlen devils. I used to be sitting still when suddenly without any warning I was covered in sweat. Just like someone had poured a cup of warm water over me. Thankfully they would go just as quickly. The other side effects were I put on quite a bit of weight which I am still strugling to lose. One more side effect I found hard to deal with. They say it can bring on mood swings which I never suffered from but it did have the effect that if I heard sad or sometimes even good news, I would have tears running down my face and I had no control over this. I found this very embarassing. I was watching TV one night and thought my wife was in the kicthen. The news was on and they had just broadcast an item about the husband and wife who abused their eighteen month old daughter. I love kids and suddenly I was in floods of tears. Suddenly My wife who had come into the room said, "Why are you crying". I had to explain the reasons why to her. 

The treatment your husband has been prescribed worked well for me so I trust it will work for your husband too. Wishing you both all the best and thanks for the update, Brian.

Hi Sandwich 2, how is your situation now. Have you had treatment and what was your gleason score after the prostate was removed and examined.

Hi,

Waiting for things to start or for information is always hard. I think we all feel better once the treatment starts I know I did. Let hope you get good results, Brian

Hi telemando,

Really interesting to read your comments. I am 63 diagnosed with prostate cancer with Gleason score of 4-3 all contained and clear bone scan, My PSA was 6.1 in May 2018.. I am booked in for surgery to have prostate removed on December 10th. My problem is with having no symptoms whatsover I am finding it hard to beleive I have the cancer at all. Due to my age and general good health all the experts have advised me to have the surgery, even the the doctors i work with have said surgery is the best option for me. The urology nurse also states that this is a cure and not treatment. Yor comments have really helped me coming to terms with this. One question if I may, did you have any symptoms when diagnosed?.

hope you carry on being well, and to everyone else in this forum good luck. I am very nervous about the forthcoming months ahead but also i am a little reassured that this will soon be cured and not just treated. Good luck everyone.

Also i will be happy to answer any questions and help anybody in the future if I can.

Hi telemando,

Really interesting to read your comments. I am 63 diagnosed with prostate cancer with Gleason score of 4-3 all contained and clear bone scan, My PSA was 6.1 in May 2018.. I am booked in for surgery to have prostate removed on December 10th. My problem is with having no symptoms whatsover I am finding it hard to beleive I have the cancer at all. Due to my age and general good health all the experts have advised me to have the surgery, even the the doctors i work with have said surgery is the best option for me. The urology nurse also states that this is a cure and not treatment. Yor comments have really helped me coming to terms with this. One question if I may, did you have any symptoms when diagnosed?.

hope you carry on being well, and to everyone else in this forum good luck. I am very nervous about the forthcoming months ahead but also i am a little reassured that this will soon be cured and not just treated. Good luck everyone.

Also i will be happy to answer any questions and help anybody in the future if I can.

Hi Tommo. Welcome to the forum.

I personally did have some symptoms of a swollen prostate and prostatitis. However, after my operation a prostate support group started in my home town, and I've met a number of fellow sufferers. Most of them with early stage cancer said that they had no symptoms other than a raised PSA. A lot of them also were generally fit and healthy, and found their diagnosis to be a shock, a bolt out of the blue. 

Thank you for your good wishes. May I also wish you a good outcome and a speedy recovery.  

Hope my story helps due to AUR several years ago I have had several PSA tests MRI Biopsy other tests no Cancer found my PSA is taken every 6-12 months it has fluctuated from 5 to 12.1 when it was at its highest was because and incomoetent consultant took me over Finasteride now back on it dropped by over half the one consultant I trust stated MRI  showed my prostate is X4 bigger and my PSA is about where they expect been discharged back to GP latest test a week ago he just wants informal chat not sure why as it is at its lowest level ever some tips if it fluctuates normally a good sign if it rises bit by bit its not if it goes into 20s and higher not so good the key question related my story have you enlarged prostate if so its almost certainly the reason and if DRE finds nothing if it is PCA then its contained I would recommend an MRI its the most accurate Biopsy is hit and miss hope this helps

Hi hope you don't mind me butting in, there's so many chat lines checking them all takes ages. I only found yours this morning I've talked to woodworm (Brian) before, when they found my cancer my psa was 1500 gleason 8 they told me that it was not curable it had gone to bone (spine, pelvis and ribs) & 1 lung. This was 2016 Feb on hormone therapy for rest of life had chemo to stop it going any further dec 2018 psa 0.4 it's going to go up again then I have some more chemo, I have wrote in other places, living with cancer and prostate cancer hope everything keeps going well.Iwas ill before I new about the cancer, but it was because I had a hernia I was lucky because if not being checked out cancer would have gone a lot further.

Billy 

HI Billy i will include you in my prayers and pray to getbetter. How does hormone therapy make you feel. Im worried mainly about losing my sex drvie which i read about.

Hi herc what sex drive to much damage done by cancer (at least I had a great time when I was younger) been married over 45 years worst thing is hot flushes I mean Hot had them over 3 years now but rest of life is something else. One thing I did learn is went for injection saw nurse she said back in a minute she came back said someone had given her the cheaper medication she said there are other meds but they don't do the job as well trouble is I don't always see same one so I don't know what I'm getting some times. Anyways best of luck.

Billy 

HI Billy, i pray you get better and things get easier. Thanks for sharing. Herc

Hello 

I am 65 just had result from blood test my PSA is 27. Doctor called me in and gave me a test from the rear and finding was that in he's words it should feel like a peach, but actually feels like a walnut. This all happened 2days ago and to be honst I am still a little shocked. I am and have always been in good health. Reason for going to Docs is because my wee flow had slowed down and at times did not feel like emptying out acompletely. Waiting now for appointment 

Hi Ham

This is basically what happened to me, but it was my wife made me go to the GP for as soon as I heard water splashing in our metal sink I had to run to the loo. My psa was higher than yours at 70 and I have made a very good recovery thanks to our brilliant doctors and nurses in the NHS

So I hope you take take heart from my experiance.

Best wishes, Brian

Hi Ham. Welcome to the forum that no one ever wants to join.

Just so you know what to expect at your appointment. You'll meet with the consultant who will discuss your medical history, probably repeat the finger in the bum test, and then almost certainly refer you for an MRI which is usually followed by a prostate biopsy (sometimes it's done the other way round). 

Then it's a tense wait for results, I'm afraid, and that's never easy.  I went through this back in 2010 so I know what it's like. 

If you have any more questions, or just want to chat, that's why we're here.  Please let us know how you get on, because your feedback helps us to improve our answers. 

Hi Telemando,

I'm new to this group so any advice would be helpful. I'm 54 years old, had a PSA done about 6 months ago because my dad had Prostate Cancer, the result came back high at 3.7, had finger up bum, doctor said Prostate felt enlarged, sent for MRI, they said something on surface of Prostate. This week 06-12-21 went to see consultant, had another PSA test done before going & PSA now even higher at 4.79. Consultant said due to PSA high, enlarged Prostate & family history he wants to do a biopsy next week, this is freaking me out a bit but I guess it's the only conclusive route, anyone out there with similar experience & can advise?