PSA results

All is well and you can relax ️ 

It appears you have encountered the dreaded 'PSA bounce'.

I believe it's perfectly natural and nothing to worry about

Yes, we were told to expect a bit of a bounce once stopping HT. oncologist told us the alarm is raised when PSA reaches 2.0. 

Hi Worriedwife - those readings are absolutely fine and as expected. He still has a prostate gland, so you can expect some PSA to be present each time.  In fact, the PSA readings so far do not show a “bounce” - they merely show the expected PSA in the absence of hormone suppression.  In summary, all is well!  You consultant will certainly be very happy with these figures and the stabilising downward trend.  AW

That sounds wonderful. 

Lx

Thanks AW. Yes we were relieved! I had quite prepared myself for an increase!

we were told that if this PSA result is ok, he will be moved on to the hospital remote monitoring scheme.

Hello Worriedwife 

That's magic and all is well - I hope you can now change your user name to "happywife".

Kind Regards - Brian.

I'm delighted for you - BUT...

I've been there too and now I've got recurrent prostate cancer - in my shoulder.  Or at least it was there and has been treated with radiation.

And my log of my PSA levels is very similar to yours

I'm not trying to cause trouble, but I now know how persistent cancer can be and how hard it is to eradicate it.  I'm told that I'll probably be on HT for the rest of my days as a safety precaution.

Wish you luck - I do hope that your path is better than mine.

Best wishes

Chris

Hello Chris

im sorry to read of your steady increase in PSA and recurrence. I absolutely acknowledge that there is no room for complacency and no guarantees. On the plus side, though, I wonder whether going through the treatment buys extra years and, if so , how many and with what quality of life?

we started this journey just 2 months after you and I find coming up to PSA testing is an anxious time.

i hope you are not suffering too much with side effects and I wish you all the very best on this PC journey

Side effects - what side effects?   LOL  But thank you so much for your wishes.

Seriously I really don't think that I suffer from any of them.  Fatigue perhaps but at my age, I don't even consider that it's a side-effect of cancer or it's treatment but more a side effect of that incurable disease - old age.

I do have a small advantage, I think.  When I found out that I did have recurrent prostate cancer, I was in hospital being 'de-sugared' prior to being officially diagnosed with diabetes.  Therefore that in itself has given me more problems than the cancer and has pretty well overruled everything.

As for more years?  Personally I think so because without my treatment the cancer would almost certainly have spread in my groin and caused me endless troubles and a shortage of life.

So far as I'm concerned, as I've said elsewhere, I treat the cancer as being no more than a nuisance.

But I also think that cancer brings out our real characters - so if you're always bright and sparkly then that's what will come to the fore and if you're naturally morose then that too will take over.

I do guess that there's still one hell of a lot to find out about cancer and how it affects us, mentally as well as physically.  I've discovered that diabetes is very personal indeed - no two people have the same diabetic problems - so perhaps cancer affects us that way too.

Good luck to you and yours.      Chris       xx