Biopsy results timeline - query

Hello Rocket4e316f 

That's shabby from your health authority and the issue needs to be addressed.

Your PSA was 179 so clearly there's going to be a Prostate Cancer diagnosis, you won't know how aggressive it is until you get the biopsy results. Personally with a PSA of 179 I would be asking for an oncology appointment even without the results of the MRI & biopsy and asking to be started on Hormone Therapy - this will at least stop any further growth/spread in it's tracks.

I would be contacting PALS (patient Advice and Liaison Service) at your hospital to see if they can push this along for you. I would be throwing the "Cancer Pathway Timeline" into the mix when you contact them.

(if you want a comparable journey my PSA was 182 and my consultant put me on Hormone Therapy from day 1 - no waiting for the biopsy results and I credit him for me still being stage 3 and not 4. You can read my journey by clicking on my name or avatar).

Do keep us posted as to how you get on.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thanks Brian. Having read your profile I did ask my urologist some weeks back about going on to HT now, not least because of my psa. He told we should ‘hold our nerve’ until the PET scan but I confess my nerves are probably a bit frayed by this poin

And I will follow up with PALS straight away. Thanks again.

Hi Rocket4e316f I am with Brian on this, get on HT asap.  Just as an aside, do you have access to the NHS App.  In some areas this works well and you might see your results earlier than predicted.

Yes indeed, the NHS App can work very well. I spoke to my Cancer nurse about difficulties I was having with my GP over my HT. She said she would write to them - the very next day her letter appeared on my NHS account. How quickly the GP will react to that letter is another matter........................................but he has received and "filed" it !!

Hello Rocket

i quite agree that 4. Months to wait for a biopsy result for any cancer is ridiculous and far too long. My husband received his result within 2 weeks 3. . That was 3 Years ago.

i fully understand that there will be increased demands as more and more men come forward for testing . I also understand the resource pressures on the NHS - right across the whole service. 

But, as I see it, we have a contract with the Government. We pay our taxes and, in return, we get health care at the point of need. We continue to pay ever more in taxes and the Government fails to give us the care at the point of need. it is the Government reneging on the contract! 

Ever the rebel, I would be literally shouting from the roof tops. I would be writing to the following: the chief executive of the acute trust involved, the chief executive of my integrated care board, my MP and Wes Streeting ( minister for Health). I would also be contemplating getting the media involved!!!

I had to fight tooth and nail to get my husband the care he needed in a timely manner. It was exhausting! It was not fair! But we got there in the end. I hope you have someone to help you fight for the timely care you deserve and wish you all the very best

Thanks David. In my area the app doesn’t include test results, just GP appointments and prescriptions, but apparently I can request that my practice include them, which I will be doing. On HT I can see that my urologist is right that waiting for a PSMA pet scan is the best way to go in order to best target future treatment - my bone scan is clear, for instance, but the PET scan might spot micromets that could be more effectively targeted. I understand they won’t be visible if I start HT before the scan and that might have an impact on my long term treatment. But also, as you imply, there’s no benefit to that if I wait so long that there is spread anyway.

Thank you very much. I agree that I definitely have some chasing up to do. It is tiring, as you say. I’ll let you know how it goes. One of the many benefits of this forum is that people’s responses help steel you for the fight. Thanks!

Hello Rocket, we really should not have to fight at what is for many ( and certainly was for us) one of the most vulnerable and  darkest times of our lives. I really hope you have support at home? I felt at the time that I was having to fight the NHS to get the care my husband needed in time to improve his chances of a cure. It really shouldn’t be like this for our menfolk.

It is tough, as you say. But I’m up for the fight and have great support from my children. My wife died from cancer over a decade ago.