Hello all.
This has been a tumultuous year for me and this support group has been one of the few places I've felt safe to express my thoughts in.
Long story short: 68, Caucasian. My PSA score had gone up to 5.672 (the highest it's been since I started checking my PSA in 2013) in May of this year (this was after a month of meeting with doctors when I was told there an indication of cancer in my prostate, and that I should be considering brachytherapy or surgery). I had a biopsy (fairly certain it was transperineal). 5 of 23 cores indicated cancer. The Gleason Score was 3+4, but, as I've learned, it's not as simple as those two numbers.
After talking with 3 urologists, I decided to have brachytherapy. When I went to consult with the doctor who would have performed it (Sept. 14). He looked at the MRI (if that's the correct term) of my prostate, taken about the beginning of this year. He felt the size of the tumor was so small that it was not necessary to have the procedure, and recommended another PSA test in November.
My November PSA score was 4.45. This didn't make any sense to me, but the doctor was pleased and obviously I was happy that it had gone down a point. I'm going again in March 2023. We will continue to do this until about summer, at which point I'll have another MRI. I asked him if what we were doing was "Active Surveillance." He said yes.
The 4.45 score was lower than the last 4 tests I've had, dating back to 9/17/21. NOTE: The doctor said no bike-riding and no ejaculation for 1 week prior to the test. I made it 10 days. Did this make a difference? It seems that it did.
On one hand, I'm very happy (as was the doctor); on the other, I'm confused.
I understand that prostate cancer is slow growing, but I thought a rising PSA level indicates cancerous growth. Based on the current PSA score, I'm in better shape than I was back in September 2021.
For now, I'll monitor my health and go to the next PSA text in March.
I wonder if any other gentlemen here have had lower PSA scores after being diagnosed with p.c.
