Acceptance difficulties

Dave2024,

Quite normal but it gets better.  You have a low Gleason score.  What is you PSA?  Do you mean you will have a biopsy in 6 months time or have you had one?

Easy for me to say but you will be fine.  Best wishes David

Hello Dave2024  A warm welcome to the online Prostate Cancer Community.

I am so sorry to find you here - but you are in good company. You are a Gleason 6 (you didn't say what your PSA was)  so the Team looking after you have put you on  "Active Surveillance" There is a cracking leaflet from Prostate Cancer UK and a link to this is below. Just click on the link to read the details:

https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org/our-publications/all-publications/active-surveillance

I understand your worries that you have "cancer" but treatments have advanced a long way since your father passed. Take me - I am a Gleason 9 (5+4) initial PSA 182 and on a "Curative Pathway" - you can read my journey by clicking on the avatar of the beach.

So - can we help you with your emotions - I have 3 ideas:

* Would the "Buddy Scheme" help - you are matched with a "Buddy" and they ring you every week for a chat to see how you are and make sure you are OK.

* Would counselling help - let me know I will see what I can do for you.

* Give our helpline on 0808 808 00 00 a ring - there are some fantastic people there with all sorts of ideas to help you.

Your feelings are normal - it's normal to worry but we are a Community and you are a member so we will do what we can to help.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Dave 

Other figures are important, PSA, tumour size if u have it.

Can't be biopsy every 6 months, maybe MRI yearly or 6 monthly.

I understand your concern because of your dad,  u probably could push for treatment if you are particularly concerned.

Regards

Steve 

Hi david, thanks for the quick reply. PSA is 2.0  there was 2 cores out of 22 on the left side. I had been told ive got to have biopsys done every 6 months. 

Hi there, my letter states "template Biopsy every 6 months" i had bladder cancer 7 years ago, dont know if thats anything to do with it. 

Yes could be Dave,  PSA obviously normal so was it found because of monitoring previous cancer?

Have they suggested treatment options or is it Def active surveillance for now

I went to urology as i cant wee properly, was painful to wee and my testicles keep swelling up an down and are so painful its crazy. they checked me and found my left lobe was enlarged, went on from there, odd thing is they say no issues with testicle scan, ive had arthritis since the age of 14, i can handle pain but the testicle pain is off the scale, ive just got to live with it i guess

Hello Dave, and welcome.

I take it that you have been put on Active Surveillance. My husband was on this originally and had a follow up biopsy after 6 months. He was monitored by PSA and everything appeared normal for many years. I can understand your concerns, particularly with your family history, as my husband was diagnosed 10 years later with an aggressive incurable version of prostate cancer which developed very quickly. That was 3.5 years ago and it is a rollercoaster journey for us but he is still going strong. Normally repeat biopsies would not be done quite as frequently as every 6 months (normally between 1 to 5 years) but presumably you are being offered it because of your and your father's history. Can I suggest that you ask for a scan at regular intervals as well as my husband's PSA did not indicate that he had a problem.

Dave2024,  None of us on here are medically trained so replies are only our experiences, but it will be interesting to see if anyone else has come across multiple or regular biopsies.  Sounds very unusual.  Your PSA is so low, you will go on active surveillance, which broadly means - get back to normal life for 5 months and worry as you approach your next tests!  Over time it will become very routine and let’s hope the cancer doesn’t need zapping for years to come (if ever).

best wishes. David

thanks for your reply, my blood test were all normal as well. I did have an MRI but because ive had both hips replaced tey said its very hard to see anything, although they could see a small shadow which led to the biopsy. They said its due to my previous cancer and my dads history they are monitoring me carefully