New to the journey

Good Evening Cru08 

A warm welcome to the Macmillan Prostate Cancer group, although I am so sorry to find you here. I am Brian one of the Community Champions here at Macmillan. I am on my 4th year of my personal Prostate Cancer journey.

A cancer diagnosis can be a shock at first but Prostate Cancer if caught early is very much curable and a PSA of 8.7 isn't too high. I see you are booked in for an MRI - has your team mentioned a Prostate Biopsy as this is on the normal full diagnostic pathway?

Make yourself at home on this friendly group and feel free to ask any questions, however trivial.

Best wishes - Brian

Thank you Brian, they only mentioned that I may require a biopsy following the MRI results

Many thanks 

Hi Cru08 ,

My journey along this road started around this time last year.

Like you the checking process started with an MRI scan.

IF you are diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, then there are likely to be other scans and a biopsy.

Then you, and your doctors, will know exactly what has to be done,

These weeks are the very worst - at the moment you will think the worst no matter what anyone says, but you don't have a diagnosis yet.

These things kept me going:

1. If it is cancer, then whatever the stage there is a treatment. That treatment will be, at the very least, life extending.
2. The treatments are improving all the time. New ideas are popping up, new combinations of treatment are being trialled, all the time.
3. The treatments have an impact, but they are usually less than the maximum side effects.

The interesting thing is that this experience has changed my life. It is still doing so. Oddly, for the better, at least in some ways.

My life has changed, but is NOT diminished.

I wish you well.

Steve

Hi Cru08 , you have come to the right group for help IF you are diagnosed with PCa.  Your PSA doesn’t look to be shooting up, in fact it is down, so there is no panic.  The MRI will be looking for signs of problems inside and surrounding your prostate.  Again IF this finds something then a biopsy will be requested which allows the samples to be analysed for abnormal cells and these are then graded to find out if they are aggressive or not.

The waiting is by far the hardest part in all this, but once you have results, please come back and we will be able to talk it through.  Recent advances in PCa treatment mean that most guys (98%) don’t die from it but with it. A substantial number are cured and even in advanced cases this slow growing cancer can be delayed by years.  Good luck, David

Hi Cru08,

You have come to the right place for reliable information and support. The folk on here are brilliant. I used my Profile as a diary if you want read about what happened to me. I am 9 months post Prostectomy. 

I'm older than you but also no symptoms.

Regards Psticks

Welcome to the forum Cru08 .  I'm only a few weeks ahead of you and still waiting for my biopsy next week(after it was cancelled last week) after having my MRI last year which found a potential pirads 4 lesion.   It's certainly a big shock initially as like you I have no symptoms and a PSA of 1.47, so expected the MRI to be clear.  It took a good few days to get my head around things which I think is the norm from other people's posts.  The main thing is that it's detected early BEFORE symptoms start to appear as often that means treatment can be given at a much earlier stage.  Of course a slightly high PSA doesn't necessarily mean cancer so try to keep an open mind, I know it's difficult, I still struggle some days, but at least once you have the MRI and biopsy (if needed), you can start to plan out the next steps, the limbo period before is not great. 

Hello dedward67 

Just a reminder that in case you do have worries

dedward67 said:

I still struggle some days,

The staff on the Support Line are there for you on 0808 808 00 00 (8am to 8pm 7 days a week). 

If you want to talk to someone face to face I can supply you with details of your local Macmillan's or if you have a Maggie's near you, you can call in for a brew and a chat.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thank you for everyone's warm messages, MRI and Ultrasound scans both now complete and now the wait for the results and meeting with consultant in the coming days

 Cru08 , it is a horrible time waiting for results but hopefully won’t be too long.  If you have access to the NHS App some people are able to see their results in advance but whichever route, please let us know how you get on and ask any questions.  Personally, my wife has always come with me to get the results as 4 ears are better than 2.  David