PSA 69 and found a mass during examination

Hi Sasha , firstly don’t panic.  Prostate cancer (PCa) comes in various levels and mostly these days it is curable.  For a small group (like me) it isn’t curable but treatable.  Initially, 8 years ago, we freaked out once cancer was mentioned but over the years have come to realise that PCa is generally slow growing and survivable.  A MRI is generally the first diagnostic but a bone scan is very normal as is a biopsy.  These will determine if PCa exists and if so where it is.  Let us know how he gets on and please ask any questions at any point.

Hi Sasha,

It’s great that you’re here and you can now stop any googling. It’s the worse place for advice where as here the answers to your questions are from experience or reputable sources online. Brian, Millibob will be along soon and he is the best source of calming and expert advice.

You are going to wear yourself out soon so eat and sleep when you can.

As David’s said there are many levels and many pathways to take to fight off or cure the cancer.

You don’t mention your Mum but this is a couples disease and there’s lots that’s going on in the penile area so the sex life and mental anxiety over erectile distinction is heading his way.

Try not to be too hard on yourself and do what you can and no more for your Dad. Try not to google much, I know you will but you will only mess with your head. And that’s something that you’ll need to keep in mind (sorry about the pun) so get your head straight. Mental health iis my biggest enemy, and I get loads of professional help as I go along, You’ll need to stay steady, get good advice from reputable places, stay well and don’t dwell on things out of your control.

Your Dad is young at 69 and likely to offered all the “tool-box” of therapies and treatments. That’s really the best news.

There is a huge magnetic force in the MRI machines (the M in MRI is magnetic) so if your Dad has an old wound that left a bit of shrapnel or ferrous metal in your body to be scanned they will not be able to do it, as it will move when the machine starts up.

There’s a whole lot to be happy about here Sacha so don’t think “the end is nigh”. Try and think that it’ll be stopped and cured or just stoped like me. So worry not and help him in as many ways as you can to calm him too.

Good luck and Sleep well.

Thank you I'm waiting for a phone call off the hospital tomorrow to find out a rough time frame for biopsy. 

The hospital has phoned my dad today which I presume is for the scan but unfortunately due to him forgetting things he couldn't tell me what they said date or time, so now need to chase this up. 

I did ask the hospital to put my number down to make appointment due to this reason. 

Does a mass and PSA always means cancer? I'm really hoping this is a nightmare I will wake up from. So hard. I'm really glad I joined this group. After reading your message last night I did sleep a bit better. 

It like living in limbo at the moment and not knowing what going to happen. 

Thank you so much for your support. 

Sasha 

Thank you so much for commenting. I'm sorry to hear about your battle but you seem strong and accepting and loving life to the full so this gives me a lot of hope. I do hope they have this wrong but the PSA of 69 and the mass they felt doesn't sound good but I'm still holding onto hope that it is nothing. 

Thank you for your support 

Sasha 

 Sasha , until you get a diagnosis, the whole process feels like you are in a dream and will wake up.  It is the worst bit.  Once you know exactly what you are dealing with, it appears much easier to be able to focus on going forward.  My gut feeling is that the diagnosis will be PCa, but honestly that isn’t necessarily that bad.  We can help you through this, so don’t worry.

Thank you David. 

Dad had scans on Friday. Sorry I am slow in replying life is a bit hectic. 

 He complaining he soar when passing stools and afterwards. So I will mention this. I think we have a few things going on not all linked to the prostate. He forgetting things short term so I could say something and he forgotten what I have said but maybe this is stress and I'm looking to deeply into everything. I am a big over thinker. Hoping we get a date for biopsy this week. I'm not sure what care is going to look like after this I will have to write questions down to ask them. When you in with the drs and nurses my mind goes blank. Dad's just going with the flow and saying what will be will be. He being positive on front of me. He lives on his own and I am his only support. So I'm making sure I go down everyday with him. I don't want him left to it. It a hard time and we need to stick together to pull through this mentally. 

Thank you so much for your support and getting back to me I really appreciate it. 

Kind regards 

Sasha 

Sasha, thanks for your reply.  Just take it day by day, so get the scan results and see where it goes.  We can help you through this.  Your dad has a good attitude ‘what will be will be’ but that needs to taken alongside advice from the medics.  Look after yourself during this next stage.