8 Months post op PSA

[Guest guest]

Hi all its Been a While since I Posted anything. back in Oct 09 I had my prostate Removed (prosectemy) Hope I Spelled it right. anyway last week I went in for my 3 month PSA and consultation and for the first time my PSA had a slight Rise .002 Hope I remember the number right. my Dr told me it was within normal Limits and he was referring me to an oncologist. my Dr who I was seeing was my surgeon. anyways can anyone tell me what to expect from here ??,

thanks

Sewell

[Guest guest]

Did your doctor mention anything about the

pathology from your surgery? He may have said something about positive or

negative margins? If you had positive margins then that means they found

cancerous cells at the edges of where the surgeon made his cuts and indicating

that you still have cancerous cells still inside you. If that is the case

then chances are you may have an MRI or CAT scan along with another bone scan.

They will then determine if radiation or chemo is the best next treatment for

you. If it is determined that your cancer is still confined to the pelvic

area then radiation will most likely be your next step.

I am not sure why he would refer you to an

oncologist if your margins were negative since that indicates they remove all

of the cancer. Either way monitoring your PSA should be a life long commitment

now and having an oncologist on your side would be a good thing.

From:

ProstateCancerSupport

[mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ] On Behalf Of Sewell

Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010

10:30 AM

To:

ProstateCancerSupport

Subject: 8

Months post op PSA

Hi all its Been a While since I Posted anything. back in Oct 09 I had

my prostate Removed (prosectemy) Hope I Spelled it right. anyway last week I

went in for my 3 month PSA and consultation and for the first time my PSA had a

slight Rise .002 Hope I remember the number right. my Dr told me it was within

normal Limits and he was referring me to an oncologist. my Dr who I was seeing

was my surgeon. anyways can anyone tell me what to expect from here ??,

thanks

Sewell

[Guest guest]

Sewell wrote:

> Hi all its Been a While since I Posted anything. back in Oct 09

> I had my prostate Removed (prosectemy) Hope I Spelled it right.

> anyway last week I went in for my 3 month PSA and consultation

> and for the first time my PSA had a slight Rise .002 Hope I

> remember the number right. my Dr told me it was within normal

> Limits and he was referring me to an oncologist. my Dr who I

> was seeing was my surgeon. anyways can anyone tell me what to

> expect from here ??,

,

You'll want to check the number. I suggest that you call the

doctor's office and ask the receptionist if someone can look it

up and tell you what it was.

..002 is really nothing. .02 may be nothing. .2 is significant

and may indicate a recurrence of the cancer. 2 is very

significant and indicates a fast growing cancer. So get

verification on where the decimal point goes.

Terry also suggested getting a copy of the pathology report from

the operation. After the surgeon removes the prostate he sends

it to a pathologist who (hopefully) carefully examines the tissue

all around the surfaces to see if any cancer was " at the

margins " . If it was, then there is some danger that there was

also cancer beyond the margins, i.e., in tissue that is still in

your body. The pathologist also slices up the prostate and

examines cells inside to determine how much cancer there was and

how developed it was. His report should say how much cancer was

found and what the Gleason score was.

Assuming that you have a recurrence, the kind of oncologist I

expect you will be referred to is a radiation oncologist. You

might want to make sure about that by looking up the doctor whom

you have been referred to. If you've got a recurrence, and the

cancer is still confined to the area right around where the

prostate was, radiation might be able to completely cure you.

Best of luck.

Alan