David
and his wife Sudjai Lynch live in Oklahoma, USA. David was diagnosed on 27
March 2000 at 56 years of age.His
PSA at diagnosis was 17.4, gleason: 7 staging: T2b. He selected Hormone Therapy
prior to Radical Prostatectomy.
David
continues... I have been under a physican's care for ten years and he has never
recommend a prostate exam. I had an annual physical done in March of 2000 and
I had to ask for a PSA. I was told that it would cost me extra and I said fine.
Five days later I found out it came back 17.4. I made an appointment with a Urologist
and he examined me and order another PSA. This was about two weeks after finding
out. My PSA came back 19.0. In May I went to see him and he gave me Lupron shot
which would last three months and some pills that I took for 14 days. I was scheduled
for Surgery for the 18th of August.
I
went on a scheduled vacation and had my radical prostatectomy. My PSA upon return
from my vacation was 1.3. The surgery lasted 4 hours and three pints of blood.
The frozen sections all came back negative and the margins were negative. I told
him I would be having a PSA every month for the first six months and then every
other month. After the first year if things continued to look good I would go
quarterly the second year, twice a year during the third year and then annually
from that point on.
My
PSA came back 0.0 for October and November of 2000. In December the lab changed
the assay methodology and said the tests for PSA were much more sensitive. In
December it came back 0.02. In January it was 0.02. I got a call that my doctor
wanted to see me. I asked if I could get another PSA in three more weeks and he
agreed. It came back 0.03. I got a call at work that he wanted to see me that
day. Come to find out, he thought my PSA was 0.3 rather than 0.03. He said he
was sorry if he got me worried.
I
have since had another one which was 0.02 again and last week I had my last one
and it was 0.016. I have slight incontinence and I still have not had an erection
hard enough for intercourse. I have no idea if the worst is over or not, but I
have a positive attitude about the big picture.
[Update 11 October 2001]
Current Age 58. Current PSA 0.018. Initial treatment
Radical Prostatectomy. Current Treatment The last PSA was done on August of 2001
and as it continues to be low using the ultra sensitive DPC Immulite assay, I
am no longer having a PSA test done every month or two. They will now be quarterly.
In
May my PSA was 0.025 then in July it was 0.041 and followed by this 0.018. Next
one will be in November. There is no real treatment at this point.
I
am taking many vitamins, including 1000 mg Vitamin C, 200 mcg Selenium, Lycopene
66 mg twice a day. Hope all your PSA's are less than 0.1. Contact me anytime if
I can be of any help.
[Update 15 February 2004]
My
PSA came back detectable for the first time on 22 Sep 03 with a reading of 0.155.
Retest 6 Oct 03 was 0.115 and then tested three months later on 8 Jan 04 at 0.113.
Will be taking another PSA in April 04.
[Update 27 March 2005]
Last
visit with Urologist on 19 November 2004 and had PSA done on 26 October 2004 which
came back with my highest reading so far of 0.185.
These
were some of the other PSA results.
10-06-03
0.115 - 37 Months
01-08-04
0.113 - 41 Months
04-20-04
0.164 - 44 Months
07-21-04
0.161 - 47 Months
10-15-04
0.160 - 50 Months (Base Hospital)
10-26-04
0.185 - 50 Months
I
will be getting another PSA in April 2005.
[Update 19 November 2005]
I
have been continually monitoring my PSA and the reading I had in April 2005 was
0.311 followed by my latest test which was in October 2005 which was 0.384.
My
Urologist wants to wait until it reached 0.5 before further treatment which might
be radiation or hormone therapy.
I
will be going to give my youngest daughter away at her wedding on the 29th of
April 2006 and then when I return home, will get another PSA.
[Update August 2006]
I
had a PSA test done on the 2nd of May 2006 and it came back with a 0.534 ng/ml.
I saw my Urologist on the 5th of May and we decided that it was time to get an
Oncologist on board. I did another PSA test on the 6th of July and it came back
0.621 ng/ml.
Saw
Oncologist on the 10th of July and at this point he says we can continue to monitor
the PSA until it get to a certain point and then we can take action of either
two years on hormone therapy or Chemo with Taxetere for three to six treatments
and then two years on hormone therapy. Leaning toward last option. Will be seeing
my Urologist again in August to discuss plan of attack. Later....
[Update November 2006]
I
finally decided to go with salvage radiation which began on the 21st of September
2006. I will have 37 treatments and as of today I have 8 treatments left. No real
problems so far with the treatments. My last PSA was done on the August 3, 2006
with a reading of 0.735. My last radiation treatment should be on Monday, 13 November
2006. I think I will have to wait at least 2 more months before taking another
PSA test to see if this has been a success or not. I believe I am getting 6616
total Gys. Good luck to all of you out there.
[Update January 2007]
I
had my initial follow up PSA after 37 radiation treatments. It was 0.735 back
in August prior to the treatments and on 19 January 2007 it came back at 0.009.
Will see Urologist on the 29th of January but the results are already in and now
I have more breathing room. Best to all.
[Update August 2007]
15
August 2007 had a follow up PSA which came back with a 0.007. It has now been
seven years since my initial RRP and 9 months since my salvage radiation treatments.
I will be seeing my urologist on the 29th of August which I assume will be a routine
visit. So far so good. Best to all of you.
[Update November 2008]
I
saw my urologist in August 2007 for a six month check up and all was fine with
a psa test came back at <0.0. So far so good. It has now been 8 years since my
initial surgery. Next visit is scheduled for March 2009.
I
also had my second colonoscopy performed in September 2008 and all was fine in
that department.
Thank
you.
[Update March 2009]
I
went into see my urologist Mar 2009 and had another PSA and that one came back
again, <0.0 and digital was negative and he will see me again in six more months.
[Update September 2009]
On
4 Sep 09, saw urologist and everything continues to be alright.
I
had my latest PSA reading at the hospital and they have changed their assay again
and this reading came back <0.064. They told me that was the lowest reading that
the test would show. Didn't make much sense to me nor my uro. My uro asked me
to get another test done with the lab he uses which uses the third generation
and doesn't keep changing every couple of years.
I
retested on 8 September and the results came back with 0.009. Will follow up again
in 6 more months. Best luck to all.
[Update March 2010]
My
latest checkup was 23 Feb 2010 and all is going well at 9 and half years post
surgery and 3 years and 3 months post salvage radiation. Best to all out there.
[Update March 2011]
7
September 2010 PSA <0.006 Appointment with Urologist and everything was O.K.
Tried to talk doctor into seeing him once a year instead of every six months and
he said that it was up to me but it is recommended every six months. I will see
him again in six months, in March 2011.
22
February 2011 PSA 0.02 Had PSA drawn and it looks like here we go again. I
consider this now to be advanced prostate cancer. I see my urologist on the 9th
of March.
My
big question for him will be at what point will hormone shots be tried, when PSA
hits a certain number or when there are outward symptoms.
Another
year is here and I will be getting another 6 months check up on the 29th of February.
My
latest update was done on 16 August 2011 and that PSA came back at <0.02 and the
best the urologist and I can find out is that is the lowest reading that they
have, so that is good news.
It
is closing in on 12 years since initial radical and will be 6 years since salvage
radiation in November 2012.
All
systems go at this time. Hope everyone can get good news.
David's
e-mail address is : davidmlynch@yahoo.com
