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PSA in 2 weeks--nervous

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Posted 6/7/2010 11:17 AM (GMT -5)
My second post-op PSA is scheduled for 2 weeks. Already I can sense the stress. I HATE this disease. My life is now in 3-month intervals (really 2 months when you count the 2 weeks before each PSA test).

My first post-op PSA was 0.01. Knowing me, I would probably not be thrilled with a follow-up test of 0.02 or 0.03. I would be wondering, "is this the beginning of a trend?"

Silly, huh.

End of this mini-vent!

Mel

Posted 6/7/2010 11:21 AM (GMT -5)

compiler,

I'm told that PSA test anxiety substantially abates after about 10 or 15 years.  smilewinkgrin

Zen9

Posted 6/7/2010 3:50 PM (GMT -5)
For me it's like a three day pass. I'm not going to start worrying about it until I have to.
Posted 6/7/2010 4:12 PM (GMT -5)
I think the vast majority of us, suffer from some form of PSA anixety, I think it just comes with the turf of PC. I got another post SRT one coming up first week of July, already thinking about it, hoping that my one time back in the zero club stays that way. Hoping its a trend, not just a one time shot, so I know the feeling. I will still be doing every 3 months ones for another year, just to be on the safe side.
Posted 6/7/2010 9:03 PM (GMT -5)
Hi Mel,

I'm like David and have to have my next test in July. I've had these darn tests now for just about 4 years and it's not getting any easier (hopefully it will after 10-15 years). The only thing that makes it a bit better now is that I only get tested every 6 month, but the stress, 1-2 week prior, is enough to give me sleepless nights. Isn't this Pc wonderful :-(.
All the best to you.

Magaboo
Posted 6/7/2010 9:21 PM (GMT -5)
mag, that's part of the charm of us lucky guys having the "good" kind of cancer to get. you get it, you get treated, its gone, end of the story....not.
Posted 6/7/2010 9:56 PM (GMT -5)
I don't think it gets any easier taking the test and waiting for the results I got a regular app next week for psa test with regular rad doc I hope my numbers are down and stay down!!!!!!!
DEERHUNTER
Posted 6/7/2010 11:23 PM (GMT -5)
deer hunter, i hope you get another big fat zero-nothing-nada with your next reading. waiting for the next psa is like buying a lottery scratch ticket, and hoping you win nothing.
Posted 6/8/2010 5:14 AM (GMT -5)

Mel,  An acquaintance of mine had Brachy 18 years ago and saw his PSA start to rise last year.  He said he had stopped worrying about the annual tests many years ago.  I guess he has the right attitude.  Like you, I get my next one in a few weeks and have already started thinking about it.

Carlos

Posted 6/8/2010 6:51 AM (GMT -5)

compiler said...
My first post-op PSA was 0.01. Knowing me, I would probably not be thrilled with a follow-up test of 0.02 or 0.03.

Mel

There are labs which won't give a number below 0.1: they only report PSA <0.1, although they measure 2 decimals.
Do you really want to know ?
Posted 6/8/2010 7:13 AM (GMT -5)
Mel,

I must be once again among the land of the confused and mislead. The way my PSA has been bouncing around since my surgery and SRT, I actually don't mind the follow-up tests. At least I have a current understanding of where things are. Now with the determination of a MET, I am left thinking, what else can occur in the 3 months before the next test.

I don't dwell on this stuff all the time, but by the same token I sure like to know what's going on inside. The uncertainty is the part that gets my goat. Just let me know and let's figure out a way to deal with it seems to be my MO.

Sonny
Posted 6/8/2010 10:32 AM (GMT -5)

Arno:

Yeah, I want to know.

The doctors at Ford don't even like the ultra sensitive test due to the anxiety causes.

But, you know, if my PSA went from say .01 to .03 to .05 to .06, then I think we have a recurrence and we could get started on the next step. Studies show it is not good to wait too long to go to SRT.

Mel

Posted 6/8/2010 7:48 PM (GMT -5)
I have been <.04 since 1 month post op. Even after 2 years, I still stress and think about the next PSA test. I hope it gets better. I have even thought about talking to a therapist about it. I seem to put off decisions "until the next PSA tests". I know it seems crazy but I have always been a worrier and stresser.
Posted 6/8/2010 8:20 PM (GMT -5)

Rob2:

You nailed it exactly. I seem to be living my brief post-op life in 3-month intervals!

Mel

Posted 6/10/2010 10:26 AM (GMT -5)
I didn't want to highjack Zen's thread on the probability of recurrence of cancer but have some thoughts. Before we were diagnosed with cancer, did we go to the doctor for annual physicals thinking we were going to be told we had cancer. I did not. However, post cancer, it scares the xxxx out of me to wait and get the results of my PSA tests. I admire the group here that do not worry but I guess cancer changes everything. Anyway, it has for me. I put the #'s in the models etc. There is no model that will come back with 100% accuracy so the worry continues.
Posted 6/10/2010 7:56 PM (GMT -5)
The anxiety as much as I hate it comes with the territory for me whether I like it or not. I am pretty good when they are one year apart and can forget about it.

The one thing I have decided, is no tests October thru December... Whatever it is, it can wait til January... I do not want to ever go thru a Thanksgiving/Christmas season like last year...

pasayten
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