Very High PSA..very scared

Hi Ash, others far more hip on the medical side of PSA will be able to give you far better advice and support than I but I did want to welcome you, although sorry that your dad's PCa has brought you here.

A couple of things might be helpful. Your dad's age, and what previous PSA 'scores' might have been? If you have a PSA history with dates I'm sure the medical minds here would like that.

The PSA score of 65.8 would be a worry, I'm sure. Is it possible you have the decimal point in the wrong place and it is actually 6.58?

Sheldon AKA Sleepless

Ash they can go higher than that, but do check to make sure that is correct. His Gleason score of 6 is not bad however. Once you get all the facts let us know as we are here to support you and your family. It's hard not to jump to conclusions, but truth is you dont have all the info that you need. Movement is a good cure for a racing mind, so please go out an do something for yourself today.

Michael

A PSA of 65.8 with a gleason score of 6 doesn't sound right.  A high PSA would usually indicate a fast growing/aggressive tumor. Are you sure it wasn't 6.58?

What the others have said makes sense. I think you should visit a uro and get your own psa base numbers established. You probably have thought of this already but in case you haven't...

I hope your dad's situation develops in to something that is not so scary as it seems now. His age, older rather than younger, and the fact that the gleason is not bad certainly are things that are on the plus side. At this point there is no reason to expect a bad outcome.

Keep us posted as you get more information. At this point, I would be thinking ahead a bit and finding out if there are pc experts in your area  for a second opinion if you need one later on. Also same goes for threament options if he ends up needing some type of treatment, are there highly experienced surgeons and radiologists in your area? Sounds like the people treating him now are being agressive which is good.

Anyway good luck and if you hang around this board awhile you will see that those of us who have pc treat it as a journey and you and your dad are just getting started so try not to worry too much and focus on information gathering. 

Likely you could have prostatitis adding to this inflated psa and low gleason scores.

Do not panic lots of treatments/protocols to do with PCa, me 8 yrs. +  and psa was 46.6 , gleason scores found 7,8,9's (2 sets), lots of PCa 75-95% in every core, scans appeared clear, had total urinary blockage and was in emergency room all from PCa, gland size was normal like around 34-35 range.

Please read these for further education asap:

www.yananow.net/PSA101.htm   (psa information...all you need to understand it)

www.wmfurology.com   (look for prostatitis info)

www.marinurology.com  (prostatitis info)

Verfiy your pathology thru a reknown expert is wise, like Bostwick, Epstein, Oppenheimer .

You can find relief just learning what you are dealing with.

Hi Ash,
Check out my stats below. You will see they are similar to your father's - except the PSA was 23. At the rate mine was climbing I believe I would have been there in a few months. I too had a slow stream. It would take me about 45 seconds to finish up in the bathroom. When going to the bathroom with a group of coworkers, I was always the last guy.
I am a pretty healthy guy, in good shape, so I had surgery. Now I can pee like a 15 year old! It comes out with so much force I wish I could show my friends. Unfortunately, I also pee like a 2 year old and must wear pee pads.

Whatever your dad decides, he should be exercising and working on doing kegel exercises now. I went too many years with my bladder sphincter relaxed, letting my prostate do the work.
Tell hm he is officially in training for the big fight. Play the theme to Rocky for him.
I wish you both the best.
Jeff

Ash, this is interesting. I am a bit confused so maybe someone will clarify for me. Surgery is surgery, regardless of the method. But I have never heard of someone saying that laproscopy can't be done due to prostate hardness. I know there are many reasons why open vs. laproscopy is preferred, but never because of hardness of the prostate. Hopefully someone can explain this.

Just so you know, outcomes and side effects are very similar between surgery and radiation as primary treatment, so the choice should be whatever your father wants and prefers for himself. Just support his decision. You can encourage, but be supportive.

BTW welcome.

Ash,
You really can't go by my experience. I had DaVinci surgery and recovered quickly. I am at one year out: my PSA is <0.01 perfect! However, my incontinence is very poor. I am in the bottom 5% of the class. I have total ED. That's hard for a healthy 57 year old (or not hard I guess). Trimix works but spontaneity is gone.
I did not have any follow up treatments after the surgery because my PSA was so low, and my incontinence and ED so bad I thought I would have a chance to get the function back if I was patient. I threw the dice and took my chances. In 5-10 years we'll see if I guessed correctly.

Treatment options, like condiments on a hot dog, are very personal. The answer is: "It depends"
See if you can clarify the Gleason 6 score and 65 PSA. That is strange. You might want to put that in the signature section below. It helps.

Jeff

My PSA was 115, my Gleason was 7 as of Jan. of 2007. I'am still around and feeling well, a little tired sometimes. Had rad. prostemtecomy in sept of 2007. Post surgery PSA .01 and is slowly rising. Now its .1.02. The doc is thinking about adding Casodex to my Lupron wich I have been on since Jan. of 2007. T4N1 stage. Hang in there, a lot of it is mind over matter.

Ash- read this about Bolla studies and google them, more than one study.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12126818

I have to inform you that scans are never totally definitive, you appear to have clear scans, thus maybe it is contained is the actual case...regardless of what your particular docs mention...alot of people find this out (sometimes the hardest way), some docs admit the limitations on scans, others sell it as infallible (inquire to John T herein to give you total examples of how they lack, Dr. Strum, Barken and others say the same thing for good reasons). The terminology by Dr. Barken was labelled micro mets, cannot be detectable with current machinery we have, period. I am the messenger, don't shoot me, try to prove me wrong on your own research (if you can). Alot of great sales pitches out there on how perfect and how great the technology and machinery is supposedly...my radiologist is truthful enough to level with me on this too, whereby other docs I saw did not. I had clear scans with high volume, high stats.....sounded wonderful...no guarantee paper with a stamp on it.

I wish all of us the best outcomes, I think total truthfulness and exposure of what is what is long overdue. Many mistakes being made, lupron with no casodex prior, DRE given then psa blood drawn, scans done on indolent PCa patients (wasteful), less than full disclosure by docs on side effects and issues, and tons more.