I'm reading the posts...

...and just feeling like a darned sissy. But. No diagnosis yet. 8 core biopsy done on Thursday. Prostate harder than normal, whatever that means. Had a check-up a couple weeks ago to talk about urinary issues. Weak flow, odd pain/pleasure sensation when the flow finally started, a little leakage if I waited to long. Family doc did a prostate exam, said it felt too firm. Sent me to a urologist who did a DRE and also pronounced the darned thing to be harder than normal. And, immediately scheduled me for the biopsy. My blood work was done between the visit to the family doc and the visit to the urologist. My first ever PSA came back at 19. During the biopsy, the uro said that he didn't see anything really abnormal in the prostate...again, whatever that means. His sense is that the news isn't going to be particularly good...and my instincts are telling me the same thing.

Second opinion if the first one sucks? Is there a real difference between a 12 core and an 8 core? I want to ask intelligent questions...but I just don't know what those are

I am 63, and actually pretty freaked right now.

Welcome DaHoney. Sorry you're here, but thanks for sharing your story and let's hope everything comes out well.

If one could graph the various stages of dealing with this, I think the "freaked out" stage comes first for all of us. Plus, you're in the awkward stage of waiting for the biopsy news to come back. Based on your PSA, I think you're justified in being concerned, but I'd urge you not to get too far ahead in your thinking right now. And remember, that even if you receive news that isn't positive, this is a very treatable disease.

No matter what the news you hear from your uro, we're here to help. Good luck and please keep us posted!

Michael

Hello DaHoney, Welcome to the forum. Sorry you have to be here but you've found a good place to ask questions.

There isn't a lot of difference between an 8 core and a 12 core biopsy. The extra cores are second samples taken from the same general areas of the prostate. Those extra cores improve the accuracy somewhat but add slightly to the risk, bother and expense.

The wait for results after the biopsy is nerve wracking. Not much we can do to help you with it except to say we've all been there and we know it's maddening.

The other thing I sometimes tell the new guys is that even if the news is bad it isn't that bad. The mortality rate for prostate cancer is really low these days. I think the cancer-specific survival rate is around 97 percent at ten years. A diagnosis of prostate cancer, even a fairly agressive case, isn't a death sentence, it's more like community service. You are sentenced to an annoying new hobby that will take up a lot of your time and sometimes make it harder to do the things you want to do.

Good luck. Keep us posted. Feel free to vent.

DaHoney

Yes you are correct, it is the signature field in the profile.  It is best to put your age, diagnosis(DX) ,number of cores positive, % of cancer in each core and the Gleason sum from each core and PSA value.  Read the material linked at the top of the forum for a thorough understanding of what you are dealing with.

I hope you get good news but if you do not, this beast can be beaten or at least tamed.

Good Luck.

Rick

DaHoney good luck on the bx report.

Welcome to our corner of the world. Sorry you need to be talking to us. It's a bit of a shock isn't it?

Let us know what the biopsy results are. No matter what the results come back as you'll want to get a second opinion.

Getting more cores is done if to help find any PC. 12 is the usual number, maybe your URO felt that 8 would get the info they needed.

What to do now? Take a deep breath. Let the emotions happen and get all the information you can. You're now in that bad space where you don't have enough information to act but are afraid of what you might have to do. Do something to distract yourself until the results are in.

When they are in, let us know and you'll get a ton and a half of suggestions.

And don't worry too much, there are plenty of things that can be done and plenty of reasons to hope for a good outcome. The journey might not be what you want but you've got plenty of good options.

Hang in there,
Andrew

DaHoney,

You can call me Peter if you want. Lots of people do here. My only caveat is that there is another guy named Peter who is the administrator who runs the whole shebang here and you shouldn't get me confused with him.

about an inch down from the upper left hand corner of the screen is the "My Profile" link that takes you to your profile page. On that page a bit down from the top in the center is an "Edit Profile" tab. When you click that tab you will see a form to fill out where you can put, among other things, your signature. If you want to create a signature it could contain your age, your PSA, the date you had your biopsy, and that you haven't gotten the results yet. Then when you get the results you could change it.

Sometimes when you create and/or change your signature the new stuff doesn't show up right away so you might need to be patient.

We have lots of wives here. Yours is welcome to create her own membership to talk to the other wives/partners if she likes, or she can use your signin but tell us who is typing.

DaHoney - welcome. This a great place for both PC guys and their significant others to rant, freak out, share, cry, get info etc. Good luck waiting for info. Hugs to both you and your wife, you are in the scariest part of this journey - the unknown - which ebbs and flows.

DaHoney- Welcome. I've only been here a few months, and find this forum to be a great source of support. Glad you found us.

-Gedman

Welcome to the HW family. You will find lots of great info here, support and compassion. Hopefully you won't need any of it, but just in case you do, we are here for you.

Don't push the panic button until you need to. Worrying doesn't change a darn thing.

Keep us updated.

Zimac

Hey DaHoney
Welcome to HW. Your story sounds a lot like mine. Not the best. But certainly not the worst.
My GP said I felt a little firm on one side. In my ignorance I figured that was a good thing. Like: Firm abs, Firm arms, firm prostate. Live and learn... PSA was 17.8, started antibiotics and a couple of weeks later it was 22 then 23... Had surgery. And here I am.
Over 3 years out and I am a healthy guy witha PSA <0.02. I'll take it.
Good luck.
Jeff

Let me tell you the good news: Prostate cancer is very treatable.

I was diagnosed in 2012 and had LD brachytherapy on 2/21.

It is highly likely I will be cured of PC and someting else will kill me.

Yeah, treatement is not without side-effects. So talk to us, but belive in yourself.

We both wish we did not have PC, but on the other hand we lived long enough to get it.

I know it's not a high five, but odds are you're over 50 and you will live a lot more years.

Maybe some compromises. Maybe some difficulties.

If you are diagnosed with  PCa, you have SO many options....

One is Cialis, and I am not a rep.

You get flow and you get erections. At least I do.