Check PSA in Elderly

My dad passed after finding his PSA was over 600. He lasted about a year with chemo/hormone shots. Crummy way to go. Whats worse is the doctor saying his PSA had come down to normal around 2 and all looked good. They were treating him for what they said were just infections till last week, since they werent making any progress we took him to a different hospital where they found cancer all over. Dad wanted to go home. Two days later he died at home.

Sure would have been nice to know the cancer was spreading, it would have changed the way we dealt with things. I dont understand why we werent told this till 2 days before he died.

Keep an eye on your doctors, definately check PSA past 75.

Dad was 87.

DJ, very sorry for your loss. We always say around here , that you have to be your own advocate, sounds like you did that for your dad. Tough to swallow when the Drs fumble the ball.

May your dad Rest In Peace and May you find solace in knowing he’s not suffering any longer

My brother was having to be the one that dealt with the hospital and doctors for my dad. Since they have no internet access, I was trying to get information and relay to him what I could. Dad did have a pacemaker and heart valve. He was back in the hospital this last time because he was having breathing difficulties and what they thought was some kind of urinary infection. Reports on all his heart conditions were good. Everything was good they said. After being in there for almost a month of antibiotics, and still having breathing difficulties, my brother took him somewhere else. Thats when we found out the cancer was all over. Too late.

I would just like to know why it took that long and no one said anything about the cancer spreading. Reading these forums, it seems like there could have been something else we could have thrown at it earlier on, but Im not the expert.

I know God has a reason and time for all of us, and in a way, it worked out, he was walking till just a few days before he died, he was a Korean War vet and tough as nails, could outwork me up until his heart valve replacement. I got to visit and talk with him a bit the day before he passed. Talking was difficult, but he could and he understood what I was saying.

I dont want to clutter up the forum with debbie downer replies, but just imagine if we had caught this earlier, my dad maybe could have been around a few more years and that means a lot to my 12 year old daughter.

Im thankful for those 87 years though. Dad never gave up on life or on us, and thats exactly the kind of attitude Im going to have till my grand finally.

Sorry to hear about your dad...

My mom had chronic urinary tract infections which is common for older people.... OH NO - Wait - what she really has is stage 4 bladder cancer.

Then there's the decision of do we try to cure the cancer so she can die a horrible death from Alzheimer or do we risk killing her from the cancer treatments.

RIP mom.

I just wanted to express my thoughts of sincere sympathy, to you and your family.

We are all brothers and comrades here, and I am mindful of you and your family in this time of loss.

Thinking of you, with caring thoughts,
CYCLONE ~ Iowa State University

DJ, I’m sorry you lost your dad. Condolences to you and your whole family.

PeterDisAbelard said: "As we get older and medical conditions start to accumulate it becomes less and less clear which problem is finally the one thing too many."

I think that really nails it. It's easy to get tunnel vision sometimes with this PCa thing, when all the while there is something else, almost in the shadows as it were, that is creeping up on us and in fact turns out to be the ultimate coup de grace.

Perhaps sometimes even doctors themselves put their attention too much on one thing, and not enough on that other thing that is the real threat.

Fairwind said...
Was the cancer that killed him prostate cancer ? Sometimes a second type of cancer develops like lung cancer which produces no PSA so it rings no alarms so they miss it or misdiagnose it.. At 87, all bets are off....Nobody gets out of here alive...Our generation, our culture does not deal with these things very well...

We werent told exactly what kind of cancer it was. We went from heart failure as a suspect to cancer and passing away all in 3 days. Crazy stuff. Thanks for your kind words, we are handling it pretty well, everyone is in this thing till the end.

Cyclone-ISU said...

I just wanted to express my thoughts of sincere sympathy, to you and your family.

We are all brothers and comrades here, and I am mindful of you and your family in this time of loss.

Thinking of you, with caring thoughts,
CYCLONE ~ Iowa State University

Thank you for those kind words.

Saipan Paradise said...
DJ, I’m sorry you lost your dad. Condolences to you and your whole family.

Very much appreciated.

81GyGuy said...
PeterDisAbelard said: "As we get older and medical conditions start to accumulate it becomes less and less clear which problem is finally the one thing too many."

I think that really nails it. It's easy to get tunnel vision sometimes with this PCa thing, when all the while there is something else, almost in the shadows as it were, that is creeping up on us and in fact turns out to be the ultimate coup de grace.

Perhaps sometimes even doctors themselves put their attention too much on one thing, and not enough on that other thing that is the real threat.

Yes that is exactly true. We thought his ticker was going to be what got him, and then this PS just came out of no where.

Thank you all so much for your kind replies and words of comfort. I see many of you are going through your own battles and my hope is you will have many more years to go traveling around ole Sol and that each day is one with a huge smile. If I could, I would give all my strength to each and every one of you.