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Testosterone: Is everyone's level in the low numbers?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Sep 25 8:27am | Replies (44)Comment receiving replies
14 1/2 years ago, I had a third biopsy and they found a couple of the samples were 3+4 prostate cancer. I had surgery a few months later and it was actually 4+3. Two years ago I found out I was BRCA2, which sort of explains why it keeps coming back, four relapses so far. I will be 77 real soon.
1.5 years ago, my brother had 4+3 in a biopsy. At 76 he had radiation and so far nothing has come back. He does not have BRCA2 but my father died of prostate cancer so he had a propensity for it.
They didn’t have a decipher score back then. And I didn’t go on any drugs for about six years. Had to have radiation 3 1/2 years after my surgery, still no drugs for another 2 1/2 years when I finally was put on Lupron because my PSA started rising.
I’m explaining all of this because you are a 4+3 and 77 years old. You are so much more likely to die of some thing else rather than prostate cancer. There are so many different things they can do to treat you, new technologies are coming up all the time. Look forward to the many years you will have. The only thing you have to be concerned with are the side effects of the drugs you take not the chance that you’re gonna die soon from PC.
Replies to "14 1/2 years ago, I had a third biopsy and they found a couple of the..."
Dear jeffmarc...thanks again for sharing a painful and personal history of prostate cancer. And for your knowledgeable encouragement which is very, very welcome. I'm trying to take one day at a time realizing that these two hormone treatment tablets could produce quite the side effects. But, as you suggest, there's so much to live for. Keep well. Here in Tampa we're expecting a hurricane over next couple of days.
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That's all good advice. I asked my new oncologist on Monday why he thought I didn't have a Decipher Test or Gleason score from when I was diagnosed in 2021.
He told me that they're used primarily to avoid *over*-treating people with early-stage prostate cancer. Since mine had already metastasised to my spine when it was discovered, there was little point trying to determine how likely it was to metastasise. 🙂
Also, my prostate was never biopsied; they did the biopsy on my spinal lesion (detected via MRI) and determined that it was of prostatic origin; that, combined with a PSA of 67 and a quick DRE to confirm, was enough for a stage 4 diagnosis.