Journey begins - age 51, PSA 72

You are now a part of our family. I am 9 weeks post-op. My incontinence has almost disappeared (yeah kegels!)
but my next steps are still unknown.
Yes it can be scary, but faith in yourself and knowing in your heart what is best for you is one of the most important factors in this battle. That and knowing that you are GOING TO BEAT THIS. I have made some very important online friends on this site, and one of them got the tattoo "Never give up!"

NEVER GIVE UP!

Thank you all for your kind words of support and encouragement. While I am not exactly pioneering new ground here in the grand scheme of things (and it sounds like a fair number of you have likely been through much worse than I can probably expect), it is all still new and relatively sudden for me (first DRE and PSA test were less than a month ago) and I have not been handling the anxiety very well. I have been trying to be very stoic about it all and trying to protect my family from worrying needlessly, but I have decided to share with my family so they can understand and support. After a post-biopsy scare (excessive blood loss, seems to be under control now), trying to hang tight and keep positive thoughts, but still can't resist the urge to research things like my prostate volume (40.3 mL) and PSA density (1.78) to understand what they mean and how they might correlate (or not) to anything.

DEKU - Let me tell you your not alone . What you have to do here now is keep talking and learning about the disease and get attention to the mental part of the disease . PC takes a toll on yoru emotions . I was diagnosed at 58 . Had Surgery , then 22 sessions of Salvage radiation and now im more or less fine. Hiking every day 5-8 KM's in , and 5-8km's out of bush with the dogs . Wonder how things turned out so far . My PSA is still at 0.041 , but this is low and its going down too each PSA check it seems . You will make out fine . Keep us in the loop of what your Biopsy AND PSMA-PET scan says . You may also want to see if your team wants to do a contrast MRI too !? . So many options these days . For the anxiety , get into a few PC support groups - good knowledge and encouragement and contacts . Also make sure you talk to your GP and URO ( Urologist ) about the severe anxiety - this must be addressed as well . Keep us in the loop , we are here for you bud ! God Bless . James on Vancouver Island .

It's natural to research *too* much because you want to be prepared for all outcomes. Knowledge is great, but as others have said, getting too far ahead of yourself just causes unnecessary stress. You've got enough to think about, without adding imaginary scenarios.

Congrats on getting through the biopsy. Probably wasn't as bad as your imagination told you.
Now that the bleeding has stopped, the only post-biopsy oddities are pink urine and/or semen. Freaky, but harmless, expected & very short-term.

Your job now is to wait. Any concerns or worry about bad outcomes can be expressed here, where many of us can reassure you that bad long-term outcomes may not even come about.

You've done Hard Part No. 1.
So you're stronger than you think.

@deku you are anything but alone. I'm newly diagnosed myself and am also relatively young for this at 54, so I cannot offer much advice but what I can say is wait until the biopsy is done. Mine was done on October 1st, results the 2nd, Decipher 8 days ago. My concerns were pretty grounded until 8 days ago. The biopsy isn't fun and I don't wish to repeat it, but you might be in the lucky group of men who don't need to worry about anything yet (or perhaps ever). Even if you have cancer, it's still possible that nothing needs to be done about it.

My first prognosis was active surveillance until the Decipher negated that and pushed me into prostatectomy territory. I was fine with active surveillance and it's not uncommon to just simply monitor this slow growing cancer for years. So even if something is found, you may simply need to get it checked regularly to make sure it's not progressing. Yes that means more unpleasant biopsies but it's better than treatment.

Hang in there! The biopsy sucks and for a couple weeks after it's an adjustment to the after effects but it passes, and just maybe you'll be absolutely fine - even if you do have cancer!

Research can be good BUT make sure you check the dates on what you research. I've often found myself reading something that gets me really upset and then I look and see that it was published 20 or more years ago and things have really changed in PC care in the last 10 years.

It’s too bad all That old info doesn’t get deleted so it won’t cause more worries. LUTAMIDES are the latest drugs used I ve read on the internet. My MO told me their not approved by the FDA yet. FYI only

Hi,
I fully sympathise with you. The worst bit is probably the waiting and not knowing who to speak to. These forums are great cause they can give advice or experience which is very valid but away from your family and friends.
When you have the biopsy result then that should help you to understand where you are. I hope you are in a location where you can get fast and honest feedback. I hope all goes well. Keep posting and I hope you will get some more focused responses

For men of our generation, sharing and being vulnerable can be hard, and you might find it requires more strength and courage than being stoic and holding it in. I know people in the military who are going through the same journey with PTSD. You took the first step, and that's a big thing. Congrats!

There's no hierarchy of pain here. It's ok that we've all had different experiences, some more severe than others, and we support each-other without judgement. The first weeks and months are the hardest, whatever your diagnosis.

"LUTAMIDES are the latest drugs used I ve read on the internet. My MO told me their not approved by the FDA yet."

The -lutamides, like Apalutamide (Erleada) and Enzalutamide (Xtandi) have been in general use for over 5 years now, and they've shown dramatic results in treating more-complex prostate cancers (metastatic or castrate-resistant). Many of us here are on them.

I don't think any of them is approved yet for non-metastatic castrate-sensitive prostate cancer (nmCSPC) — the simplest and most-curable kind — so that might be what your medical oncologist was talking about.

I've been on Apalutamide since 2021 (together with ADT), and I give it most of the credit for the fact that my stage 4 cancer is in full remission and I'm back to planning for my retirement in a few years instead of my funeral.