I am 68 yrs old and 9 months out from RALP last October 2024. I had negative DRE, negative Contrasting MRI, and negative ultrasound Gleason 7 cancer with a PSA of 2.
I also had a family history. Earlier in 2024 my PSA had doubled from 1 to 2 in a year. I was given an MRI based on PSA velocity. It was negative… completely normal. I knew something was wrong and asked for a biopsy and was told I did not qualify based on insurance. I offered to pay for my biopsy and the doctor reluctantly agreed. The biopsy was a blind jab as the MRI was not imaging anything. The biopsy came back positive with gleason 3+4 a large lesion occupying 10 percent of the prostate. Decipher was favorable however with family history I opted for surgery.
The UCI surgeon (Dr Ahlering) told me that about 10% of men get MRI invisible significant cancer that often goes untreated until it is advanced. He congratulated me on being proactive in spite of my family doctor and Urologist telling me there was nothing wrong. Not that it matters, but I had heartfelt apologies from both and I did not have to pay for the biopsy!