How Long Since Your Diagnosis?

The biopsy should be very informative. With your current numbers, you can't really tell too much. I had an MRI about a year ago because my PSA rose steadily and slowly to 7.67 over a few years (I'm 78 btw). The MRI yielded a PIRADs score and the presence of a lesion (2cm?). So I had a biopsy and it found Gleason 3+4 and 3+3 in 2 out of 23 needle samples taken. Interestingly, my urologist took 3 samples from the lesion and they all were benign. So I've been on AS since then and my most recent PSA in April was 4.7. I'm due for another MRI+biopsy early in 2026 with another PSA later in 2025. All these numbers can work out to different results for different guys--size of prostate, age, overall health, family history, etc., but the biopsy is a must! Good luck--enjoy NC!

No, the report suggested that there were no other lesions and that the one noted is contained within the prostate. My urologist said that he would have given my suspicious spot a PIRADS 3, not 4. He did suggest a MRI Fusion Guided Biopsy, as I expected and others said. I feel fortunate to be scheduled for that procedure on 9/9 in the morning. Moving forward in a positive way.

Yes, your urologist’s recommendation is often the case.

It’s often recommended to send scan images and biopsy slides out for an independent 2nd opinion — not because you don’t trust the 1st one or don’t like that opinion. But, because much of the interpretation of images and scans is often as much an art as it is a science, and it’s dependent on the skill and experience of the physician. It’s good to have an independent set of eyes reviewing the image/biopsy for confirmation. Even then, there’s no way to know which one is “right.”

Thanksgiving Eve, 2024. Just completed 8 months (of 24) of Orgovyx and had 44 weekday radiation treatments during February-April. It has not limited my travel plans but severely restricted my energy…living with 0 Testosterone is a combination of Menopause symptoms and reversing puberty. I have Gleason 7, N1M0 with spread in iliac lymph nodes.

My hub was diagnosed January 2008 at 54 yrs old after biopsy - Urologist left a message on our answering machine on a Friday @ 5 pm then was not available for the weekend - we left him and his white coat in the dust. RARP on St Patrick’s Day 2008 and nothing but checkin PSA for 17 yrs. When it started a rise we requested imaging before radiating the prostate bed, which was offered right off the bat. And glad we did because the only Mets found was in his lungs. Lymph nodes and bones clear via PSMA PET. Details are in the profile if you want specifics or maybe you are looking at longevity. I would say 17 yrs was a good run and we are hopeful about treatment now, too.

Hi Mike , Im am post diagnosis 6 years , roughly 5.5 years post surgery . Feel good . No deficit really . ED was the worse effect , then it got better in the one year mark . No incontinance or anything else . I had radiation too( 22 sessions and no ADT ) , about 3 years ago now - again the radiation went well . Gleason 3+4 =7 and spa was 4.1 when I went into surgery . Are you doing a study on this topic or trying to gauge something ? If I can be of help at all just ask .... James on Vancouver Island .

I still cant imagine the Dr Giving you cancer news at 5pm on a Friday via voice mail . Lordy, is the Dr sick ? Some Dr's I just shake my head as... I cannot imagine having that poor human skills and communication skills . And whats with the white coat ? Never understood that . Seems more social stratigraphy than anything else . Drs use to have the MOST education in town ( any town ...) Now they are average at best . They struggle with this difference too . I have a couple Dr's who are friends , struggle with their patient interaction of times. One of my friends says she has to delay some appointments with some of this more difficult patients so he can get mentally prepared for this. It's interesting to see it on the other side of the coin. Do you think Doctors would have terrific interpersonal skills, but I can assure you, they are just as mixed up as the rest of us. HA!! 🙂

Welcome to the journey. As a nine year cancer survivor I advise:
Love as much as you can
Eat healthy fresh foods
Exercise daily
Don’t drink alcohol
Seek out the best medical care
Become informed but not obsessed
Find balance in your life
Use the entire journey as an opportunity for personal growth

See my bio

1995 ~~~ Radical Prostatectomy
1996 ~~~ Salvage Radiation.
1996 - 2008 PSA negligible.
2008 ~~~ PSA increased but stayed pretty much below 3.0
2022 ~~~ PSA started to climb
PSA is 22 ~~ Had PSMA -- no detectable cancer.
Started lupron quarterly injections for 15 months. PSA then was < 0.1
Took a lupron holiday for 18months and the PSA started to climb again.
At 12 another PSMA scan ~~ no detectable cancer.
Decided to wait and see for a few months.
PSA was 32 in January this year.
Had another PSMA scan and still no detectable cancer.
Went on Nubeqa and Orgovyx in March.
PSA in June was 4.
PSA this August was .7
30 years. 79 y.o. and still above the grass.