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Preparing myself for upcoming fork in the road
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Nov 25, 2025 | Replies (28)Comment receiving replies
Preparing and thank you
I am getting a PSMA PET scan next week. I was diagnosed this week with high grade PC after a few years of active surveillance. It’s been quite a kick in the teeth (something I unpleasantly experienced playing rugby) and have felt lost, frightened, and alone. Luckily have a great partner. Really struggling with the upcoming scan and wide variety of possible results and where that takes us, with the team here in Northern Colorado and an appointment at Mayo for potential treatment there.
Thanks to people who responded to my first post, and other posts I’ve read in this forum, I’m getting a lot smarter about what I’ve got and where things can go. Thank you for suggesting Dr. Patrick Walsh’s Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer. Excellent. Really helpful understanding my enemy PC, its allies in treatment side effects, and preparing me for the battle.
I am so grateful for this forum.
Joe
Replies to "Preparing and thank you I am getting a PSMA PET scan next week. I was diagnosed..."
Walsh’s book was my guide back in 2014-2015 when I did my first round with PCa and it is where I turned to first when I was diagnosed with a local recurrence this summer. Helped me to make best decisions and was also comforting as well, knowing that I wasn’t just lost in the wilderness.
A bit of a ray of hope for all of us is that therapies and technologies keep improving. Ten years ago, PSMA PET scans weren't around. Radiation therapy has gotten so good that it seems no to be an equal “gold standard” to RARP. ADT keeps evolving, and new therapies are in the pipeline. Living with PCa, even if some compromises must be made, is more and more becoming the norm.
So glad to hear you have a supportive partner. Makes a huge difference. Just this morning my wife said to me that I’ve been a calmer, kinder person since starting radiation therapy for my recurrence. Well, if this is a side effect, then I’ll take it and try to hold on to it.
Btw, I’m in the Denver metro and receiving treatment here.
All the best to you.
M
Sorry to welcome you to our Club. You will always have support here.
Stay Strong Brother, We Got This.
@superjk47
I was diagnosed back in 2023. Even since then great steps in treating PC. Stay positive, in today's medical world lot of treatment options to attack this and get a succesful outcome.
The PSMA test is really good to see if has spread outside of prostate. Hopefully it will be negative. How did you get the diagnosis of high grade. Biopsies? Did you have the Decipher test. If not ask your doctors about Decipher type tests.
You are just starting your journey and most of us on MCC have been part of this club for many years. Let us know if we can help by sharing our experiences with this disease and what we decided, did, and our personal outcomes.
Stay positive.
Thank you! Yes, biopsy. Appreciate your message. Really helpful.
View the PCRI.org YOU-TUBE videos no matter where you will find yourself on the spectrum. The newer videos ones obviously might be more relevant. You are going to a center of excellence. Nonetheless be aware of 'group think' and assumptions based on what is available in the shop or what skills are present in the provider panel. Mayo HQ is the only place that has a choline PET CT SCAN. It is helpful for work-ups of non PSMA + PET CT scans I believe [< 10%?]
I believe that you will find a way forward.
Gleason 9 with EPE post RP in Aug 2022 at age 72.
PSA a disappointing .19 90 days after.
Salvage Radiation Treatment w/ short term ADT Feb - June 2023.
Treatment not fun; period.
However, by Fall 2023, substantially returned to normal activities and life. PSA has been undetectable at < .02 for 2 years. I consider myself very fortunate and I am grateful.
And except for my quarterly PSA tests, at 75, I really do not think about my cancer on any regular basis.
This is intended as encouragement that there is life after treatment for many of us and positivity is allowed.
Best wishes.
Gratitude is a wonderful approach. It can be extended to include your cancer and the experiences you would never have had without it. That is not to say it is an easy ride. Yet it brings a wisdom that might be helpful to others in the same circumstance. All the best of good things to you on your journey…
I had a prostate removal in jan 2025. Clear margins and nodes. Five months in, and a psa score of .19 doc said we'll
wait another 4 months and check again turned up .85 Had a pet scan with radioactive tracer and it showed
cancer in 1 lymph node on the pelvic bone. I have an appointment in 3 days with radiation doc. I'm going nuts
wondering what's going to happen. Do you guys think this is a death sentence or do I have a chance.
started out PSA was8.4
gleason score 4 +3
dechpier score.59
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Praying for you!! There is a lot of support on this site to help you and you will be ok