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I'm grateful for all the feedback. I realized my comments weren't entirely clear on MRI vs. biopsy. Some caught it. The MRI is actually scheduled for Jan 7th. The biopsy for Jan 27th. I thought it was strange that the doctor wanted to get a biopsy on the schedule before even seeing the results of an MRI (which I thought would or would not warrant a biopsy). But as some have said, maybe it's just to be sure the biopsy gets on the calendar and can always be deferred or cancelled if the MRI comes back clear.
This subject of lower back pain is also concerning. I've been a golfer/athlete most of my life and have suffered from some sort of lower back pain off and on over the years. I was not aware of the association with prostate cancer and back pain. I just figured I'm getting old, have some strained muscles or maybe a pinched nerve. The worrisome part, I guess, is that the pain just sort of lingers. It helps to stretch and take Advil. Many of my friends also complain of lower back pain as we have aged. Now, it's just added to my anxiety.
If anyone has more clarification on the kind of back pain you have experienced, it would help. Mine seems to be in the muscles or tendons in the left lower back/pelvis region. But that's just a self-diagnosis.
Replies to "I'm grateful for all the feedback. I realized my comments weren't entirely clear on MRI vs...."
@jbuscher123
A couple of things
Even if your MRI shows nothing, you could very well have even Gleason nine prostate cancer. If you were to look through the last year or two of messages in this board, you would find people that had exactly that happened to them. The MRI can be very useful. It is not the final answer.
A biopsy may still be necessary If your PSA continues to rise.
As far as lower back pain goes. I’ve had it for probably 40 years. Hits maybe once a year. I put on this belt. I found about 40 years ago that just stops it. I’ve had it no more or less while I’ve had prostate cancer for the last 16 years. I’ve been on ADT for eight years and it makes no difference to my back pain.
There are muscular issues that can occur from ADT and low testosterone. That could be what’s happening or could just be a normal condition you have. Usually, you hear about joint pain when people have problems with ADT not lower back pain.
@jbuscher123
Your post really clarified what others were replying to you. Seems you have a pro active urologist and that is very good. The sequence you are being given is what I had and many others had. PSA, MRI, Biopsy.
I hope you don't join our club but we are here to give you our experiences with this dreaded but very common cancer among men. If you do have the biopsies please go over with your urologist the types you can have and pros and cons of each.
Has your urologist looked at you possibly having a UTI, or infection in prostate? The back pain could be from your exercising and sports. I have a lot of them now (low back pain). I had an old herniated disk that flares up from an old high school days in football.
You mentioned the muscles and tendons so maybe some stretching prior to/after and see if helps. I only mentioned it as I am into a stretching to keep from my back acting up.
Hopefully you will not be joining our club.
@jbuscher123 Good to see that the biopsy is scheduled enough after your MRI. As others have advised, you want the MRI first so that you can use it in an MRI guided fusion biopsy if lesions are detected. And if no lesions are detected, you then want to use the EpiSwitch test as explained here https://www.94percent.com/ If you get a positive on that test even with no lesions visible, you for sure want to go forward with a biopsy.
And As Jeff Marchi said, even if no lesions are seen and even if you get a negative on the EpiSwitch test, a biopsy could still be justified if your PSA stays persistently high.
And remember, when you do get to the biopsy stage, you want to target any lesions found and also sample evenly all other areas of the prostate so that any "invisible" cancer can be sampled. Invisible cancer is most often 3+3 and 3+4 cell groupings that don't appear any different than healthy cells in an MRI scan. But again, as Jeff Marchi pointed out, invisible cancer can even be much higher grade cancer than 3+4 cells. Point being to always have the biopsy target any lesions and also areas of the prostate that appear blank of cancer in the MRI.
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Since you had back pain for years (like most of us over 50) it's most likely due to age, working out, etc. I went through and still do at times stress over things I have no control over. When I found out about my PC around 4 months ago I couldn't eat or sleep until my GP prescribed some meds which helped a lot. Although I've always had some anxiety issues I could always control it but was really bad when I got the PC diagnosis. Once you have the MRI you will feel better because you will know something. In meantime enjoy the New Year with family & friends to take your mind off of it for awhile.