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Is biopsy necessary & effective for detecting prostate cancer?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Jan 31 7:30pm | Replies (68)Comment receiving replies
@brianjarvis
I echo your post.
I have PTSD anxiety/panic disorder and I wanted my biopsies done transperineally with anesthesia. My urologist (was at Mayo) wanted to do transrectal as I was a heart failure patient and pushed me to have it done transrectal. My opinion was he wanted to do transrectal as was not as complex as transperineally done in surgical section versus a special office setting.
I did not accept his insistence and contacted my heart failure doctor about his stance. My HF doctor and I knew I had no restrictions on having anesthesia as had had it several times and just weeks prior for a colonoscopy. I had my HF doctor contact the urologist and advised him cardiology had no restrictions on me having anesthesia.
My urologist informed me he had been contacted by HF doctor and would schedule me for MRI/Fusion procedure with anesthesia.
So like you said, stand up, speak, get what is best for you when you have options. I also did not want the additional increase in infection (was told 1-2%) if it could be avoided and did not want it done transrectal.
I don't think the transperineally is barbaric but a very specific and precise surgery. It confirmed I had PC when my MRI just showed suspicious areas.
Some on MCC had no problem having it done transrectal and that is their decision to make.
Replies to "@brianjarvis I echo your post. I have PTSD anxiety/panic disorder and I wanted my biopsies done..."
Nice! Work! Wish I would have stood up and did exactly what you’re doing ….. Godspeed 😊👍🏻🇺🇸
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@jc76 So much can be done differently with prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment if we just ask.
A friend of mine was severely claustrophobic; he would not do an MRI. I mentioned that he should ask if they had a wide-bore MRI (used for patients who are claustrophobic or severely obese). Turns out that his hospital did have one and it worked out well for him. All he had to do was ask.
When my oldest brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, we went through two urologists because they would only do TRUS biopsies. Even when we discussed the benefits of transperineal over transrectal, they didn’t budge. (Note that both carry small risk of infection: < 5% for transrectal; < 1% for transperineal). The 3rd urologist we saw (at Ohio State University) did it transperineally; since my brother also had heart issues, they consulted his cardiologist. There were no complications. (Even though I had 4 TRUS biopsies with no complications when I was on active surveillance from 2012-2021, I wanted the most modern procedure for him.) Again, all we had to do was ask (a few times).
As you experienced, if you’re the one that has to live with all this poking and prodding and the aftermath of all of it, you should have some say in how it’s done.