It’s Been A 26-Year Long PSA Journey

Posted by brianjarvis @brianjarvis, Jun 23 3:52pm

(At 71y/o….) It’s been 26 years since my very first PSA test, 14+ years since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 5+ years since completion of my proton radiation treatments.

I don’t spend much time thinking about my prostate cancer status these days - except on days like today. This morning, I had my 6-month PSA test. As usual, when MyChart indicated “you have new test results in your MyChart account,” I hesitated just a bit….”

But, the PSA result was good once again —> 0.366 ng/mL. So, I’m good for 6 more months.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | Jun 23 4:43pm

My next PSA (and other bloodwork) is a week from today. Fingers crossed.

mjp0512 | @mjp0512 | Jun 23 4:44pm

That's excellent Brian. Congratulations! Save me a search...are you still on ADT?

mjp0512 | @mjp0512 | Jun 23 4:47pm

In reply to @northoftheborder "My next PSA (and other bloodwork) is a week from today. Fingers crossed." + (show)

@northoftheborder - Mine is on 7/2. I'll take anything under 10.

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | Jun 23 5:28pm

In reply to @mjp0512 "That's excellent Brian. Congratulations! Save me a search...are you still on ADT?" + (show)

@mjp0512 No. My last Eligard injection was in July 2021 (that stayed in my system until January 2022). So, my nadir is 0.198 ng/mL.

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | Jun 23 6:01pm

In reply to @mjp0512 "@northoftheborder - Mine is on 7/2. I'll take anything under 10." + (show)

@mjp0512 Even though we have no expectation of it ever happening, my medical oncologist and I have already had the discussion. Should I ever have:
> 3 significant PSA increases in a row, or
> PSA ever goes above 1.0,

then we’ll look into getting a PSMA PET scan to see what’s going on.

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | Jun 23 6:07pm

In reply to @northoftheborder "My next PSA (and other bloodwork) is a week from today. Fingers crossed." + (show)

@northoftheborder We also check testosterone, CBC & CMP.

They always do the CBC & CMP tests first. I’ve told them it’s the PSA that I’m most interested in. They don’t.

surftohealth88 | @surftohealth88 | 6 days ago

CONGRATS !!! : )))
That is very nice and long lasting remission 😀 - may it stay that way forever !!!! 🍀

northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | 6 days ago

In reply to @brianjarvis "@northoftheborder We also check testosterone, CBC & CMP. They always do the CBC & CMP tests..." + (show)

@brianjarvis Because I'm in IRONMAN, I get a huge range of tests every three months. The clinic where they take the blood is in the same hospital as the lab, so someone just comes every hour and wheels all the test tubes down the hall. Depending on where I fell in the hour, I might start seeing results pop online in 30-45 minutes, though uPSA usually takes a couple of hours (just to be dramatic).