1. < Prostate Cancer

Low PSA, MRI shows likely cancer

Posted by ziggydssp @ziggydssp, Feb 22 7:07am

Due to some BPH type symptoms my spouse had a digital and they found a nodule. His PSA is 1 but they still proceeded with a MRI. The MRI showed a tumor on the right side of the prostrate and inflamed lymph nodes in that area. Doc believes it’s metastatic prostrate cancer. Nervously waiting results of biopsy. Urologist says he could live for decades even if it comes back as cancer. My spouse is 62. The doc is not great about explaining how this could be cancer with such a low PSA. Have any of you encountered these circumstances?

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neville44 | @neville44 | 1 day ago
In reply to @heavyphil "Gut Punch is the most accurate description there is; the only thing worse was going to..." + (show)
@heavyphil

Gut Punch is the most accurate description there is; the only thing worse was going to my father’s wake and seeing his full name on a placard outside “Chapel A”. His full name and mine are the same; I felt like Scrooge with the third spirit of things yet to be!!
Going online is emotional suicide ; we all do it and we can’t stop but your anxiety is totally normal. In fact, your MRI findings are not that bad compared to some of the men on this forum -even me, and I’m still here 6 years after that jolting biopsy read which showed a gland full of cancer, perineural invasion in every single sample(laterally) and Gleason score of 4+3 unfavorable.
As has been pointed out by @survivor, MRI’s are hints and suggestions that something needs a closer look, which your biopsy will do. No matter what is found, you are gonna be OK, you are NOT gonna die.
You might need treatment but rest assured: the treatment is a piece of cake compared to the anxiety of not knowing. I practically ran into the OR for surgery and swooned with joy 5 yrs later when I was told I needed salvage radiation and ADT. Totally f***ed up, but the 5 yrs of PSA’s, the anxiety, the fear of metastasis, the constant Googling of what everything might mean….THAT was true hell…
Just take it easy and do your homework; knowledge is key and this forum is a good place to ask questions; we’ve all been there. Best,
Phil

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Thank you Phil! I am so blessed to know that something needs attention.

My doctor did not want to do a digit exam, I requested (new doctor this year, my prior skipped the digit exam last year because he said “people would kill to have your PSA at your age”). She felt some enlargement but leaned hard into my 1.05 PSA as a reason to just monitor. I asked what I could do if I didn’t want to JUST monitor and she said we could do an ultrasound. I did , and the results were not that alarming. She again said - “let’s get back together in 6 months”. I asked what we could do next if I wanted to continue and she said she could refer me to a urologist and they could order an MRI.

I shouldn’t even know about this and am so grateful I do! I tend to be persistent AF … a personally challenging trait that now I see in a whole new light.

Everything in life is a gift, and some gifts come in “sh!+ stained” wrapping paper. I’m going to keep “tearing” through the paper to find the gifts, I’ve already found the gifts of life perspective and leaning into difficult situations with a grace I’ve never offered myself.

I want to sprint to the biopsy table to get my Gleason numbers so I can focus my persistence on what needs to be done to manage this.

Your words are so sincere and being a measure of peace and calm. Your and others kindness and support cause a flow of grateful tears with every personal story.

Thank you Phil, thank you all who share, contribute and support while you too are battling through.

REPLY
jcf58 | @jcf58 | 6 hours ago
In reply to @neville44 "I just opened my MRI report yesterday and have to wait a week to see my..." + (show)
@neville44

I just opened my MRI report yesterday and have to wait a week to see my Urologist. I’ll never do that again.

59 y/o, Annual PSA test for past 15 yrs ranged from 0.5 - 1.05.

2 legions (1.9 and 2.4 cm - one right and one left)
PI RADS 5
Both lesions noted as: "Extraprostatic extension into the neurovascular bundles (one is right side, the other is left).

Only “good” info …
Lymph nodes: No pathologically enlarged lymph nodes.

Vessels: Normal appearance of the visualized vasculature.

Abdominal wall: No acute abnormality.

Musculoskeletal: No enhancing osseous lesions.

No symptoms of anything - healthy and fit. I NEVER need to urinate at night; sleep 7 hrs without needing to get up. Work out daily and eat well.

Very concerned about Neuroendocrine prostate cancer , small cell carcinoma.

Again, I must stop Googling until I meet with my Urologist in one week (a very long one week).

Biggest “gut punch” I’ve ever felt - Anxious and afraid

I appreciate all I’ve read here - thank you all!

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Yeah, the waiting really sucks. I had to wait two weeks after my MRI to get my biopsy. I was was scheduled two weeks out to get the results of the biopsy. I literally was talking to my urologist as she was doing the biopsy and pleading for an earlier date, she grabbed her phone and told me OK, I’ll see you in two days. Once I decided on TULSA Pro for my Gleason 7 (4+3), I had to wait 2 months. I figured if Mayo was not concerned with that timing, I probably shouldn’t be.

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