Sam
Wells and Lynne live in California, USA He was 63 when he was diagnosed on December
02, 2002 His initial PSA was 3.8 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 3+3= 6 and he was
staged T1c. His choice of treatment was Radical Prostatectomy. Here is his story:
My
PSA jumped from the year before from 1.8 ng/ml to 5.6 ng/ml in August 2002. Over
the next two months it dropped to 3.8 ng/ml and the Free PSA was 7% which indicates
>50% odds that I had Prostate Cancer.
My
Urologist's reaction was that I was being a hypochondriac since the PSA was under
4.0 ng/ml and the Free PSA didn't count since it was only statistically significant
if the total PSA was over 4.0 ng/ml. He ignored the fact my brother also had PCa
and clearly doesn't understand statistics.
After the Biopsy proved I had
PCa I evaluated all the options for local treatment and the doctors skill. I settled
on Surgery as it fit my personality to know within weeks if the tumor was contained.
That was 3 1/2 years ago and my PSA has stayed at 0.004 ng/ml at last measiure.
The PSA jumped up to 0.025 ng/ml in September 2005 and then down over the next
6 months to 0.004 where it has remained.
I was however one of the unfortunate
few who ended up incontinent. The Artifical Sphincter was installed after about
1 1/2 years following surgery and has made me whole again.
I
have been exercizing 4 to 5 days per week for both cardio and strength. While
the strange wanderings of the Ultra sensative PSA have once again landed on zero
(Oct 19, 2006) other failing parts have visited me since my first posting. I was
treated for Atrial Flutter and am hoping for some treatment for what appears to
be the early or mid stage of Age Related Macular Degeneration. Concluded that
no one is ever out of the woods.
Sam
mailed me to say he had sent in an update, but I seem to have mislaid it and have
asked him to re-send. He is well although he worries a little about some small
variances in his ultra-sensitive PSA
He
says : "2 1/2 years after my RP my PSA went from 0.00 to 0.026 for a few
months and then wandered down to 0.00 again. At almost 5 years out it went up
to 0.01, then to 0.02 for four months before dropping the other day to 0.01 again.
These
meanderings caused me untold hours of anxiety and would have been avoided and
the results would be the same if I stuck with the <0.1 level of measurement.
I've become a PSA junkie. I rationalize however, that it's better to use ultrasensative
to spot an upward trend beyond 0.05 early so I can begin lining up an oncologist.
Sam's
e-mail address is: SamWells@yahoo.com
