My Dad's urologist wants him to come in immediately for his biopsy results.

In My Humble Opinion
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<medical, so I put this in IMHO…but it could kinda be MPSIMS…>

My dad had a biopsy done on his prostate yesterday afternoon. My parents made an appointment for next Monday to get the results, although they were told by the doctor that if the results came back sooner, they would be called.

Today, they called, and asked if they could come in tomorrow first thing to discuss the results. As it happens, they can’t…so they’re going in Thursday afternoon.

The back story: About a month ago, while being treated for frequent urination, his urologist noted that his prostate was enlarged. Also, his PSA levels had jumped, although only to 4.8. Apparently this is high, but not extreme - they’re more worried by the rise than the actual number.

My dad is 72, and diabetic. No family history of prostate cancer - his mother died from melanoma, his father from leukemia, and his brother had stage 4 pancreatic cancer when he died of a stroke.

I know that prostrate cancer, if caught early, can be managed as a chronic disease instead of a fatal one…especially for someone old and not in good general health anyway. But it’s going to be a tough day and a half until we get some answers.

Right now, I can still hope that it’s nothing. But I’m doing my research, trying to be prepared for whatever they find out.
I searched for threads about this, and the last one I found was from 2009…so…any recent stories? Advice? Thoughts? Should I read anything into the fact that the labs came back so quickly, and they wanted to talk to him that quickly?

Here’s hoping this thread has a happy ending…
-D/a

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Typically, they tell you immediately when something is wrong - especially if it’s something like ‘first thing’. That’s what happened with my dad. He’s 57 now and for him, it’s a ‘chronic’ issue.

I hope it all works out. Maybe it something else, maybe it’s not so bad, maybe it’s nothing. But ‘negative’ usually is just told over the phone. “Come into the office” would set off unease.

Why aren’t they going in tomorrow? You’d think they’d drop their plans and just go.

wish you the best <3

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That was my thought/concern. I’ve heard that lab reports tend to be written based on need…the bad ones getting written up and delivered quickly.

They don’t want to wake up early! :dubious:
Yeah. Wouldn’t be my choice either. What can you do.

Thanks.

-D/a

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My father went through this at age 78.

He chose the route of radiation, radioactive seeds followed by testosterone inhibiting drugs. He had problems with tissue damage from the radiation and painful blood clots in his bladder, but he told us that he planned on dying with prostate cancer, not from it.

He is now 92 and doing well…

Best of luck.

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To the OP, even if prostate cancer is found, there are many options for treatments, including doing nothing (watchful waiting). It’s possible that the biopsy revealed some anomalous cells, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a dire prognosis. One thing I’d suggest, though, is to get a second opinion before deciding on a treatment, if it comes down to that.

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It could be the doctor had an opening at that time, and it wasn’t an indication of urgency. But unless the other obligation was crucial, I would have dropped everything and gotten over there.

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you’ve encapsulated the current wisdom perfectly. I’m 56 and on the watch from my urologist esp since my paternal grandfather died from it. No reason to panic, but a sudden spike in PSA levels means a sensible plan to manage it has to be started.

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Or, it could just be a prostate infection, which is what I had.

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Thanks, all.

Ooh. I like this one. I’ll vote for that, if they give me a chance. :wink:
I’m check in tomorrow evening once we have the test results…

-D/a

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I just wanted to say good luck today.

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When I was 68, six years ago, a PSA test jumped to over 8. Then a repeat a month later was below 6. A third was below 5. Still, the urologist recommended a biopsy. Extremely unpleasant, like getting shot 8 times in the balls. Negative. I discussed it with my family doctor who said he doesn’t even do the PSA test on men over 70 unless they insist and we agreed I would not have it done again. And I haven’t. If I die of prostate cancer (extremely unlikely, given my other health problems), so be it.

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My 67 year old brother has been diagnosed with prostate cancer for well over a year now. After consulting with several doctors, he took the advice of his urologist and elected for “watchful waiting.” It was felt that the potential side-effects of any treatment were significantly worse than the disease itself was likely to be, even though the side-effects of treatment such as jasg’s dad had were not terrible nor all that likely.

My understanding is that in most cases of prostate cancer in older men, the man is more likely to die naturally of something else before the cancer becomes a threat.

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Just got home, and Dad e-mailed his chart and report over. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet - I think he’s on the phone with my sister.

They took 10 samples. One showed adenocarcinoma of the prostate with a Gleason number of 4+4=8, involving 10% of the length of the core.
The other nine were clean.

A Gleason number of 8 puts it in the aggressive range.

Options are waiting, radiation, surgery… Surgery may be tricky because he separated his pelvis a while ago, and is held together by metal plates. The doctor flagged that as a potential issue, and noted that radiation and surgery have the same success rate. The chart didn’t say what that rate was.

I’m hoping that the fact that the other 9 samples came up clean means it hasn’t really spread, and we caught it early. I don’t know yet if they are scheduling him for any follow-up scans to verify this.
Thanks for the stories and well wishes. I’ll post more after I get to talk to him.
-D/a

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Forgot to mention this…he has consultations scheduled with a surgeon and a radiologist. The lab report has a note that it was reviewed by multiple people as well. I think he’s getting all the information available…but we’ll see how it pans out.
-D/a

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I get TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) and I have to watch out for prostate cancer from it. I have a PSA twice a year, so I understand your fear. Although from all I read, if caught early it can be dealt with very effectively.

The story I wanted to share with you is this. When I met my wife we had dated about 3 or 4 months before we had sex. Prior to her “giving in” to me she required me to have a full STD test run. Reasonable. So I went to my doctor who I had a good relationship with. I told her that my “girlfriend told me that I couldn’t have any of the good stuff until I am cleared by you”. She smiled and told me she understood and would have the test expedited. She told me that she would ONLY call me if there was a problem, if not that she would go over it with me on my next appointment.

Well, two days after the blood was drawn I get a voicemail from my doctor asking me to call the office! I panicked, I mean she said she wouldn’t call unless I tested positive for something. So there I am thinking I have HIV or something. I call and of course the doc is busy and the staff won’t tell me anything. She finally calls me back after about 2 or so hours of waiting to tell me that “everything is okay, I just wanted to call you and let you know. You are negative for all known STD’s”. Damn, she just wanted me to know right away so I could get “the good stuff”, but she forgot that she said she wouldn’t call if the test were negative. So, the moral of the story is DON’T let your imagination get the best of you. You have no idea of what it could mean or not mean. If you let yourself think to hard you will work yourself up. Wait until the appointment and then deal with what you are told then. I wish you and your Dad the best of luck.

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Luck to your Dad, Digital.

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Thanks (again).
I talked to Mom and Dad and got their take. The doctors aren’t panic’ed, and have scheduled consultations around the end of the month with the surgeon and the oncology/radiation doctor. He’s having a bone scan in about two weeks to make sure nothing has spread.

Right now, they are leaning towards surgery. The radiation option may involve surgery anyway, and it’s much easier with healthy tissue. Also, the side effects of radiation may be tougher for him. He’s at Cleveland Clinic Florida, and they have some top notch surgeons.
We’ll know more after the consultations

The good news is it does look like we caught it very early. He falls into the ‘true’ positive on the PSA blood test…that’s what triggered the biopsy.

We have a family vacation scheduled over American Thanksgiving, and as of right now, the plans are to deal with treatment after that. His doctor says he’s perfectly comfortable with that.

So, I guess that’s all I’ve got, until the bone scan.
ETA: You know, obbn, I’ve actually had a similar experience. It helps temper my nerves when stuff like this happens.
I get little spots removed from my back almost every 6 months. They come back as dysplastic nevi. One time they called and asked me to come in to discuss the biopsy result. I made an appointment, and went in to talk to the doc…to find out it was yet another dysplastic nevi. I was a little annoyed…only because I have such a long history of EXACTLY that biopsy result. :slight_smile:
-D/a

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A quick update. My Dad had a bone scan yesterday. He heard from the urologist today - no signs that the cancer has spread. We’ve apparently caught it very early, since it is fairly aggressive.

He has his surgical consultation Thursday morning. We’ll see what comes out of that.

-D/a

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Great news! Wishing you and your family well.

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Let us know if we can do anything…