Originally Posted by
westberks
Right, this is now one of my specialist subjects!
Went to the doctors in January with a cough and mentioned as a separate issue concerns over my plumbing so he took a blood sample. PSA should be about 2.6 for a healthy 48 year old, mine came in at 14.2. As he thought I might have had a chest infection he said come back in a month for a retest which hit 16: referral straight to local hospital and appointment within 2 weeks.
At this point I'm a tad concerned as the chances are 1 in 3 that it will be cancer, but the PSA isn't the be all and end all in diagnosis, which OP needs to keep in mind.
Hospital insisted on redoing the PSA which seemed a waste of time but the results were the same so I was booked for an MRI, that showed that the prostate was 4 times it's normal size but the mass didn't look 'suspicious' but a biopsy was booked. They give you a sheet describing the process which mentions the sensation as being 'flicked by an elastic band' which is odd as I'm not sure who has managed to get an elastic band that far up their arse and manage to flick it!
Have to say it wasn't too bad although quite uncomfortable, I did mention to the consultant that they should change the sheet to say 'its like being stabbed in the arse with a long needle', what they failed to mention is that when they leave the room to let you get dressed you pull back the sheet to find your leg covered in blood that has passed from your knob; which was a bit of a surprise!
Post biopsy be warned everything is filled with blood, urine for a few days, man porridge for a couple of weeks (that really isn't a good look, so use a glove, even if you don't normally!)
Luckily for me the best 3 words I've heard in 2016 are 'no abnormal cells' which I'm contemplating having as a tramp stamp tat! Prostate is still knackered and subsequent pre-medication PSA had dropped to around 10.5 without any dietary changes. I'm on pills for god knows how long and may still opt for surgery if the other symptoms do not improve but the pills can take a few months to reduce the prostate size, booked for a retest in 6 months. The medication is a hormone type pill to reduce the testosterone levels, apparently also used as part of treatment for male pattern baldness, so if I do check out I'll have a damn fine head of hair!
One thing that I wasn't overly pleased with was the communication skills of my urologist, too many 1 or 2 word answers when I expected more complete answers. Might get in touch with prostate uk and get referred someone privately for a chat through the situation.
Anyway OP, the PSA can go through the roof and it not be C related, fingers crossed for you and hope the outcome is favourable.