PSA Controversy

I have read some discussions recently in regard to having a PSA test done.  I didn't pay much attention to them but was aware and know how it saved my life.  I have an older cousin whose doctor refuses to do a PSA test even though he has offered to pay for it out of his own pocket.  The doctor just blows him off with: "even if you had prostate cancer, you most likely would die of something else before it would kill you."  He doesn't seem to care that if the cancer spreads it can be very painful existence and is incurable. Prostate cancer, when it spreads, spreads to your bones.  There is no cure for bone cancer.  The insurance companies are behind a lot of this.  It's about money.

Today I read this article on Yahoo news:  Why I won't Get Checked For PSA.  While some valid arguments are made, I think a major issue has been left out or ignored.  My doctor and myself believe it is good to have a baseline of your PSA established.  With regular monitoring of your PSA levels it can be determined when there is a change significant enough to investigate further.  This may include a biopsy.  

My primary care physician had established this baseline and I was getting checked every 6 months as part of my diabetes check up.  I was sent to the Urologist for another issue and he noticed the levels were heading upward.  At the first visit, the first thing out of his mouth was 'you have a 20% chance of having prostate cancer, do you want a biopsy?  I was shocked to say the least.  I told him I had to rely on his judgement since this was all new and I didn't know what to make of it.  He said he thought it was 'overkill.'  So I opted out.  But by the second time I visited him, My numbers were up again and the chances were increasingly indicating possible cancer.  I argued and asked questions to no avail and submitted to a biopsy.  I was assured my chances of having cancer were very low.  As most of you know I was found to have prostate cancer and it was mid range aggressive.  There is a scale they use called the Gleason Scale,it ranges from 6-8.  I was a 7 which doesn't look too bad but 6 of every 12 samples had cancer and not just a little, but a significant amount.  To cut this short I opted for surgery, I wanted that crap out of me after hearing the options.  The surgeon told me they would find more cancer than the biopsy indicated, it was almost always the case.  

I know I made the right choice even with the permanent after effects that I have.  While very annoying at times and even frustrating, I believe it is a much better existence than having the alternative. waiting and wondering if my cancer is a growing and getting worse and eventually killing me in agony.  It's how my mind works anyway.  I prefer as much peace of mind as I can get.  Oh, one other thing, if you have prostate cancer and they leave it in, you will get regular biopsies to check on it's progress.  The biopsy is as bad or worse than the surgery in my opinion, there is nothing easy about it.

I still urge you or you loved ones to get this test done regularly.  If you don't trust your doctor, find a new one.  A good friend's father just passed away 2 weeks ago from this disease.  It wasn't pretty and much of the last few years of his life was spent in agony.  That's not living.

I have a regular follow up coming next week.  I have very little to no trepidation about the results. But there is a chance it could return since it was an aggressive form of cancer.  Even though they believe it was totally encapsulated there is always a chance.  This will be 2.5 years after my surgery and this will continue out to 10 years.  That is pretty easy compared to the alternative.

Have a frank discussion with your doctor, get informed.  You're health is more in your hands these days than ever before due to all the new insurance rules.  It's in your hands now.