PSA on the rise

[JD-guy]

Good morning everyone, my PSA has been undectable, {<.01} since July 2022. Not real long, but it has been a good time. Felt good, no pain, can look on my profile for more details. I am on Xtandi and Lupron--(3 months). (I had taxetere in 2021) I get my PSA checked every three months right before lupron injection, so I did the routine blood work. I was suspisious that my PSA was probably on the rise as I have had some back pain in the last 4 weeks or so. But I was kind of set back when my PSA came back at 2.22. that is a substanial increase in 3 months. I have an appointment with my MO on 19 Dec.

What is my next step, what questions should I ask.

I have a secondary cancer center that has partnered with Johns Hopkins and I am thinking of going thru them to get a second opinion, once I hear what my MO has to say (he is with UPMC--universety of Pitt.)

Any advice, I would be most grateful.

thank you

Keith, aka JDguy

[Tall_Allen]

You can try Pluvicto now or one of the combinations with Xofigo:

prostatecancer.news/2021/02...

[Benkaymel]

Have you had a scan to check what's actually going on with your tumours? PSA only tells you so much.

[JD-guy in reply to Benkaymel]

Thank you for the question, No I have not yet. I have my routine 3 month appointment on this coming Tuesday and I have quite a number of questions for my MO. (It is because of this forum that I understand a bit more now than when I was first diagnosed.) I still do not know a lot but a little more. I get my PSA checked before my appointment then I know going into the appointment what it is. I left a message for the nurse to make sure they see the PSA report.

[TJGuy]

At over 2 your PSA should show where your PC is at. You need to get a PSMA scan, while continuing PSA testing. Contact your doctor to get the scan prescription and have your doctor contact your insurance for scan approval. Get the PSMA scan scheduled as these can be weeks or months out depending on your hospital Your scan results will determine what's next for you.

[JD-guy in reply to TJGuy]

Do you know how much they cost? I am currently self pay with a small faith based mutual health care. Thanks

Keith

[TJGuy in reply to JD-guy]

You should try to get PPO health insurance that allows you to go anywhere for treatment.Cost varies greatly, list price can be as mush as $37,000 at a hospital to low $20,000 just matters how greedy the hospital is.

Usually one the "discount" for insurance is applied it comes down to the $16 to $17k range.

I had a appointment with one of my three hospitals I go to and this one is in a HMO centered county in FL as well as Advantage Medicare. They say they can't get their patients approved for scans. This is another way how health care rationing is done in the US.

I have PPO insurance and have had a good number of PSMA scans.

Now you can travel for these scans a very low cost, $800 in Australia, $600 in India.

But for $2500 US dollars, you can travel to just out side Vancouver British Columbia and get the scan, this price is for US citizens at a private Canadian healthcare facility.

At the time I looked into this last year, airfare was ridiculously cheap to fly roundtrip from the east coast to Vancouver. Like $100 from Toronto and like $180 from the east coast US through either Toronto or Minneapolis I believe.

[j-o-h-n]

Good advice here on this site............. Hope your appointment with the doctor went well...

Happy Christmas to you.

Note: I wish to offer my apologies if I offended anyone regarding my so-called humor about "race" or "misogyny". To me, humor is boundless and since we entered this word crying, I thought it would be a good idea to exit laughing.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Tuesday 12/19/2023 8:29 PM EST

[JD-guy in reply to j-o-h-n]

My appointment went good. As expected they want a PSMA PET scan. So we are in the process of scheduling that. I have new twist. I normally get my PSA checked at an independent lab. (that is where I started from day one.). Since my PSA had went up, I decided to get it checked @ the cancer lab also to compare. I got the results from the Cancer center lab last evening in my portal. The independent lab was 2.22 and the cancer lab was <.01.

I have not talked to my Dr yet

Thanks

Keith.

[j-o-h-n in reply to JD-guy]

2.22 <.01 Wowie!!! Great News. Pull back the rug and put on your dancing shoes....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 12/20/2023 10:22 AM EST

[JD-guy in reply to j-o-h-n]

The problem is, which lab is right?

[j-o-h-n in reply to JD-guy]

That was my thought too.......... needs a third one....(but I didn't want to burst his bubble)...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 12/20/2023 6:37 PM EST

[JD-guy in reply to j-o-h-n]

I am going to get a PSMA-PET scan and then I am going to get a new PSA in a month. We will see.

Thanks Keith.

[j-o-h-n in reply to JD-guy]

Good Idea,

I wish you a very low psa........Happy Holidays...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 12/20/2023 7:05 AM EST