Follow up

Hi . First, I want to note that we are not medical professionals and, for your protection, cannot give medical advice over the internet. Several individual issues can go into the continued monitoring. Does your insurance cover the GP and the specialist differently? Would you have easy/timely access to a specialist if there was a change in you PSA? Do you have a level of trust with the GP and do they understand the importance of the continued testing and early treatment? A lot of this boils down to a question of whether you would have the ability to take charge and do what you wanted to do if there was a change in your status and your comfort level. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. Best, Richard (ProstateCancer.net Team)

Thank you for the reply. You bring up some very good points. It’s just that for the last few years I have been doing virtual visits with my urologist, and now he has passed me on to his PA. I know my PCP would monitor this carefully as she recommended I see a urologist when my PSA first increased.

Same boat here. I got tired of going back to the URO twice a year, once for his lab and the second for a consult when it was always the same <.01 result. I thought the same thing about either relying on the VA or my GP for PSA blood work and quitting the URO, but then realized they all used different labs and while the chance of the results being the same were good, they weren't ideal. So, I still go to the URO and use his lab for the blood work.

Here is a different take. A former business associate had his prostate removed 12 years ago. After a while he decided on having all of his PSA check-ups done under the direction of a GP. All went well until his GP told him 3 years ago that he might want to check with a urologist as his PSA had risen to 2.5.


For some reason the lab the GP was using did not perform hyper sensitive post-op testing ---where readings usually start near or about 0.01 . Needless to say he was upset and needed to undergo radiation and hormone therapy If you decide to make a change it is up to you to stay on top of things.


I continue testing with my urologist. My current post-op PSA is 0.02 and has been since 2018 after i was also treated for a recurring prostate cancer when my post reading hit 0.13 Dennis (Prostate-Cancer.net TEAM)