Waiting for my next PSA
When I was 63 I was diagnosed with T3 prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 7. After an RP, they upped the score to an 8 due to a bit of invasion in the seminal vesicles. All was good for a week or so until I couldn't pee, so off I went to the ER and found that I had a really large blood clot in my bladder. Then, when they fixed that problem, I ended up with strictures in my penis. Well, they fixed that with a series of rods of different diameters inserted in the penis. Not fun. Then, after almost 5 years, I ended up with a rising PSA again so I had 33 days of radiation and 6 months of Lupron (hormone therapy) which is not really too problematic but, as a chemical castration approach, you absolutely never think about sex.
All was good for another few years, but now it appears that my PSA is on the march again. Seems like cancer is a gift that keeps on giving :'-) Over the last four quarterly checkpoints, it has risen from .04 to .05 to .06 and to .07. I am definitely a bit anxious about my next appointment in May because I am not sure how I really want to deal with whatever the next step is. My guess is long-term hormone therapy unless something else has been discovered. But all in all, I am already about 9 years out from my original diagnosis and that is a good thing.
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