Posted: 4/1/2008 5:13:36 AM EDT
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Have you ever had a prostate biopsy and was it benign? I'm wondering what the percent of chance is that I won't have prostate cancer because the doctor wants a biopsy. Your input is appreciated. |
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Are you asking if the biopsy will cause cancer? Don't know that. I had a biopsy but it was the test of last resort. Usually antibiotics are given to rule out an infection causing an abnormal PSA. If the PSA doesn't come down or the prostate is "bumpy" rather than smooth, then the biopsy is the next test. I won't pretend that the biopsy is a picnic but it's the only defining test left. The biopsy procedure is not unbearable. Startling is more like it, a click of the apparatus and a brief moment of pain, repeated for each sample. Man-up, you have to know if you have cancer or not. ETA: Mine was cancer. |
Please, get the biopsy done ASAP. If it's benign, then great. If it's pre- or cancerous, at least you'll know now and the Docs can fight it sooner rather than later. My father-in-law ended up with prostate cancer and passed away just this past June due to not being able to take care of the symptoms early enough. Background: When he went in for a check-up just before a deployment to the sandbox (he worked on the GlobalHawk team for Northrop-Grumman) they said his prostate was a little enlarged and his PSA was up slightly. The Doc didn't call for a biopsy, though, because he fit the bill for most older men having a slightly enlarged one, and that it shouldn't be any concern. About 3 months into the deployment he started having some pain and incontinence with it. He was getting up a LOT during the nights and was having lots of trouble even making it to the bathroom. He got in touch with his Doc and he told my father-in-law that he wanted to see him as soon as he got back. Three months later (6 month deployment), he was having all kinds of trouble and the Doc biopsied the prostate. Sure enough... cancer. They scheduled him for surgery within a week and got it out, but the cancer had already broken through the "capsule" since it was growing so fast. The Doc was very aggressive in how much he cut out and it gave him problems with incontinence because of that for the remainder of his life, but he didn't get all the cancer. It was already in his bloodstream. He was able to fight it for a long time with meds, and to be honest, he had a pretty good quality of life up until about 2 weeks before he passed away (he was playing golf with his son 10 days before he died), but prostate stuff is something you definitely want to be aggressive with. FWIW, what my father-in-law had was the most aggressive form of prostate cancer there is, and the doctors told him multiple times during the last 3 years of his life that he *should have* already been dead due to how it usually metastasizes, but God gave him a good 5 years with us plus allowed him to go on 2 more deployments in the middle east to help save US and other ally troops' lives using the GlobalHawk in conjunction with the B2. He said it was the neatest thing to be flying around one plane (GH) and find a target, then relay that info to a B2 (which he also worked on), and have it blow it up within the hour. Good luck, and I hope what the Dr finds is nothing. But, if it *is* something, get it taken care of ASAP. |
The reason for the Dr wanting the bx is more important than his decision to do one. If he felt a firm nodule (s) on his prostate exam would have more significance (and should make you worry a bit more) than if he just did it for an elevated PSA. However, worrying is not going to change anything, so just wait for the results. |