PSA up
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From: Alan Meyer on 24 Oct 2005 19:28 "Steve Kramer" <skramer(a)cinci.rr.com> wrote in message news:Xmc7f.70434$Hs.48497(a)tornado.ohiordc.rr.com... > ... > So, having completed my homework assignment, I will back out and listen for > words of encouragement. All I see is a 60% increase in PSA from five months > ago. > ... > Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05 > PSA .07 .05 .06 .05 .08 I know that you can't help but be alarmed by this. Any of us would be. It is possible however that the slight rise has something to do with the one month delay in getting the injection. If so, the numbers are not significant. They merely indicate a gap in the treatment schedule. The next test will tell more. It is possible that the numbers could decrease again, or at least hold steady. I'm also reluctant to put much significance into the ratio of .05:.08. We are, as Jim Honeychuck said, talking about infinitesimal increases in spite of the apparent size of the ratio. In the worst case you're probably still years from metastasis and years more from symptoms and, in the best case, many years. I don't know when your next PSA test is scheduled. I presume it's 4 months from now. If the PSA goes up again, then maybe in addition to discussing this with your doctor you should also consider getting a second opinion from another medical oncologist specializing in hormone therapy - if you can find one. There may be people in this newsgroup who can give you some recommendations. The new clinical trials of phenoxodiol and some of the cancer vaccines should be underway soon. When and if you do have indications of PSA failure. You might pursue those. Finally, I want to pass on some advice to you from a guy whom I highly respect: > non Illegitimi carborundum Alan
From: Steve Jordan on 24 Oct 2005 19:34 On October 24, Steve Kramer wrote: > On October 17, 5 years after my PSA that got me started in this cancer > battle, I had my blood drawn for my 4-month (ended up being 5-month) test > and Lupron shot. It came back 0.08. By 0.01 of a nanogram, it is the > highest I've had since starting Lupron 2? years ago. What's the record over the past couple of years? It's the velocity and doubling time that count, not the snapshot. I recommend that Steve initiate a course of ultra-sensitive PSA tests on a *monthly* schedule. I also recommend that he not permit tiny fluctuations in test results to disturb him. Would that I could follow my own advice. Had a 0.01 rise from <0.01 to 0.02 recently. Worried me to distraction, even though I knew that, standing alone, it was meaningless. Cried when my most recent result came back 0.01,where it should be. I disremember exactly what Steve's ADT regimen is. ADT1, 2, or 3? I'm doing well on ADT1, but understand that that's unusual. Maybe a total androgen blockade is the way to go. AIUI, plenty of men get along quite well and are able to climb flights of stairs with little or no difficulty, regardless of the dire warnings of medics. Check the PCRI website at http://prostate-cancer.org/index.html or _A Primer on Prostate Cancer_by you know who. Or is it whom? What's wanted is info on ADS (Androgen Deprivation Syndrome). I think that Steve is far from finished with his dance with the bear. Regards, Steve J "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." --Sun Tzu, "The Art of War" > > I was first scheduled for this test and shot one month ago, but the doctor's > office postponed it because the doc was going out of town. My doc was > highly ticked when he found out that his staff had postponed me by a month. > He also affirmed what someone here said last week. Maybe a week later or a > week earlier -- never a month! > > Obviously, my considerations of IADT are rendered moot. I did ask, as I > promised I would, about switching to another ADT to stave off rafract... > what is it? Refraction? Regardless, I asked and he said that a block is a > block and it doesn't matter. It's best to stay what I'm on because I am > used to the SEs. > > However, Heather, he did correct himself and said that actually it is a > partial block. The adrenal gland is still producing very little > testosterone (which we all knew). "We need some testosterone to live off > of. If I gave you a complete block, you probably wouldn't be able to climb > up a stairway." > > So, having completed my homework assignment, I will back out and listen for > words of encouragement. All I see is a 60% increase in PSA from five months > ago. >
From: dale.j. on 24 Oct 2005 19:56 In article <Xmc7f.70434$Hs.48497(a)tornado.ohiordc.rr.com>, "Steve Kramer" <skramer(a)cinci.rr.com> wrote: > On October 17, 5 years after my PSA that got me started in this cancer > battle, I had my blood drawn for my 4-month (ended up being 5-month) test > and Lupron shot. It came back 0.08. By 0.01 of a nanogram, it is the > highest I've had since starting Lupron 2? years ago. > > I was first scheduled for this test and shot one month ago, but the doctor's > office postponed it because the doc was going out of town. My doc was > highly ticked when he found out that his staff had postponed me by a month. > He also affirmed what someone here said last week. Maybe a week later or a > week earlier -- never a month! > > Obviously, my considerations of IADT are rendered moot. I did ask, as I > promised I would, about switching to another ADT to stave off rafract... > what is it? Refraction? Regardless, I asked and he said that a block is a > block and it doesn't matter. It's best to stay what I'm on because I am > used to the SEs. > > However, Heather, he did correct himself and said that actually it is a > partial block. The adrenal gland is still producing very little > testosterone (which we all knew). "We need some testosterone to live off > of. If I gave you a complete block, you probably wouldn't be able to climb > up a stairway." > > So, having completed my homework assignment, I will back out and listen for > words of encouragement. All I see is a 60% increase in PSA from five months > ago. Those numbers are so small that could it be just normal variation in testing? I see it started with .07, then went to .05 and back up to .06 and so on. The next one should be back down a bit. It must be a little nerve wrecking though. Mine's coming up in a month. My fingers are crossed for both of us. Dale J. -- Email: dalej2(a)mac.com
From: Steve Kramer on 24 Oct 2005 21:05 "Alan Meyer" <ameyer2(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:GfCdnewQPZ9V8cDeRVn-gg(a)comcast.com... > Finally, I want to pass on some advice to you from a guy whom I highly > respect: > > > non Illegitimi carborundum You got me good on that one! I was scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, expecting a Biblical reference or something, then non Illegitimi carborundum!!!! Thanks. Big smile here.
From: Steve Kramer on 24 Oct 2005 21:11
Doubling time is difficulte to assess over the continuum. Dates are as follows: PSA 07/18/03 0.32 Lupron Begin 07/21/03 PSA 10/09/03 0.07 Lupron Injection 08/26/03 Lupron Injection 12/30/03 PSA 04/26/04 0.05 Lupron Injection 04/28/04 PSA 09/21/04 0.06 Lupron Injection 09/23/04 Lupron Injection 01/24/05 PSA 02/03/05 0.05 Lupron Injection 05/01/05 PSA 10/17/05 0.08 Lupron Injection 10/24/05 I charted the PSA. It looks like if I had had the PSA test one month ago, a "W" would have been formed but with a shallow center point. -- PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05 PSA .07 .05 .06 .05 .08 non Illegitimi carborundum "Steve Jordan" <mycroft(a)cox.net> wrote in message news:Obe7f.90860$lq6.52904(a)fed1read01... > On October 24, Steve Kramer wrote: > > > On October 17, 5 years after my PSA that got me started in this cancer > > battle, I had my blood drawn for my 4-month (ended up being 5-month) test > > and Lupron shot. It came back 0.08. By 0.01 of a nanogram, it is the > > highest I've had since starting Lupron 2? years ago. > > What's the record over the past couple of years? It's the velocity and > doubling time that count, not the snapshot. > > I recommend that Steve initiate a course of ultra-sensitive PSA tests on a > *monthly* schedule. I also recommend that he not permit tiny fluctuations > in test results to disturb him. > > Would that I could follow my own advice. Had a 0.01 rise from <0.01 to 0.02 > recently. Worried me to distraction, even though I knew that, standing > alone, it was meaningless. Cried when my most recent result came back > 0.01,where it should be. > > I disremember exactly what Steve's ADT regimen is. ADT1, 2, or 3? I'm doing > well on ADT1, but understand that that's unusual. Maybe a total androgen > blockade is the way to go. AIUI, plenty of men get along quite well and are > able to climb flights of stairs with little or no difficulty, regardless of > the dire warnings of medics. Check the PCRI website at > http://prostate-cancer.org/index.html > or > _A Primer on Prostate Cancer_by you know who. Or is it whom? > > What's wanted is info on ADS (Androgen Deprivation Syndrome). > > I think that Steve is far from finished with his dance with the bear. > > Regards, > > Steve J > > "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a > hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory > gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor > yourself, you will succumb in every battle." > --Sun Tzu, "The Art of War" > > > > > > > > I was first scheduled for this test and shot one month ago, but the doctor's > > office postponed it because the doc was going out of town. My doc was > > highly ticked when he found out that his staff had postponed me by a month. > > He also affirmed what someone here said last week. Maybe a week later or a > > week earlier -- never a month! > > > > Obviously, my considerations of IADT are rendered moot. I did ask, as I > > promised I would, about switching to another ADT to stave off rafract... > > what is it? Refraction? Regardless, I asked and he said that a block is a > > block and it doesn't matter. It's best to stay what I'm on because I am > > used to the SEs. > > > > However, Heather, he did correct himself and said that actually it is a > > partial block. The adrenal gland is still producing very little > > testosterone (which we all knew). "We need some testosterone to live off > > of. If I gave you a complete block, you probably wouldn't be able to climb > > up a stairway." > > > > So, having completed my homework assignment, I will back out and listen for > > words of encouragement. All I see is a 60% increase in PSA from five months > > ago. > > |