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Thanks for the update. Glad to know you're on the road to recovery & "good times." 
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💘
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Hey I am glad to hear your numbers went up and you are getting through this, you sound tough you got this. Thank you for being so vulnerable with us and advocating for our assholes
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fun fact. by age 80 60% have prostate cancer and at 93 it's 100% but you're more likely to die from the flu
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SmartK9 thanks for your share and I very much empathize with you challenging situation. As a health care provider and vibrant Humaniplex member your situation is the one I fear the most.
Please don't give health care advice unless you are competent to do so. It is old school (and inaccurate) to see a man should get an annual PSA for screening. It has long been conclusively demonstrated that the harm of PSA screening (and its follow up) is worse than not.
Do check with your physician about what PSA screening is appropriate for you.
For example,
"PSA screening guidelines recommend shared decision-making for men aged 55–69, as this group benefits most. Routine testing is generally not recommended for men over 70 or those with less than a 10-year life expectancy."
SmartK9 may you recover from this challenge to an important part of your being and return to health.
EncinitasBrian
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What’s wrong with gett Your PSA checked regularly if you’re over age 50? It’s just a simple blood test.i went through the same thing as OP. The whole 9 yards and early dedication saved my life. I also went through the Lupron treatment as well. It sucked but it worked.
OP,your testosterone will come back.my did eventually and now I’m fine.
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My “healthcare advice” as you put it is based strictly on my personal experience based on non caring “health care professionals”who (like certain MD’s Radiologists/Oncologists and Urologists) who are given time limits to address patients concerns and either can’t or won’t. My criticism here in no way reflects the professional treatment and compassion I received from the nurses and radiation technicians that actually treated me. I saw ZERO physicians during my 28 radiation sessions. I had NO follow up appointment after my radiation was finished. I learned quickly during this YOU AS THE PATIENT WITH THE DISEASE have to be your loudest advocate nowadays.
Telling someone to get tested for their testosterone and PSA levels is nothing more than good sound advice and has NOTHING to do with stepping on medical professionals toes.
To quote the poet Mary T. Lathrap
“Just walk a mile in his moccasins
Before you abuse critique or accuse
If just for an hour you could find a way
To see through his eyes instead of your own muse.”
You have no idea what I’ve been through for over a year now with the physicians putting wrong information in my file about treatment and having correct it my self. You don’t know me at all. Please don’t try to apply a very generalized opinion that the medical profession applies to all to an individual, and therein lies the problem
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regarding testosterone just lift weights. mine is over 740 with shit sleep. sleep and excercise especially weight lifting will bump it
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My dad told me yesterday that he was diagnosed and that they caught it early but he is looking into the options that he was given .. This is very good information and I'll be doing a little more research to help with advice so thank you
Gosh.. my mom had breast cancer, grandma had blood and bone cancer and now my dad has prostate cancer... makes me wonder what cancer I'm going to get 🙃
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EncinitasBrian, your statemen makes absolutely no sense: "It is old school (and inaccurate) to see [say?] a man should get an annual PSA for screening. It has long been conclusively demonstrated that the harm of PSA screening (and its follow up) is worse than not."
That means men shouldn't get PSA screenings at all. But then in your next sentence you contradict this by saying: "Do check with your physician about what PSA screening is appropriate for you."
WTF?! Give us a link to back up your ridiculous 1st statement (then how the hell are we supposed to know when we have a prostate problem?!). Let's see if the medical profession backs you up on this or if it's (probably) some lunatic fringe person. What's wrong with you?! 
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I have a symptom that is kind of scary. Saw a urologist outside of my network. We did some anti biotics in hopes that would have resolved the symptoms. Six months later no bueno. My urologist was supposed to order a PSA but it never got thru to my GP. Talked with him and he wasn’t happy but did order the test. Go in tomorrow for the blood draw. Get the results hopefully on Wednesday.
First step in prostate cancer is a simple blood draw for the PSA. That is the easy part. If it’s elevated in the wrong direction, there are lots of things they can do. Biopsy is one of them which may cause other problems because you’re poking the bear. Another is to just monitor it moving forward.
I hope I don’t have it but that’s one of the leading cause for my symptoms. 🤞
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I was 70 with regular PSA tests - then after a high score, we did the test again 3 months later. Even higher!! A biopsy confirmed and so I went on lupron (not fun) and radiation, now a few years later. PSA values are low.
The "dangers" of PSA tests for older guys is NOT the dangers of the PSA test - but the danger of overly aggressive, or marginally-needed therapeutic procedures on very slow-growth cancers. It might be greedy physicians and/or their paranoid malpractice insurance agents.
So it all depends:
> what's your realistic life span? (lots of websites to help with that).
> how fast is the cancer growing?
In the early stages there are no symptoms. But once it metastasizes (spreads) into other areas, you are likely already be on a very slippery slope. So get your PSA tests done, but proceed cautiously if the score gets in the problematic range. Most insurances will pay for a 2nd opinion.
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June Moon you can PM me for info I’ve done a ton of research on this.
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I think that I am still blocked but I will definitely check out your blogs so that I can see what to expect.
I appreciate all of the info that you've provided so far its super helpful
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You are not!
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Thanks for the update K9!!!!
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June Moon, PM me if you would like a great doctor for your dad. I have a great doctor who wrote the book on prostate cancer treatment and he’s not an HMO type doc, running patients you through an assembly line.
Sorry for the hell the SmartK OP friend has been through. Hey guys, get your damn PSA CHECKED if your over 50. It’s a simple blood test and no side affects. Sheesh!
In many cases to be in this hobby we’re all getting blood tests anyway. Have them throw in your PSA.
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Agreed. Don't be like Dan Fogelberg, one of the best singer songwriters of the '80s, who avoided getting his annual check up & wound up with fatal prostate cancer. On his website, he urged men to get the initial test (you know, the finger up the butt), which probably is the main reason many men don't do it.
I don't look forward to experiencing that every year (but its for just a few seconds), but I do it because my life's worth prolonging.
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Your advice and story will help others !!!!!
Thanks smartk9🥰🥰🥰
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| There are 19 comments on this blog. |
