Tuesday, June 24, 2008

3-month PSA Test Results

It's been 3 months since I completed my 8 weeks of radiation and got a PSA test to check progress. PSA was 1.81 versus about 9 before the radiation. My doctor indicated this was good and about what he'd expect. The plan now is to have PSA tests every 3 months at least for the next year.

My doctor said he's expect the next test to be between .8 and 1.0 and should continue to trend down for the next 18-24 months. He said the median to reach the nadir, low point, was 21 months but in some cases it wasn't reached for 4 years. He said there occasionally would be a "bounce" up in PSA as far out as 2 years for reasons that are not totally clear.

So my next PSA test should be at the end of September and next doctor's visit at the end of the year (appt set for Jan 5th at 1 pm). He also said there is a chance that I could have some blood in the stool down the road due to after affects from the radiation on the tissue.

A few comments on post radiation affects. Within a few weeks (2-3) of completion of the radiation I found side effects to greatly diminish e.g. no irritation when urinating, less fatigue, less urge to urinate, no diarrhea, and no unusual discomfort associated with ejaculating. Since then things have returned to pre-radiation conditions.

NOTE - after a PSA test I can call 723-5159 to get the results.

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