Monday, July 5, 2010

First PSA test since November, '09

Well, the post is late, but the results have not changed: PSA = less than 0.1 ...which was the target we were hoping for!  Woot!!! So, for now this is success!  (I think I started this blog with a PSA of at least 13.7 or something.)

So, at the same time I got those results I got my last hormone shot, which will last me until the end of September or so.  I asked my urologist (who was doing the injection) how long after that I could expect to begin to feel 'normal' again.  He said something like "You should bounce right back."  And I said, "Let's define 'bounce'."  He grinned and said that maybe bounce was not quite the right word.  Six months or so was what he meant.  I said that sounded more like a slow slide than a bounce, but ok... that's what I wanted to know.

And so the final injection was done (my right hip/cheek area hurt the rest of the day) and I got a lab slip to get my PSA tested in 3 months and a return visit.  He (the urologist) seemed surprised that my radiation oncologist hadn't given me a stack of lab slips for PSA tests, and I explained that there had been some confusion about what lab the urologist preferred.  Turns out he doesn't have a preferred lab.  So, I'll have to follow up on my return visit and make sure I have lab slips for (I think) every six months for the next few years.

All in all, I'm pleased.  But there has been no huge celebration yet.  I figure there's something to plan for at the end of September, and then maybe something to notice and pay attention to when my body starts (I hope) to level out into what will be the new "normal".  At any rate, it is good to have these results!