anybody who can't notice an immediate improvement in their flow rate is an idiot
it is the degradation that's the problem. It's gradual
That's the laser treatment
I though that was available as day surgery
no-one argues that there isn't a problem with the surgery and that it may be unnecessary
the argument is that the unnecessaryness is NOT caused because your GP has found you have a raised PSA.
It's caused because the Consultant you are referred to does not detail the choices to you correctly.
A well informed patient can challenge that.
It's just a blood test FFS
tim
Yes, but they like to see how much it's improved in case they missed something. Some people take months for swelling to go down and get a good flow.
The newer laser treatment, in fact.
It is...but I had the biopsy too.
but that's just luck
many do suffer ill effects and wish that they had never had the surgery
In most cases the aggressive type it too late to treat when discovered (blame that on the patient not reporting the symptoms soon enough)
tim
I disagree REALLY strongly!
Get the PSA test done every year. Just don't rush into surgery if the PSA test and any subsequent tests indicate possible cancer. Take advice, but most probably follow a policy of "watchful waiting".
The reason is that an astonishing proportion of men (30%) die with, but not from, undetected and non-symptomatic prostate cancer. Many of these cancers are so slow growing that you'll die from other things before they do you any harm.
On the other hand, if the cancer you have is aggressive, it needs to be treated before it becomes symptomatic.
It's very difficult to tell aggressive cancers from slow growing ones just from biopsy. Watchful waiting saves you having unnecessary surgery, removing slow growing cancer.
It can do more than that. Enlargement is pretty much normal as we age. A prostate that is harder and lumper than normal is what really matters.
A friend of mine went from diagnosis (with no urinary symptoms but pain in his hip) to dead in under 11 months.
Tim
What symptoms, until it spreads or causes major blockages or bleeding? Then, you're practically dead. I don't think there's any way for the patient to report symptoms early enough to make a difference.
Get the PSA test done! If it's positive (or the trend is strongly upwards from one year to the next), get follow up tests done. Then, stop and decide what to do next.
Watchful waiting or active surveillance are options that may avoid unnecessary treatment, whilst giving you a good chance at getting necessary treatment done in time.
Um, no. It's also a potential trigger for a cascade of potentially unnecessary investigation, treatment and anxiety.
As my mother would have said if she had actually said it, "Never ask a question that you don't want to know the answer to".
Tim
Sorry, Tim. So, the first symptoms he noticed were after it had spread to his bones?
well not having the aggressive form, or even cancer at all I have no idea how early the symptoms appear in that case
but I had the symptoms of prostate enlargement for at least 3 years before it was discovered
and that was at as the result of a routine test not because I reported any applicable symptoms
tim
It's certainly a potential trigger for a cascade of absolutely necessary investigation.
Treatment should be carefully considered.
Anxiety. I'd be even more anxious not having my annual PSA done.
Die from ignorance.
Benign prostate enlargement gradually builds up, until it becomes a nuisance. But you can't compare that to cancer.
What routine test?
It is only a blood test! What is to loose? It establishes a likelyhood or otherwise. It is an indicator. Better than putting up with getting up in the night a lot and then finding that cancer has spread.
so you die of something knowing that if you had acted sooner you could have lived
your/his choice
tim
FFS
That's what I mean by *net* benefit
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