PSA

Public Service Announcement? 

Among the many, many things that I have learned in 2024 is that PSA stands for Prostate-Specific Antigen. It's something that can be tested for in the blood and "high" PSA counts are indicators of prostate cancer.

A "normal" (no cause for concern) PSA count is anything less than 4.

When I had blood work done in January 31 of this year, my PSA was 27.5! For whatever reasons, my Primary Care doctor thought that it was an infection instead and started me on a course of antibiotics through February.

On March 1, I had another blood draw and my PSA was 98.7!! I have no doubt whatsoever that my PSA shot well above 100 after this, because it would be too many weeks before I would actually have anything that could be called a "treatment" of any kind. (Our health care industry moves only as fast as it wants to.)

However, it was the 98.7 PSA that the ball started rolling on all this with a meeting and eventual prostate biopsy with my urologist. Then came testosterone-lowering drugs. Then came drugs to help strengthen my bones because cancer had spread to them. Then came the prostate cryoablation. Then came meetings with oncology specialists. Then came chemotherapy, eventually, although I've only had one "round" at this point. 

What's the point of this five-month recap? Good news! I just got word that my PSA was down to 6. That's still above where it should be but it's a strong signal that everything we've been doing to attack this cancer has been working well. As silly as it might sound, a PSA of 6 is likely some of the best news I've had in months.