Bone Scan Too Late???????

RP  in August of 2002, PSA 2.4  with a gleason score of 3+4=7. Surgery revealed very slight invasion to seminal vesicles. PSA was < 0.05 for four years and then went up to 0.1 in August, 2005. Let the fun begin! August,2006, PSA was 0.8 and radiation therapy was ordered, 35 sessions. My urologist was sure the PSA would be 0.00 after this treatment, but it wasn't. It had increased to 1.4. So, we waited 4 months to take another reading and it was 1.6.. 4 months later, October, 2007 psa was 3.0 and started on hormone injections which is supposed to drop my psa to negligible. We'll see what happens. Next psa is end of Feb,2008. My problem is the urologist never took a bone scan before the RP. My first scan was in November 2007, before the radiation treatments started. The scan showed a major hot spot in the right scapular which was dismissed as arthritis or an old injury. I have never had any broken bones. The second bone scan showed the same hot spot with metastatic leisions to the scapular, same side, same area. I am now questioning the reason why a scan wasn't taken before RP to use as a baseline????? My surgeon, urologist is very highly regarded as one of the best in the Boston hospital circuit got quite nervous when I asked him about not taking a bone scan befor the RP. One last thing. Make sure you get a DRE even if your psa is 0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st..best wishes..may I ask your age now? ..Am 62, had rp in Jan 07..about the same profile as you..had all the scans..negative..was told, m/l, at the time that I may not be up for rp if anything showed elsewhere..so go figure..after all this, I get psa every 3 mo. and urol. dre every 3 mo. also...for some reason...after 10,000 blog reads & tech publications...I am sort of just laid back, gonna do whatever I gotta do...making the best of living on the edge...I get the best care in the world from VA, the best University contract Dr's, facilities & database...VA may get some moldy drywall raps but I get the very best, I believe...in addition, I have a close family member who was one of the first to have a bm transplant some 20 yrs ago, it all eventually worked but the 5 yrs of this & that...relapses etc took its toll on life...so the point is, dont give up,...just keep working every angle....Best wishes...

 

On 1/3/2008 Kenny Bouy wrote:

1st..best wishes..may I ask your age now? ..Am 62, had rp in Jan 07..about the same profile as you..had all the scans..negative..was told, m/l, at the time that I may not be up for rp if anything showed elsewhere..so go figure..after all this, I get psa every 3 mo. and urol. dre every 3 mo. also...for some reason...after 10,000 blog reads & tech publications...I am sort of just laid back, gonna do whatever I gotta do...making the best of living on the edge...I get the best care in the world from VA, the best University contract Dr's, facilities & database...VA may get some moldy drywall raps but I get the very best, I believe...in addition, I have a close family member who was one of the first to have a bm transplant some 20 yrs ago, it all eventually worked but the 5 yrs of this & that...relapses etc took its toll on life...so the point is, dont give up,...just keep working every angle....Best wishes...

Thanks. That's the spirit!!!!

As we know, some doctors order bone scans as a matter of course, although it is very unusual for anything to show up on a bone scan unless PSA readings are over 20.

I thought it was routine to get a Bone Scan before any definitive treatment.If you have mets to the scapula and apparently you do from the latest bone scan, you need to get a second opinion to see if those areas should receive some type  of treatment i.e. radiation. If I was you and if its possible for you I would go to Sloan Kettering in New York (not so far from Boston). I was diagnosed in Jan 2005  and had a bone scan scan before treatment. My urologist wanted to do  surgery, but I got a second opinion at M.D. Anderson at Houston, Tx. They upgraded my Gleason from 7 to 9 and  I was treated with radiation, plus 2 years of hormone therapy and so far no hormone therapy siince Feb 07 and my PSA is less than 1. I wish you good luck and would be interested how and what you decide to do. So keep posting.

Hello, Kenny

You say you use the VA for treatment, I have been reluctant to use them. I have been using the disability pay to go to Dr. Myers in Virginia. 

I had so much trouble with the VA getting my disability I feel I don''t need the stress of the VA clinic. I am glad you are getting superior treatment though. It's nice to her some positives about the VA.

I had surgery and radiation before I knew about the presumption of agent orange for prostate cancer. So now my treatment is triple blockage hormonal which I could not receive from the VA for my aggressive cancer.

Keep up the fight,

John