Friday, February 12, 2010

Really!?

Well I called up Penn yesterday to ask if there was anything to be concerned with in my blood testing they performed.

The person I spoke with said only thing that stands out is my PSA was 5.5, and normal should be under 4 or lower for someone my age. He said I would have to get that retested prior to being listed to ensure there is no cancer. Unbelievable....

So since I knew zip about PSA testing I spent all of yesterday afternoon reading up on the subject and talking to people who I know have had prostate cancer in the past. From what I learned my level is in fact really high, but that in itself is not too much to freak out about. PSA level increases with age and is not a very reliable test, but being a 40 year old guy it should not be anywhere close to this level though. Many people have had false high numbers, so no worries yet.

So now there is another thing to take care of....you know, because I didn't have enough on my plate...

As I said to a friend of mine yesterday, if there is in fact an Omnipotent being pulling the strings on all of us I hope it's having a good time messing around with me....LOL....

7 comments:

  1. Jimmy, I read a small section from the book of Job this a.m. Job encountered a series of horrific events that left him with no family, property and in poor health. He had 3 friends to counsel/comfort him. Well, they were miserable comforters as their counsel was full of wrong assumptions and unhelpful advice. I don't want to be a miserable comforter to you. I'm so sorry that there is one more thing (PSA count) that has been thrown on the pile.

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  2. No worries Bill....I face my trials with a smile on my face and a skip in my step (well can't really skip, but you get the point). Things hit me for a moment, then I push ahead. It's all good mate...

    Look at it this way, if they did find cancer it's better to know and had I not been going through the transplant process my PSA level would not have been checked since I'm only 40. So the short of it is, could be a blessing....who's to say....

    But I think it's just a fluke, I have no symptoms to warrant any concern.

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  3. You are a fighter. In fact, I'm thinking of a time when you got us into a fight in West Hazleton during a wrestling match AND the time when I broke my leg in a wrestling match and you beat the snot out of your guy right after I got carted off the mat.

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  4. I truly believe in the power of positive thinking and you are thinking positive !!Your blog is very impressive. The research you have done has been a gigantic help to us who are following you

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  5. I never said my energies were always positive or funneled in the proper direction....youthful indiscretions...LOL...but as you know, mess with my friends and you mess with me….

    You might find it interesting that I do consider myself a pacifist now. I only fight the battles that need to be fought.

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  6. Jim – Being older then you (maybe not wiser) I have been down this PSA test route for some time. My doctor always told me the number of a PSA test is a relative thing. You establish a baseline and monitor from there. The way he explained it to me is that you look for increases relative to the baseline over time. If it jumps x percentage then it is time to investigate more. Your right, there are certain guidelines of where the level should be based on age. But with all you have been through who knows what your baseline should be. Don’t worry about it. They have more definitive tests that will get at the answer. It is one data point. When did you ever draw any conclusions with one data point? Fight on warrior.

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  7. Well this now provides another incentive for a successful transplant...watching you skip! LOL

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