Guest guest Posted September 18, 2007 Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 I just joined this group a short time ago when we found out my husband has protate cancer. Grade 6. All 6 biopsie cores had cancer and it is in both lobes. The orginal urologist ordered a lung test and liver biopsy. I don't see where anyone else here had those tests but I do see alot of bone scans ordered which was not done in my husbands case. Is there a possible reason why not? His psa was 4.5, We found another urologist in a larger hospital. He will have the robotic surgery in 4 weeks. Thank you for this wonderful site. I was just wondering why some men have bone scans with the same grade and others not. I asked the original urologist why no bone scan and she didn't give me an answer I understood. Maybe she felt the lung and liver tests were more important. Thank you for any answers Christy I also have another question. We were told that his operation would be on the 23rd of October but we have nothing to show his employer to that effect. Also we are supposed to fill out a medical leave of absence with the doctors info about beginning and end of leave. All this paperwork has me in tears. Since this doctor operates 6 hrs from here how do I go about getting this filled out?. There are 7 other doctors working in the same facility all doing the same type of work. The answer is probably so simple and I am just too tired to figure it out tonight. Catch up on fall's hot new shows on Yahoo! TV. Watch previews, get listings, and more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 It is my understanding that, with a PSA of 4.5, the chance of any cancer being detectable in the bones is very close to zero. If a bone scan were done, and it showed a suspicious spot, there is an excellent chance that the spot would not actually be cancer, but some other damage to the bone - perhaps from an old injury or some congenital difference between this particular patient and the average patient. If a spot showed up the doctor might have to do a biopsy of the spot to find out for sure. I was told by the first urologist that I visited that he would order a bone scan for me if I wanted one, but he didn't recommend it and didn't think it would show anything. Later, I entered a clinical trial where, for research reasons, they gave me every test they had, including a bone scan. It came up negative, as they expected. My highest PSA reading at the time was just above 10. A bone scan requires injection of a radioactive material, waiting several hours for it to circulate throughout the body, then imaging under the scanner for another half hour to an hour. It takes time, is somewhat invasive (because of the injection), produces results that will at best be ambiguous for a patient with a low PSA, and costs a lot. In my totally non-expert opinion, your doctor probably was right not to recommend it for your husband. Alan Meyer ameyer2@... ________________________________________________________________________________\ ____ Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase. http://farechase.yahoo.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 Thank you Alan. That makes alot of sense to me. Tonight's top picks. What will you watch tonight? Preview the hottest shows on Yahoo! TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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