Background information.

My name is Paul McArthur. I was born in June, 1960. I am 44 years old as I tell my story. I am writing this because it is an outlet for me. It let’s me tell a lot of people so, I don’t have to repeat myself. I had a lot of positive feedback. I hope you enjoy this information and feel free to pass this along to anybody who may be interested in reading it.

I had a physical in 2001. My doctor ordered the usual blood work. At that time I was 41 and so, he did not order a PSA. However, by some miracle a PSA was performed. I didn’t know it at the time, but, men should start having a PSA test at the age of 40 if their father has Prostate Cancer. My father was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 1989.

The results came back a 12. Zero (0) is good, 0-4 is ok, 4-8 is we need to watch this carefully, anything over 10 is basically… “You’re not dead, yet?”

The doctor ordered a 2^nd PSA test. The results of that test were a 10. So, he ordered a biopsy.

I went to the urologist he recommended. That urologist took 6 samples. They all came back negative.

The procedure was uncomfortable. It’s like using an electric curling iron with a spring-loaded needle. It’s not all that painful. But, it is uncomfortable. I was ready to go home after the 3^rd sample. I was awake throughout the procedure. There was no pain medication or anesthesia.

I decided that it would take a couple of years before I went and did that again.

I waited 3 years until a co-worker gave me the “guilt’s” and convinced me to go have the test again. The blood test isn’t that big a deal. It’s the biopsy.

I went to the doctor in April 2004. The nurse said he would do a DRE, you know… turn your head and cough. That’s not that bad. It’s the biopsy that I didn’t want to face. Unfortunately, the DRE can cause your PSA to be elevated. They didn’t tell me that until AFTER the DRE. I had to wait a week to get the blood work done to give the PSA time to go back down. I didn’t get the blood work done until May, after my mother’s surgery.

I got the results back in June. It was a 10.4. The doctor wanted another biopsy. I wanted another urologist. This time I went to the one my father used. He said he was going to do a minimum of 12 samples. I said, “You’re going to put me to sleep, aren’t you?” In his Indian accent he said, “Yes. I do not want to have to chase you around the table.” You got that right, buster. I had the biopsy in July.

He put me to sleep for the biopsy. He did an awesome job. The experience was infinitely better than the first time. He not only biopsied the prostate he also did a cystocopy. Never trust anybody who puts you to sleep.

I got the results of the biopsy in August. They came back positive. The urologist ordered a CT scan and bone density scan. Both came back negative.

The rest of this area of my web page is dedicated to documenting what happened and how I dealt with the issues that popped up. I hope everybody finds it easy to read and informative.