Forgot to say the biopsy was OCTOBER 12,not this month.

tooter

I'm not a doctor, but here's my non-expert opinion on this.

First the good news.

Blood in the semen is not a symptom of prostate cancer.  It
does not indicate that your husband has a cancer problem.

The not so good news is that this kind of reaction to a biopsy
is not common.  Having a few drops of blood in the semen or
urine for a week or so is not uncommon, but it sounds like
your husband has much worse results than most of us have
had.

It may be unfair to the doctor to say so, but I'm wondering if
the urologist is doing a very poor job of doing the biopsies.
He's inflicting more pain and more damage than he should.
Maybe he's inexperienced, clumsy, or plain incompetent.

I think it's very likely that the damage will heal up just fine
over time.  Most of us on this newsgroup have had far more
damaging surgeries or radiation inflicted on our prostates -
with blood, scars, bruises, radiation burns, and so on - yet
we almost all seem to recover eventually.

Knowing that you're going to ejaculate a bloody mess,
anticipating pain, and worrying about what's happening
to you are not the kind of thoughts that make sex easy
for a man.  That may have a lot to do with the difficulties
he's having now.  Hopefully, when the physical damage
heals up, full sexual function will also return.

I know that doctors can be intimidating.  They usually know
more than we do about what they're doing and they can
make some of us feel bad about criticizing them.  However,
if more procedures are required in the future, maybe your
husband should find a different urologist to do them and
explain carefully to him what happened on the last ones.
It would be ideal if you could find other patients who have
had good experiences with biopsies from whatever doctor
you find.

Best of luck.

   Alan

Call the doctor, Tooter.  I gotta feeling he hit a nerve, but there might be
something else going on in there.  I have never heard of all those symptoms.

Why is he having biopsies every year?

I would see a doctor about the ejaculate.  That does not sound normal to me.
The blood in mine cleared up in less than two weeks.  The ejaculate was
normal, just with the blood in it and my recollection is that it was red,
not a brownish color.

I would also consider either getting a second opinion from another
urologist, or maybe changing doctors altogether.  A doctor you can't talk to
is of little use.

Good luck.

David S.

My one biopsy resulted in ejaculate that was very watery with a
rootbeer color.  This continued for a week or two and gradually
lightened in color.  However, even my last ejaculate prior to surgery
over two months later still was not "back to normal."  
Dave Perry

If life is worth a second biopsy, it's worth a second doctor.  Can you saw
whether the biopsy was done with an ultra-sound guided contraption, or
some other way?

I got my 8 needle biopsy done and had trouble sleeping that night, felt
uncomfortable the next day, and was afterwards just fine.  I don't know
about ejaculate because my wife is 350 miles that-a-way and has been for
20 months.  I have no boyfriend, no girlfriend, and I'm not my own friend.

I have never heard of a biopsy interfering with the ability to acheive
erection nor to complicate reaching orgasm and ejaculating.  His lasting
longer is not necessarily a bad thing...

I think we all take more time ordering a new car and color, than picking
our docs.  The fact that you're not comfortable calling your uro about ANY
problem speaks volumes. Get another uro, and another opinion. Keep changing
until you find the guy that's right for you. By the way, I have a friend
that has a family history and raised PSA, so has a biopsy just about every
year, for years now. So far all negative, but never any complications like
yours.

From: rojakort@bright.net (tooter)
In 2001 he had his first PSA and it was 3.27 and nothing was done. His
father had prostate cancer. Hubby has never had symptoms of any kind.
Then in 2003 he had a physical and another PSA. that was 4.23 and
enlargement felt.
So he went on antibiotics and had another PSA following to recheck and
it was 4.15
Since his father had cancer there, and then they thought they got it all
and he died a few years later of UNDETECTED Cancer, the doctor said
Let's do a biopsy.
All specimens were neg.
Then in 2004 his PSA was 4.21 and enlargement again. HIs age was 59 NO
symptoms. so again it was decided to do another biopsy....But was told
to take saw palmento and selenium also after that negative biopsy.
OK then this year 2005 He was told that SAW palmento would mask PSA and
it would be a good idea to have a FREE PSA. Someone on this NG told him
that. He got an order and results are
PSA   3.79 age being 60
And Free PSA of 13% or psa free 0.5
Prostate specific antigen 4.0
Here is what the results told us. He should indeed have another round of
biopsy because he is in what they call a "grey area" IF the Free PSA is
over 25% he would be determined to have NO cancer for sure. IF it was
below 5% he would Definately have cancer. SO he is inbetween with a
possibility that indeed he may have cancer and it is not showing up yet.
That is why all the biopsies are done.
NOw the big concern is...is this common to have problems ejaculating
...It
takes him forever..sorry LOL...but he says it seems like that.   To
ejaculate but he does do it.
NO pain now most of the pain was in his anus. And with prep H that
helped it. He did tell the doc and was told he put stuff on there to
numb but it must not of helped....
What do you think?
toot
======
hi toot - let's take it one step at a time.

first - the psa issue....you are right about the psa and free psa
information.  but as the prostate cancer develops, the free psa number
will drop.  since it's it in the low teens, that's not a good sign.

next, the biopsy.  remember, it is like finding a needle in the
haystack.  some doctors are really good at it - some suck.  in my case,
i only had 6 needles stuck and the doctor found cancer in both lobes
with just those needle sticks.  and i didn't have large nodes developed
yet as determined by the post op biopsy.  the gland had cancer
throughout it, but the doctor did a great done finding it.  i remember
him teaching some other doctors what the screen representations meant
while this was going on.  so, you might want to switch doctors for the
next biopsy.

next - length of time for recovery.  usually a couple of weeks to a
month normally.  depends on where they shot the needles and what they
hit while they were in there.  if they nicked a blood vessel, it may
take longer to heal.  

next - erectile problems.  it had been known to happen.  the needle
nicks the erectile nerve.  it happens in a low number of cases, but it
does happen.  nothing is without risk.

will send you a private email later.......

~ curtis

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc