I'm writing on behalf of my husband since he is in an absolute panic
state at this point.  Some background - Steve is almost 50 and had
gone in for a physical exam with his regular doctor.  At the time, the
doctor noted two things on the exam - an enlarged prostate and blood
in the stool.  Steve was able to make a quick appointment with a
Gastroenterologist and a follow-up colonoscopy revealed two polyps
which after being removed and tested and were found to have high-grade
dysplasia.  Doctor feels he removed them successfully and scheduled a
follow-up appointment in three months just to make sure.  Doctor does
say it was lucky he got this tested when he did since it would have
definitely turned into Colin cancer. In between appointments, he also
went to a Urologist to follow up on the enlarged prostate.  He has
been having symptoms such as nighttime frequency, weak flow, some
erectile disfunction, etc.  Urologist sent him for a PSA test (his
first) and it came back as 12.4 ng.  When Steve returned to the
Urologist he found out these results.  In addition the Urologist did a
DRE and tested urinary function.  DRE showed a slightly enlarged
prostate but Uro found nothing unusual such as lumps or hardening.  He
did show some significant Urinary symptoms on the tests.  My husband
called me at work in an almost panic state and told me about his PSA
and that this was bad and that it probably meant he had advanced
cancer!  Unfortunately, the Urologist did nothing to qualm his fears
other than telling him it was always possible it might be an infection
but apparently mentioned nothing about the enlarged prostate possibly
causing some rise in PSA. All the doctor told him was that the PSA
level concerned him and it was significant.

I started to immediately do research since I am the type of person who
wants to see as many positive stories as possible about people who had
high PSA's and either had negative biopsy results or were found to
have early-stage treatable cancer and also to learn as much as
possible, especially if it turns out to be cancer.  Every time Steve
looks at the information, he focuses on the negative.  Anyway, three
days ago he had a 6 core biopsy.  Doctor saw nothing unusual on the
Ultrasound.  Steve found the test painful and had bleeding afterwards
that was stopped by applying ice packs.  Unfortunately, we still have
to wait another 7 days until we can go back to see the doctor for the
biopsy results.  Steve is all "gloom and doom" still expecting the
worst.  He keeps saying he has all the symptoms of advanced cancer
since he has the urinary problems.  I still believe these symptoms are
probably BPH related.  He also keeps telling me about every ache and
pain he has, suspecting it has spread to the bones.  I keep reminding
him that he has had back pains since we met but he still does not seem
to believe me.  Doctor put him on Flomax and that has helped the
urinary symptoms substantially.

One thing that concerns me is that the PSA density for Steve is .30
and I know that .15 is the threshold.  Would this mean that even
though he has BPH, that certainly does not explain the high PSA
reading?  Is it possible for a slightly enlarged prostate to cause
such a high PSA?

One thing we have both decided, is if the results show cancer we will
find a doctor at John Hopkins since we live only an hour away from
there.  We also both are aware that even if the results are negative,
that he will need to keep getting tested to see if the cancer was
missed on the biopsy.

I am looking for ways to calm my husband's fears but know this will be
difficult because he is such a pessimist.  I am the opposite of him
and consider myself an optimist but his negative attitude is beginning
to make me more nervous about the results.

Steve had another appointment with his regular doctor and even the
doctor said he was "going off the deep end" about this.  Luckily I
convinced him to at least talk to someone about this and he was able
to contact a counselor through his Employee Assistance Program.  He
did say he likes her a lot and she wants him to call as soon as he
gets the results - good or bad.

Anyway, I thought it would be good to vent a little and hope to get
some responses that I can share with Steve to make him feel more
positive about most likely not having late-stage cancer.

Lois