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Thanks Allen and Don. I guess what I meant was that all the years I probably had this and was unaware of it slowly gaining a hold in me were the quality years that I had when I could have found it earlier and had better success in treating it. As I have heard from others, my infrequent visits to the doctor and lack of yearly checks was not conducive to finding this culprit in time to deal with it successfully. My ignorance and the doctor's failure to check PSA (not putting the blame on him)allowed this thing to progress to the danger point. When I did request a PSA,(in my sixties and freshly aware of this disease), the doctor actually discouraged me by warning that it could cause needless worry. When the PSA came back at 5.7, I procrastinated for another year in denial. The next test came back at 6.8 and I finally wised up. These are things I would like to convey to all those younger men in order to give them a heads up, head start on how serious this can be even when they are still "immortal" in their youth (40-60). So yes, I had late detection because of ignorance and a wasted year because of ignorance again. You are right, doesn't pay to beat one's self up over past errors but maybe these things can be of some help to others. I have written a couple guys who have posted about being undecided and told them my story and regrets so they might be a little more serious about being undecided. Quality of life IS important but so is not dying or suffering regrets because of it. Thanks again for your understanding input. Jon.
