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Steve:
In my layman's judgement you should be lining up some form of body scan to determine whether you have experienced a recurrence and if so where the tumor(s) are located. I had the Choline scan at Mayo Clinic several years ago and at that time had to wait until my PSA reached 2.0.
The thought being identify the target, take aim, then shoot.
It takes awhile to line up one's ducks. If I were you I would not sit on my hands for the next six months.
Best wishes Don O.
Steve, what Don says makes good sense. Your rising PSA is cause enough to take further action. We don't have any other specifics to go by like starting conditions (PSA, Gleason)but such a rise should be checked out. As long as you chose an aggressive treatment in the beginning (surgery), you may want to continue being aggressive to try to defeat this cancer. Get hold of your pathology report from the surgery and consult with a radiologist, then make your decision. Best wishes, Jon.
When my prostate removal surgery failed, I was given radiation when my PSA was 1.15. I was told by the radiologist that I was still "in the range" to have a shot at a cure. Other top level prostate cancer experts have said that radiation should start before a rise of over 1. The protocol today for recurrence after surgery seems to be a Lupron type shot followed by radiation after 4 months--the idea being the Lupron shrinks the tumor(s) and the radiation is then more effective. Your call of course, but waiting 6 months based on the information shared seems to be too long of a time to seek or take further action. My story is on the website.
In September 2013, following my radical prostatectomy in July 2013, my PSA was 0.17. When this increased to 0.38 by November 2013, given that my Pca was Gleason 9 and one of my lymph nodes was positive my oncologist stated that I probably had metastatic Pca and that I should start hormone therapy. Following my first zoladex implant in November 2013 my PSA became undetectable. At this time my oncologist wouldn't agree to radiotherapy so I paid for a second opinion from a consultant urology oncologist with a national reputation. In response to my query about radiotherapy she said in cases like mine there is no right and wrong answer but that she would probably recommend radiotherapy. The oncologist at the hospital where I was being treated still didn't agree so I obtained a third opinion from a Urology professor at a hospital with an world wide reputation. He unequivocally said he would recommend radiotherapy. Consequently I transferred my care to this hospital and received 33 cycles of radiotherapy there in July and August 2014. My PSA was still undetectable at my most recent PSA test in May 2018 and I have no regrets about pursuing my treatment options. My story ( LN ) can be found on this website - I would be happy to help if I can.
