My ‘Walk’ with Prostate Cancer starts in May of 2006.
That was when I had my first PSA test at the Merrickville District Community Health Centre (MDCHC) near Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s capital city.
My PSA at Age 63 – May 2006 2.24
Back then, it was standard medical procedure for men over a certain age to have their PSA measured to establish a baseline value for future reference.
Of course, another standard procedure that pre-dated PSA testing was the infamous and ‘dreaded’ DRE – Digital Rectal Exam – for monitoring the physical size and condition of the prostate, which tends to enlarge and restrict urine flow as we males mature.
You know I’m mostly joking about the ‘dreaded’ part – it’s really no big deal – less than a kick in the butt, pain wise, but I guess that even a for-warned invasion of one’s inner private parts is what’s so disconcerting and ‘dreaded’ by most.
The DRE’s for me started long before the PSA regimen and confirmed that the prostate was indeed on track with its slow growth with age – but not severe, and without any of the adverse conditions like frequent nightly wakeups and the ‘trickle’ effect.
I didn’t have a clue then what PSA was – just that it was some sort of marker for Prostate Cancer and should be monitored for changes that are abnormal.
The least fun part of this particular test was that I had to pay for it out of my own pocket – $30.00 rings a bell!
Scan on down the ‘Timeline’ to see how the PSA number changed – in my case, it was a was a very good indicator of what was to come a few years later.
An increase in value would eventually trigger the response of the medical system and my much keener interest in what it all meant.
For now, it was all good.
