LESS THAN 0.1 !

This is the best possible news. (Note: I had earlier blogged that it was 0.1, but the nurse had misspoken on the phone.)

Before surgery: 4.8 (but really, 9.6 because I was on a medication that artificially lowered it)
3 months after surgery: less than 0.1 (or "undetectable" on the standard assay)
6 months after surgery: 0.2
10 months post surgery: 0.6
Day before radiation started (about 11 months post-surgery): 0.7
IMRT for 8 weeks
3 months post-radiation: 0.1
4.5 months post-radiation: 0.1
and now, 6 months post radiation: < 0.1

I'm clearly in the "complete responders" group Andrew Stephenson has reported on. His study shows 49% of those who got a complete response within 9 months were free from disease progression 6 years later. That may not sound great to you (50-50 odds) but overall rates of success in salvage radiotherapy in the long run are not nearly that high. My odds in the short run are excellent.

fingers crossed

Had blood drawn just now. This is roughly 6 months post-radiation. I'm hoping for it to come back LESS THAN 0.1.

US News & World Report Video

latest PSA

It's still 0.1, just like back in June. That's not unexpected. Hopefully it will be less than 0.1 next time (September) or at the latest, by mid-December.
Cholesterol's a little high, though. I guess I should pay a little attention to that, since it looks like prostate cancer's not going to knock me off anytime soon!

another jab

It was time for a cholesterol check from my primary care doc, and he threw in a PSA test just for fun. So I'll get a peek at my PSA at the 4.5 month post-radiation point (I had one in mid June at 3 months, and wasn't scheduled by the radiologist for another until mid September). I had blood drawn today.
Pins and needles time again...

Proctitis continues to diminish. No bleeding in two weeks, but bowel movements still aren't quite normal and I have a lot of bloating (gas) regardless of diet. At this rate of improvement I hope to be back to normal by winter.

Bullseye

First post-salvage radiation PSA test came back today. Zero point one. That's a great score in my situation. I'm probably, hopefully, still on a downward curve, so maybe the next PSA will be less than zero point one, or "undetectable" on the standard PSA test. I was dreading the digital rectal exam (DRE) because of the proctitis, but it didn't hurt at all and there was no sign of blood, which means to me that the proctitis is just about gone.

The doctor said he would have been happy even if the score was 0.3.

This is a great day.

damn

My friend who just recently got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, died last week.

44 hours until I get my PSA back.