Prostate Cancer

[JuJuBee]

My husband had a Radical Prostatectomy in Oct of 2005. Since his surgery he has still shown PSA levels. His Dr said that the cancer did not cross any borders and that his lymphs were clear. He has been seeing a Dr for over a 6 month period for blood work every 30 days. I am currently deployed to Iraq, on my usual call home my husband said the Dr's think his cancer is back?! He mentioned levels were starting to increase and that once it hit 0.20 that they would consider this active cancer...started with 0.01 0.04 down to 0.02 up to 0.07 and now it is at 0.13. He said they told him if it reached 0.20 they would have to consider radiation or chemo ..I am a soldier and not a Dr. what are these numbers? IF the cancer is back, are they telling me even though the cancer was in his prostate and it is gone...the cancer is still called prostate cancer and it could be somewhere else in his body? My husband is African-American and is going to be 47 years old, is there somewhere I can goto read up on this more? Someone who can ease my mind while I am 6000 miles away from my husband? Any advice or direction would be appreciated

V/r
JuJuBee

[kdunbar]

I have just read your various questions, and I often wonder what the outcome may be should my post surgery PSA start rising. The only suggestion I can make is get a copy of Dr Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostrate Cancer. It's a big read, but it will tell you everything you need to know.
Best wishes to you both.
KD

[cdon1938]

Like your husband I had surgery in 2005. My PSA intially after surgery was .007. My latest one is .20 but my doctor says it is not recurrent until .30. I have searched the internet web sites and some say .20 is the number where as others say .30. It makes one even more confused.