It typically affects men 50 years of age and older, with the incidence increasing with age. Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed and most prevalent cancer in Canadian men. “I’m sitting with a PSA of 50, how can you say it’s just a spike? OK, if you say that, why not do a blood test three weeks later instead of two months?” Ferris says. No blood tests were asked for until the end of August.”įerris says he should have been tested again sooner. “His conclusion was that this level was a spike up and I should come back in two months and it would be normal. “Because (I was) denied PSA tests over the previous six months, (the urologist) could not chart a steady rise in the PSA level,” Ferris says. “We should have been doing more blood tests right away but I had to wait six months,” he says.Īt his July appointment, Ferris had a PSA level of 50 and was told that it was “just a spike” even though his PSA tests showed a steady rise for two years. Nervous about his PSA level, Ferris asked to be seen sooner but his request was denied. The earliest appointment he could get was about six months later in July 2018. “The only sure way to know is through a biopsy.”įerris was then referred to another urologist because his previous one fell ill. If you have lumps at the front, they go undetected,” Ferris says. “It was never explained (to me) that only the back two-thirds of the prostate is accessible from a physical examination. His urologist gave him an examination and told him that his prostate, though enlarged, was in excellent shape. In December of 2017, Ferris had a PSA level of 12.8. For men in their 60s, a PSA level above 4.0 ng/ml is considered abnormal. The chance of having prostate cancer goes up as the PSA level goes up. The PSA level in blood is measured in units called nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml). From there, biopsies are conducted to detect the cancer and determine its severity. Instead, it measures the amount of PSA in the blood and determines if a man’s PSA levels are higher than they should be, which is an indication that something might be wrong with the prostate. The PSA test is a key step in detecting prostate cancer early. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Prostate cancer occurs when the cells of the prostate begin to grow uncontrollably. PSA is a protein produced by tissue in the prostate, which is a small gland that sits below the bladder in males. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Les Ferris has written a blog detailing his experience with prostate cancer and continues to update it to share his story with other men in hopes of helping them have a different outcome than his. “My diagnosis has been plagued by doctor illness, doctor egos and bad luck,” says Ferris, 66, a farmer from the south central Manitoba community of Holland. He also told Ferris to come back two months later and that his PSA - prostate-specific antigen - would be “normal.” The urologist who gave Ferris his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2018 was the same one who told him months earlier that his prostate was fine - no lumps or irregularities. Three years ago, Les Ferris was told he had three to six months to live. This article was published (551 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Free Press 101: How we practise journalism.
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