PSA test - how much?

[Sheryl]

6 hours ago, rott said:

Sheryl and spoorn, many thanks for the advice and support. A second blood test gave a reading of 20.4. I have seen Dr Chucheep at BCH and he has me down for a CTH of chest and abdomen a week tomorrow. So we (or I) will see.

Keep us posted.

 

Did he review the CD of your colonoscopy?

[rott]

Spornb sorry for mis-spelling your name above.

 

Quiet on here today, perhaps people are reeling from the UK election result.

[rott]

Sheryl I do not have the CD and he felt that 7 years ago was too old to be relevant.

[Sheryl]

13 hours ago, rott said:

Sheryl I do not have the CD and he felt that 7 years ago was too old to be relevant.

 

OK. So may indeed recommend a new one depending on what he sees in your scans.

[spornb]

23 hours ago, rott said:

Sheryl and spoorn, many thanks for the advice and support. A second blood test gave a reading of 20.4. I have seen Dr Chucheep at BCH and he has me down for a CTH of chest and abdomen a week tomorrow. So we (or I) will see.

I just got back from seeing Dr Chucheep, I rate him very top, for colorectal, however for prostate my Dehli surgeon is way ahead of anything in Bangkok Dr Chuckcheep was asking me about my holep surgery this week and how they did it

 

I do not believe  Devinci prostate surgery can be presently done in thailand, mine to my horror was done under epidural anaesthetic

 

Dr Chucheep is at present urging me to have reversal, and stoma closed, then retrain my bowel, at present I am not sure and sitting on the fence, reversal is two hours surgery vs the original eleven hour surgery

 

I made one mistake on the prostate, I had biopsies from thailand that said, no cancer so I chose Holep surgery, (inside of prostate enlarged by laser,) with hind sight should have had it removed, but bigger and more expensive operation

 

It was only when the removed parts were sent for biopsy that cancer was found

My Dehli surgeon told me this is not uncommon and happens in many cases

 

My MRIs this month were good, more checks and ultrasounds in June

 

PSA again I only talk from personal experience, it is very helpful to have results over a few years and compare trends

My own PSA is again climbing and my prostate cancer still active

 

PM me if you need my phone number always happy to assist others, I have referred three others to India

[spornb]

Some more re MRI s if having done at chulalongkorn, can only get copy CD three days after the event and they will not post, so my wife had to go back to collect, khonkaen to Bangkok return

I keep all my scans and if you wanted an opinon from outside thailand can be sent by uploading onto google drive and downloaded from there, way to big a file to send by email

[Sheryl]

46 minutes ago, spornb said:

I just got back from seeing Dr Chucheep, I rate him very top, for colorectal, however for prostate my Dehli surgeon is way ahead of anything in Bangkok Dr Chuckcheep was asking me about my holep surgery this week and how they did it

 

I do not believe  Devinci prostate surgery can be presently done in thailand, mine to my horror was done under epidural anaesthetic

 

Dr Chucheep is at present urging me to have reversal, and stoma closed, then retrain my bowel, at present I am not sure and sitting on the fence, reversal is two hours surgery vs the original eleven hour surgery

 

I made one mistake on the prostate, I had biopsies from thailand that said, no cancer so I chose Holep surgery, (inside of prostate enlarged by laser,) with hind sight should have had it removed, but bigger and more expensive operation

 

It was only when the removed parts were sent for biopsy that cancer was found

My Dehli surgeon told me this is not uncommon and happens in many cases

 

My MRIs this month were good, more checks and ultrasounds in June

 

PSA again I only talk from personal experience, it is very helpful to have results over a few years and compare trends

My own PSA is again climbing and my prostate cancer still active

 

PM me if you need my phone number always happy to assist others, I have referred three others to India

They do DaVinci prostate surgery at Siriraj.

 

Reversal of colostomy is a very, very simple surgery and no reason not to do it. Why live with a colostomy when you don't have to?

[offset]

48 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

They do DaVinci prostate surgery at Siriraj.

 

Reversal of colostomy is a very, very simple surgery and no reason not to do it. Why live with a colostomy when you don't have to?

They started to do prostate Davince at Siriraj about 11 years ago I got a estimate from there about then and I would have been the first one done there so I did not have it done there

 

I had open surgery at Bumlarad (spelling) which was about 25% cheap at that time

[spornb]

More on Prostate 

 

Interesting Utube, and relevant to prostate

 

 

I hope I am not breaking rules by referencing this

 

It talks about how different ways of surgical treatment of Prostate and how the older ways can give a greater risk of damaging nerves and other things and then can influence erectile disfunction, I personally found it very informative and helpful as a non medical person

 

[spornb]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

They do DaVinci prostate surgery at Siriraj.

 

Reversal of colostomy is a very, very simple surgery and no reason not to do it. Why live with a colostomy when you don't have to?

They do DaVinci prostate surgery at Siriraj.

 

Interesting, I was not aware of this, however I still prefer to have it done where it is very common, in India the cost was advantageous, I pay all my own bills

 

Reversal of colostomy is a very, very simple surgery and no reason not to do it. Why live with a colostomy when you don't have to?

 

When I knew I was going to have a colostomy I was very upset, and still do not like it

 

But then life is a compromise

 

On other forums cancer and related, I have read many horrors and problems on reversal

I have made no decision

I have consulted other colorectal surgeons for opinions

 

Dr Chucheep talked about retraining my bowel, well before all of this I had some problems there occasionally, like three or four times a year, and would be worried about retraining; my sphincter is working and I can feel it

I know he wants to do it and I joke with him he just wants to show his students again about how good he is ! I have a very high level of trust in this man he also says he knows how well I investigate and evaluate 

 

A lady from south thailand had similar surgery in USA about the same time as me, and reversal and still has to irrigate daily

If I reverse and it does not work, then another operation to reverse it, and two operations to be back at square one, and then my cancer returns, and if it does I may say no more operations, I am grateful for my life so far, my book is halfway through

 

I am 75 and not strong my legs are going and I have swollen feet, and struggle to walk; I am overweight

 

If I become bed ridden and need nursing, a colostomy bag is a big plus for those nursing

 

Will my cancer come back

 

I have now been diagnosed with skin cancer as well as colorectal and prostate

I believe none of these will be my cause of death

 

I do consider all the associated risks and benefits carefully, risk assessment has always been a big part of my life and I am good at it

 

I know where I am at the moment, if 45 a very different story, I see Dr Chucheep again in June, and I appear to be treated as a local as regards billings, for which I am very grateful

 

My immediate priority is my legs and finding in KhonKaen a nutritionist and agree exactly what I can and can not eat, and persuading my wife, not to constantly feed me snacks

 

I am also wondering about glutin and its effects on me

 

So far this year we have done 4 weeks on cruise ships and plan four more next year for my 75 birthday, and my wifes 44 a few days away from mine

 

Or spend more time in hospital !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!But still a difficult choice

[rott]

On 12/13/2019 at 7:59 PM, Sheryl said:

Keep us posted.

 

Did he review the CD of your colonoscopy?

Sheryl you were right again about the CEA reading. The CT scan showed nothing, well other than the diverticuli that I was already aware of and do not appear to be causing any problems. The doctor (not Chucheep who passed me on to an associate at the first consultation) said he does not know any reason why the CEA should be so high. This of course does not solve my original concern about the diarrhoea but I am much happier to live with that than any of the cancers which were possible.

 

BCH was fine except for the aircon which appears to be set to sub-arctic, especially in the X-ray room where it was a battle not to shiver like a jelly. The admin and procedural systems could possibly do with sorting out as there is a certain amount of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Not all the staff are near to fluent in English which does not help, but this is not too surprising as they do not seem to have many farang patients. In three visits I did not see one. But I asked for an appointment which I got promptly, the scan was advised which I also had promptly, plus a happy conclusion so all's well at the end of the day.

 

Thanks again to Sheryl and spornb.

 

 

[Sheryl]

4 hours ago, rott said:

Sheryl you were right again about the CEA reading. The CT scan showed nothing, well other than the diverticuli that I was already aware of and do not appear to be causing any problems. The doctor (not Chucheep who passed me on to an associate at the first consultation) said he does not know any reason why the CEA should be so high. This of course does not solve my original concern about the diarrhoea but I am much happier to live with that than any of the cancers which were possible.

 

BCH was fine except for the aircon which appears to be set to sub-arctic, especially in the X-ray room where it was a battle not to shiver like a jelly. The admin and procedural systems could possibly do with sorting out as there is a certain amount of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Not all the staff are near to fluent in English which does not help, but this is not too surprising as they do not seem to have many farang patients. In three visits I did not see one. But I asked for an appointment which I got promptly, the scan was advised which I also had promptly, plus a happy conclusion so all's well at the end of the day.

 

Thanks again to Sheryl and spornb.

 

 

Glad all is well.

 

I did not realize you were having diarrhea. Any sort of inflammatory condition in the bowel, like IBS, or infection, can elevate the CEA.

[rott]

Sheryl I told the two doctors about the diarrhoea, one was more interested in whether I had been constipated (a resounding no). But like I say it is done, possibly an expensive exercise though at least I am sure my internal organs are normal and tumour free.

[law ling]

Bangkok-Pattaya Hosp used to allow just having the PSA blood test, so it was about an hour wait and about B1,000.

 

Now they insist I see I see a doctor before and after the test - doubling or more the time and cost.

 

I stick with them though, as I've heard it's best to use the same facilities for regular testing: as different places may have differently calibrated machines - but that may just be an old wives' tale.

[Sheryl]

7 minutes ago, law ling said:

Bangkok-Pattaya Hosp used to allow just having the PSA blood test, so it was about an hour wait and about B1,000.

 

Now they insist I see I see a doctor before and after the test - doubling or more the time and cost.

 

I stick with them though, as I've heard it's best to use the same facilities for regular testing: as different places may have differently calibrated machines - but that may just be an old wives' tale.

 

Differences in calibration will be reflected in the Reference Range (normal range) given by each lab which do differ slightly.

 

In Pattaya you can get a PSA on demand at this lab:

 

http://lifecare.siam2web.com/

[offset]

1 hour ago, law ling said:

Bangkok-Pattaya Hosp used to allow just having the PSA blood test, so it was about an hour wait and about B1,000.

 

Now they insist I see I see a doctor before and after the test - doubling or more the time and cost.

 

I stick with them though, as I've heard it's best to use the same facilities for regular testing: as different places may have differently calibrated machines - but that may just be an old wives' tale.

I had a test done in 2 different hospitals on the same morning and got different results one was nearly 2 times as high as the other result but was on very low readings

[law ling]

23 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

Differences in calibration will be reflected in the Reference Range (normal range) given by each lab which do differ slightly.

 

In Pattaya you can get a PSA on demand at this lab:

 

http://lifecare.siam2web.com/

Thanks for that Sheryl. Much appreciated.

[bloody tiger]

interesting article from January 2020 on how much easier cancer detection may become.
https://www.labroots.com/trending/clinical-and-molecular-dx/16505/laser-microchip-picks-cancer-markers-urine

Edited March 10, 2020 by bloody tiger
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