Blood Test Results - Have a question
 

Hi All.

Alan just came back from Dr. Fred.

They reviewed his blood test from last week.

His B-12 was 1001 (and he stopped taking my Methyl B-12 last month because "It's not doing anything for me". I can only imagine what my level will be when I go for my blood tests).

His triglicerides are 251 (down from 332 from 3 months ago). His cholesterol is 228, up from 196 from 3 months ago. Dr. Fred told Alan that his cholesterol is going up because he has not been to the gym in over 3 months.Alan could not exercise because of the foot ulcer. Tomorrow he goes back to his gym (but not on any treamills or foot stuff). Just weights I guess.

His total Protein is 9.0 (Dr. Fred says this is because he is on IVIG).

Now here is where I get fidgety. His PSA readings.

in 2003, it was 0.89
8/23/06, it was 2.51
11/08/06, it was 2.41
2/21/07 it was 2.69
5/30/07 it was 2.94
8/23/07 it is 3.38.

Dr. Fred said "when you come back in November, if it goes over 4.0, I'll send you to a urologist"

I read on the internet that men over 50, well their PSA can be elevated. He is not in any danger zone, I know this. He is also 60. Could this be the reason that it's been steadily increasing.

Is there anything he can do or take to get it down?? He has no trouble urinating whatsoever and he does not get up all night long and pee (like my cousin who takes pills for his prostate). I never questioned him what these pills are.

Can the IVIG have anything to do with the increased PSA levels.

I don't want to start being a worry wart here.

Dr. Fred told Alan, "not to worry, we are watching this".

Thanks if anyone can answer my questions.

Prostate problems
 

Hi Melody:

There is a lot of good clear information about prostate problems on the Internet.

Shirley H.

Yeah, I know. I'm just being a wife!!! lol

I also was trying to find out if IVIG can affect PSA readings. There is no information on that anywhere. At least Dr. Fred told Alan that his protein number was a result of the IVIG.

Mel

Mel
 

Has Alan had that test where you pee in big jug for i forget how long,you
keep it in fridge,until the amount of time is up..Sorry have concussion
and a beautifull black eye,hard to see...So if i haven't explained this right
everybody feel free to jump in..Oh no pee burning,maybe cranberry jucie
in bottle during,his gym class????:wink: Sue ouch that hurt...

Sue:

Who said anything about pee burning, ouch, or anything??? Oh have a concussion and a black eye?? You poor thing.

He has no problems at all. I was just questioning the fact that his PSA numbers keeping getting a bit higher and higher.

He pees perfectly fine, (and no, they never made him pee in any cup and keep it in the fridge). He is not up all night peeing.

I was just wondering why a man's PSA reading can go from 0.89 (in 2003) to 3.38 in 2007????

Maybe it's because he is now in his 60's?? I looked it up on the internet and it says that PSA levels can be elevated after a man turns 50. I guess we've been lucky for 10 years??? lol

Melody

This is another place where the lizajane charts can come in handy. I have read that it is the rate of change of PSA that istelling, not the absolute numbers. All men's psa goes up over the years, it's just that if the rate of going up changes, doctors get alert.

So if you chart them, assuming that the first test, which you just called 2003, was in feb, it would look like this:

8/03.............8/06.............2/07.............5/07.........................8/07
0.89........... 2.51............. 2.69.............2.9............................3. 38

.....................60%.............34%......... 37%......................... 60%

From 2003 to 2006, they went up at an average of 43%/year. Then for the next 14 months, at 34%, the next three at 37, the next 3 at 60. But in general, the test is just done once year, so if you take out the early 2007 numbers, and assume we are working with all numbers in August, then, from 2003-2006 the avg was 60%, from 2006 - 2007, it was up 35%.

8/2003'...................... 8/23/2006.......................... 8/23/2007
0.89............................ 2.51.....................................3.38
......................................60%......... ..........................35%
So if you just look at it by year, the rate of increase is not changing upwards.

Anybody else want to take this on? I am really terrible at math, and can easily have made major errors in thinking and calculating here.

Anybody think the rate of change idea is wrong? I don't know where I read that or how long ago.

Which reminds me, why am I doing this rather than going to sleep? I dont' know nearly enough about the subject.

I just know the lizajane charts.

ok, g'night folks.

From what I've been finding this morning--
 

--in the recent research, the doctor is well within the clinical guidelines by currently engaging in "watchful waiting" until the PSA goes above 4.

Considering that almost anything that irritates the prostate in men can cause the PSA to rise--and that Alan has certainly had issues with autoimmune inflammation--if the numbers continue to rise at the rate they are now, it would probably be worth it for him to have an ultrasound of the area.

Analyses like this one are pretty typical of what I've found:

http://www.urologystein.com/psa.shtml

There are some dissenting viewpoints like this one (but even most of these find levels below 10 to be only "moderately elevated"):

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/f.../Detection/PSA

As Liza Jane notes, the rate of increase--termed the "velocity"--is important, though apparently more predictive in those with already diagnosed prostate cancer.

Another possibility (you can mention) here is have Alan's free PSA measured along with the total PSA--elevated free PSA compared to total PSA (the ratio is often reported) is more likely indicative of a benign conditions such as prostatitis or benign enlargement.

Wow, now I'm learning all stuff about Prostate.

I wonder what I'll be learning about in 5 years. That is, by the grace of the Lord, that we'll both be here in 5 years.

I wonder, does a man (as he ages), have to EVER and ALWAYS have prostate problems?

Can it ever be that as a man ages, (maybe his genes play a part, or good habits, I don't know), but has it ever happened that a man lived to the ripe old age of let's say 85 or so and has NOTHING wrong with him??

My uncle is now 90. At 89 he started to have prostate problems. Actually his health went downhill after he collapsed at the job he had until he was 86. He worked on oil trucks. That's right... Oil Trucks. Until he was 86.

He saved his money, but he wanted to work. So he worked until he was 86. When he could no longer work, he fell apart and everything happened to him.

So is this a "man gets older, and he has to have prostate problems", or can some guys just grow old and just get older?

Just a curious question, my dear Glenntaj. lol

Mel

Good Go Glenn! :)

((((((((((shiney sue)))))))))))

My gosh, that was shocking to read! What has happened to you?

I sure hope you are resting easy and beginning to heal!

(((((((((((shiney sue))))))))))))

Hi Melody,

Two things come to mind in terms of Alan... one is that the holistic M.D. I saw tries to keep her patients' B12 level above 1200. But I realize that if Alan doesn't want to take it, he won't.

And second, I've lost ten inches around my waist on 3 minutes of exercise a day... which is either on my Gazelle or walking around my garden. So the huge amounts of exercise time people on telly tell us we need, well they may not be correct.

Hi Consider:

The day I lose 10 inches around my waist from only 3 minutes of exercise a day, I'll call up Richard Simmons and take him out to dinner.

Your results are absolutely mind boggling.

Years ago, (and I mean years ago), I went on this diet, really really strict. Gave up everything for one month. I just walked at night with my neighbor who was 50 lbs overweight.

We walked and we walked for one hour every single night.

I ate protein, lean this, lean that. BUT!!! I was also on oral diabetes meds. Lots of them.

I didn't lose a darn thing. Got so frustrated, I went back to chips and dips at night.

Very frustrating when you do what you are supposed to do and nothing works.

But ever since I am on the Lantus and I eat extremely healthy, no refined sugars, no sugars at all, well, I dropped the weight. My body also changed.

Heavy people really never look at their bodies by the way. All these Angelinas, and Jennifer Love Hewitts, well, they can do their bra commercials and put on their bikinis and look at themselves in the mirrior, but heavy people don't. They just put on clothes, hope that nothing is bulging and mostly, concentrate on their face and makeup. All my friends are like this, and so was I. I would pass a mirror and never look into it. Because I knew what I would look like.

I can laugh about it now. Oh, this is a funny story. When I was 24, I lost 85 lbs. My first successful weight loss story. My first serious boyfriend, my first everything. But I did this in 5 months. I went from being really overweight, to looking like Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. Really changed my looks.

So there I was one day, walking past a storefront with a mirror and I said to myself "oh who is that girl, what a nice outfit she has on". Guess who it was?? ME!!! I had no idea what I really looked like because I never paid attention to my body. So when I lost all the weight really really fast, and put some outfit on that my mother had purchased for me, it still didn't click in my head, that I was the person in the mirror who just walked by. This is not an uncommon thing among formerly overweight people.

And one day, I was laying on the couch, and I felt a bony something. I started to go "oh my god, what is this thing?" It was my hip bone. I had never felt my hip bone before.

And shortly after that I went to my doctor for a checkup. I will never forget his face. After listening to my lungs he goes "very good, very good, how do you feel? and I said 'well, I have this hard thing in my torso, what is this thing?" and he goes "what do you mean, you have this hard thing on your torso?" and I put his hand and he burst out laughing and he goes "melody, that's one of your ribs".

You see, I had never felt my ribs before.

This happend years ago. I have gained and lost millions of pounds since I was 24. But now, I believe I have a mental handle on my over-eating.

I'm feeling lots of things these days.

lol
Melody

lol

For one thing, I bet you weren't as heavy as me.

:)

For another, I bet you were able to be more active. I was in bed for nearly two years ... and now I'm up more but not all the time by any means.

I think the trick is to do three minutes more than you were doing before.

And I think it's ridiculous to push to the limits in the beginning and that way the body sets that as the norm...

I like my body having a low norm for exercise... and I'm glad it works.

Now... to read the rest of your post. :)

lol again...

re your strict diet and sitting with your friend... it proves my point.

LOL

Did you ever look at my weight loss pages... they describe an almost identical thing.

What happens, I think, is our metabolisms are way tuned in to inertia : objects in motion tend to remain in motion, and vice versa.

So when we jump right into a strict diet and masses of exercise, our bodies don't change our metabolism nearly as fast. So it's disappointing.

So, 3 minutes a day works fine till our bodies get settled in, I think in the diet world it's called reaching a plateau.

:)

As an aside, where were you going to get Richard Simmons' phone number? Does he advertise?

lol re the bones...

I remember similar experiences... though I knew they were my bones and didn't have to ask a doctor.

I think another thing that's a problem with weight loss is... I don't know exactly how to categorize this, but when I was getting my solar in, for instance, I did a lot of work... I painted a lot and straightened the house up... with a lot of rest between minutes of work.

But mostly I noticed that when I was painting I'd sort of force myself to stick with it a minute past the beginning of the pain... etc.

And so I thought that with all the time out of bed and working I'd lose masses of weight.

Nope.

Not at all.

So I think that when we do things where we are forcing ourselves to complete something despite pain, that we somehow turn off our metabolism as we try to ignore the pain.

And when our metabolism isn't working, we aren't losing weight.

Three minutes a day, Melody.

If the people you described in the cranes did three minutes a day, and I realize they'd have to work up to that much, the way that I did, they'd lose the weight too.

But when someone is as overweight as I was, two pounds a week doesn't make a visible difference for months and months.

On the other hand, my body has the time to firm up my skin and not leave me with a bloodhound body (full of loose skin).

:)

Consider:

Almost 35 years ago, my friend Diane had the first gastro-bypass operation. It was the original one. She weighed almost 600 lbs. We used to go into work together on the express bus. We became friends. She told me "people think I have a thyroid condition, but no, it's all eating" and I said 'what do you mean it's all eating?" and she said "when you go to a birthday party, you eat one or two pieces of cake, me??? I'll eat the whole cake". I said "Oh,"

She couldnt find socks to fit her in the winter. She went to work in anklets. I never forgot her. She married a man named Rick and had a child. No one knew she was pregnant because you couldn't tell.

So she finally had the gastro operation and she lost weight. She lost over 200 lbs. I will never forget the day I met up with her on the train. Do you know what a person who weighs over 500 lbs, and then loses 250 lbs. Well, do you know what the skin looks like? She was so happy she lost the weight that she wore pink pants and a sleeveless top. Of course I knew why she wore it. Because she never could wear that color before. But all the people were staring at her and at me because I'm hugging her and saying "Oh my god, you look terrific" and all they were seeing was the skin. I was just so proud of her.

Well, unfortunately, over the years, she gained it all back. I never knew this could happen. I thought, once you had this surgery, that was it. Thankfully, they have improved it in 30 years and now they have lap band surgery and various others. Thank god, because for many super obese, it's a life saver.

So you keep eating healthy and I will too.

I wish I could find some of my old photos. You'd die laughing.

Mel

Yes, when someone's stomach is reduced to the size of a walnut, it makes for rapid weight loss.

The kind of weight loss I experienced from 3 minutes of exercise a day, and I doubt I will do it today because of the stress, and how that affects my balance for the worse, was very slow. Because it was so slow, my body seems to be firming up my skin.

I had to lose 100 pounds. Before I started losing my skin was nice and tight, it actually looked younger.

I still have another ten inches to lose, and more if I want to eventually get into the outfit I ordered as an inspiration.

I am soooo tired. I haven't been sleeping properly because of the stress, and I'm soooo tired.

Still, it's fun writing. :)

Karen:

Nice talking to you too. Get some rest. And I hope you get into your outfit.

Tonight I am invited around the corner to one of my neighbor's house. They are throwing her a 75th Birthday Party. Wow, 75 years young.

And she weighs 300 lbs. I never talk about her weight. My weight is my concern and everybody elses weight is their concern. She looks great, no wrinkles, nice face. Hope she makes it to 100.

Melody

That sounds like fun!

Yes, weight is a very tricky subject.

I haven't even taken the outfit out of the bag yet. It's been a year since it arrived.

I feel as if I'd fit into it, but that's a delusion.

I just have to stick with this... and it really helps that I can't go out and buy anything else to eat. :)

A lot of people are really pretty and beautiful even though they are heavy.

I'm not one of them, I looked like such a truck. You are beautiful and I bet you've always been. (You look better than Elizabeth Taylor.)

I need to go have a B12 shot, because my tinnitus is starting up and in addition it's getting a bit hard to see. not as clear.

Stressful day... good grief I hope I can keep my house!

Well, it makes me smile to think of you going out to a party this evening. :)

Took me a while to find this again--
 

--you goys starting talking about other things. :)

The short answer to Mel's questoin about the inevitability of prostate trouble is no, it's not something always found in men as they get older, but, like so many conditions, it's more likely the older one gets.

Most men do experience some enlargement of the prostate, especially after 60. This probably wasn't noticed so many generations back, as far fewer people made it to that age. But for most, the enlargment is benign, and often asymptomatic. The most common symptom by far is a change in urinary habits--going more often, and having a more difficult time getting a strong "stream" that completely empties the bladder to start. This can be embarrassing--especially for men who've been teasing women about the common female tendency to go very often (women tend to have smaller bladders to start with)--but there are treatments.

There are sometimes sexual effects of an enlarged prostate--this can be more distrubing than the need to go to the bathroom often. Often, treatments (such as surgery or certain medications) may have more sexual side effects than the condition itself, and that can make men nervous about the treatments.

Here are a few good summary sites:

www.prostatedisease.org

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pro...027/DSECTION=1

Glenn:

Thanks so much. Yeah, we got off track but it's fun for gals to chat about stuff that matters to us also. And believe me, weight matters to us. Too bad it didn't matter 20 or so years ago.

They say wisdom is wasted on the young. Boy, that couldn't be more true. I bet if we all went back in time, we would all wind up doing what Jack Lanne did. And he's 90 or more.

But we move forward.

Alan has no problem going to the bathroom. His stream is just fine. I asked him all the pertinent questions. So as of now, this is just me being a silly willy and all wifey and acting like Lucy Ricardo of I Love Lucy. When all you have is each other, well every little thing matters. And thankfully, it's still below 4.0. I read all the links you gave and I know if there's a problem that might pop up, well our dear Dr. Fred has a good urologist friend.

So as for now, next week, the mysterious Alan, (the one with the original case of PN who never comes on these boards), well he goes back to the gym. We really never thought that might happen with a foot ulcer for 18 months. But it looks good. So we are optimistic.

Last night I went to my friend's 75 birthday party. They served Carvel Ice Cream Cake. I only allow myself to "cheat" for want of a better word, at birthday parties or weddings.

So last night I had my first piece of Carvel Ice Cream Cake in over 20 years.

I cannot tell you what putting that first piece in my mouth did to my brain patterns. Everybody laughed their heads off. I just sat back, looked dreamily and said "oh my god". And believe me, I meant it. You don't know how you miss stuff if you never eat the stuff.

What a treat. Next birthday party is mine on November 4 (hopefully someone will throw me one), never had one before. But I'll be 60.

Oh, last night a man at the party started flirting with me. I said to him, "I'm probably old enough to be your mother". He said "are you kidding, how old are you?" I said: "Give it your best shot". He said "in your forties?? or at the most 50". I burst out laughing and said "soon 60". After his eyes popped, he looked me up and down and said "you look great". I then said "and you". and he said 42.

That was enough for me to feel good and not even think about any more ice cream cake. Wow, maybe when I'm 90, I'll pass for 70????

lol
Melody
P.S. I do thank you for all the helpful stuff you have given me.

Compliments vs. sweets
 

Hi Melody:

How great to get that compliment about how young you look from that man at the party. Amazing how that could keep you from desiring another piece of cake! You look much less than your real age to me too, from your picture! We can all learn from your example of eating right. We should look so good.

Shirley H.

Shirley,

When a man, (ANY MAN), thinks you are younger than your actual age, well, you wouldn't eat another piece of cake, another piece of pizza, or another anything!!!

It's all about staying motivated. I mean, yeah, it's all about health, and being fit, and keeping the weight off, yeah, that plays an important part, don't get me wrong. But nothing works better for a woman's self esteem, than to have a perfect stranger give you a compliment. I never had any of those. Even my family (well, I was always the biggest, tallest one), so I stook out like sore thumb. Then, last year, when I went to family reunion and no one recognized me (or Alan, for that matter), well, they all had gained 50 lbs, and I had lost 50 lbs.

Do you thing anybody in my whole family gave me one word of praise, encouragement, or said 'wow, look at you"?? No, but growing up, I was called Mel-a-Roll, or Melody-Bells, or something not appropriate. It gets to you and you grow up with a lot of low-self esteem issues. It doesn't take a psychiatrist to know that self esteem issues lead to depression which can lead to either over or under eating. It's hard to get the mental thing to click.

But it is fun when a 42 year old man says nice stuff to you. And oh yes, when I met up with Alan at Dunkin Donuts this morning, I told him the whole conversation. He laughed and said "oh, I know you, you ate this up, right". And I said 'absolutely". We can laugh about this because we each know that we trust each other.

And you should see Alan when we are walking in the street and all these people (who I absolutely don't know and can't remember), well I love it when one of them is 6'5 and handsome and he goes "oh hi there". Now I don't know these people from a hole in the wall but I always smile and go "well hi right back at you".

Alan goes "Who is this guy?" and I always go "How am I supposed to know?, you know I can't remember anybody".

We laugh our heads off. (Thank god I can laugh about this). God help me when I"m 70 and I don't even know Alan. lol

Melody