It’s been a month since my second trans-rectal prostate biopsy.  Suffice to say, it is not a pleasant procedure.  The side effects can be shocking, and in rare cases, even fatal.  And that’s not even considering the worry about a biopsy result positive for prostate cancer.  I wrote about the risks here- https://www.prostatebiopsyblog.com/prostate-biopsy-recovery-side-effects-complications .

I am glad to say that I did not get an infection and that no cancer was found.  The blood in my stool lasted only a day or two and even the traces of blood in my urine were gone in a few days.  I did have blood in my semen for almost a month, declining from solid blood red color at first to a trace of pink after a few weeks.  The worry about the results lasted a very long three weeks until I received “the call”.

One thing I do know, I have a small benign tumor or lesion in my prostate based on my 3T MRI.  So, I will not be waiting another 10 years until I seek another MRI or one of the newer blood/urine tests for prostate cancer.  Even though no cancer was detected, I consider myself on active surveillance.  The team that did my MRI and biopsy at the NIH/NCI is advancing the technology. I’m hoping that within a few years there will be even better non-invasive tests and treatments, if necessary!