Tag: Ga68 PSMA PET Scan

Eleven Years

On By DanIn Prostate Cancer5 Comments

It was eleven years ago today that I received my diagnosis and began this little adventure, and I’m glad that, eleven years later, I’m still here to write about it. Of course, the fact that I’d be writing about it eleven years later never even crossed my mind when I started this little ol’ blog back then. Even so, I’m glad that I’ve kept it going.

On Tuesday, I had my appointment with the urologist to review my latest PSA results. In all honesty, it was probably a waste of both of our time and should have been postponed until after the PSMA PET scan.

Because today is Veterans Day, a federal holiday, they didn’t book any appointments in the clinic for today, so that meant that they overbooked appointments on Tuesday. That meant that the doctor was really pressed for time, and I was okay with keeping the meeting short.

The whole conversation went like this:

Dr.: Hi. What’s the status of the PSMA PET scan?

Me: It’s scheduled on 30 November.

Dr.: How are we going to get the results?

Me: I don’t know. I have to figure that out with UCLA. Not to sound rude, but given how new this is, are you going to know what to do with the results?

Dr. Oh, yeah. Not a problem. You can just hand-carry the results if you want. Everything else okay?

Me: Yep. Fine. So if the PSMA scan shows the cancer is still in the prostate bed, and given my PSA doubling time is 45 months, what do you see as the next step?

Dr.: Radiation. (Said without a hint of hesitancy.)

Me: Uh, okay.

And that was basically the conversation, with a few other minor details and questions not worthy of putting in writing. I don’t think she picked up on my reluctance to get zapped or, if she did, it was something that she, as the physician, wanted to overrule.

We agreed to schedule a follow-up in January with another PSA test in advance of the meeting and, hopefully, with the PSMA PET scan results in hand for all. For some reason, they get slammed just before and after the holidays, and the first available appointment was 8 February. I’m generally okay with that, but if the scan and the early January PSA tests reveal something compelling, I’ll try to reschedule sometime earlier.

So that’s about how I expected the appointment to go (even without the rushing).

Oh. I almost forgot. I’m now retired from work! Woo-hoo!

Yes, I took the leap, perhaps a little sooner than I expected, but that’s okay. I added everything up and it was just time.

I’ll be 64 years old in January, and there isn’t a whole lot of longevity in our family. Dad died at 69; his mom died at 69; and mom died at 73. I can’t say that the past is prologue, but you get the picture. As cliché as it is, tomorrow isn’t promised and, after 40+ years in the workforce, I wanted to reserve my tomorrows for me. Selfish, I know. 😄

Given where I’m at in my cancer journey, I also wanted to use as many good tomorrows as I can before radiation, hormone therapy, or the disease itself turns them into bad tomorrows.

Finally, frustration at work exceeded fun and rewards, so that was another good indicator that it was time to start the next chapter of my life.

My last day was 29 October, so I’m still adapting, trying to find a new routine. (It’s challenging going from 100 m.p.h. to zero!) I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I have another trip in the near future, and I’m excited about that.

So that’s it for this post.

Be well!

Month 131 – Biding Time

On By DanIn imaging, Prostate CancerLeave a comment

There’s really not much to report this month other that I’m simply biding time until the PSMA PET scan at UCLA on 30 November 2021.

I did receive confirmation that the doctor put in the order for the basic metabolic panel test and another PSA test, so I may get those knocked out this week to make sure they go well. I have to bring a hardcopy print out of the BMP test results to the scan, so better to get it done early to make sure that I can have a copy made available. If I can’t print it out on my own, then I’ll ask for it to be available during my appointment with the doctor on 9 November. (That was my next regularly scheduled appointment. I had hoped we would be discussing the PSMA PET scan results by then, but that’s not meant to be.)

Work will be keeping me extraordinarily busy through mid-December so, in a way, that’s a plus. It should keep my mind off of all of this. I just need to make sure that work takes a back seat to any appointments or tests.

On an unrelated note, I was able to get my seasonal flu shot and my Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot last week. I did take them together and felt a little wonky for about 36 hours (fatigued, felt as though I had a temperature but didn’t). Who knows whether it was the flu shot or the booster that caused that (or both), but it really doesn’t matter. I’m better and I’m better protected.

So that’s about it for this post. More to come…

Be well!

Day 3,968 – Logjam Broken?

On By DanIn imaging, Prostate Cancer3 Comments

The administrative logjam between VA Medical Center San Diego and UCLA may have been broken this morning.

Yesterday, I called UCLA to see if they could access my health record through the Veterans Health Information Exchange, and the short answer was “no.” While I had them on the phone, I asked if they would accept printouts of my medical records from me and, again, the short answer was “no.” They had to come from the doctor’s office. Ugh.

Not being one to always listen to what I’m told, I went ahead and sent my demographics and insurance information to UCLA on my own. I also hopped onto the VA website and submitted my official Request for Authorization to Release Health Information form so they could send my medical records to UCLA.

Within about an hour and a half of submitting the request, I had a call from the woman processing it. She had a couple of questions that I answered. “Great. I’ll fax this to them right now.” That was not the response I was expecting. I thought the VA would take 3-5 business days to pull the records and send them.

When I spoke with UCLA on Monday, they did mention how slammed they are with requests for PSMA PET scans, and that it may take a few days to process the paperwork on their end once it was received. I’ll give a call on Thursday or Friday to follow up and see if they have everything they need. With luck, they will and we’ll be able to get the scan on the calendar.

The scheduler said they were currently scheduling for late November right now.

Fingers crossed that everything will be in order and I’ll be able to get a scan on the calendar.

More to come…

Be well!

Day 3,943 – Referral Ping-Pong

On By DanIn imaging1 Comment

Well, that was disappointing.

UCLA did, in fact, receive the referral form from my doctor at San Diego VA Medical Center, but it was incomplete. They sent it back to be filled out correctly this time because they can’t schedule the scan without all the information.

You know me… Of course, I sent an email to my buddy at the VA informing him of the situation and asking him to advise me when the corrected, fully completed of the form is returned to UCLA. We’ll see how that goes.

The saga continues…

Have a great weekend and be well!

Day 3,941 – VA and UCLA

On By DanIn imaging, Prostate Cancer2 Comments

Progress. Slow, steady progress.

I received an email today confirming that the urologist had received, completed, and returned the referral form back to UCLA. They asked me to follow up with UCLA Department of Nuclear Medicine to confirm they received it. Gladly.

I called their scheduling office this afternoon to do just that but, unfortunately, my referral wasn’t in the system yet. I checked the time on the email I received, and it was only about two hours before I called UCLA, so that kind of makes sense. She said that it can take 24 to 48 hours to get the referral into the system.

The scheduler said that they’d review the referral, place the order for the 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET scan, and then call to schedule it. Right now, they’re scheduling in late October unless there’s a cancellation that I might be able to take advantage of.

On the one hand, I’m perfectly fine taking the ignorance-is-bliss mode of not rushing to this (considering my long PSA doubling time); but on the other, I want to get this going and find out what the next step will be. Right now, the primary thing on my mind is planning my next vacation.

I’ll call again on Friday to see if my referral landed in the system, and we’ll go from there.

That’s the latest in this odyssey.

Be well!

Day 3,939 – UCLA Referral Update 2

On By DanIn imaging, Prostate Cancer4 Comments

Just a quick update to yesterday’s post…

I called the UCLA scheduling office and explained the situation to the scheduler, and she thought that it was odd that the referral form wasn’t sent to my urologist for the referral. In any case, it took a whopping 5 minutes and 54 seconds—including navigating the phone menu tree, waiting for “the next available operator,” and the discussion—to hopefully break the logjam.

I called the doctor’s office and emailed him to let him know that he should be on the lookout for the faxed referral form. We’ll see what happens next—and when.

Be well!

Day 3,938 – UCLA Referral Update

On By DanIn imaging, Prostate CancerLeave a comment

I grew a little impatient with my team at the San Diego VA Medical Center not providing any information about the referral for the PSMA PET scan at UCLA since our consult on 3 August, so I sent them an email at the end of the week asking for an update.

This morning, the doctor that I had for the consult—the one who thought this was a good idea and who seemed eager to get it scheduled—reported that UCLA has yet to send him the form that he needs to do the referral. He didn’t exactly say when it was that he asked, but he did say that he would follow up with them tomorrow.

He gave me their fax number, so I, too, will give UCLA’s Department of Nuclear Medicine a call tomorrow to see what needs to be done to get them off the dime and to send the referral form.

That’s about it for now. More to come, I’m sure.

On an unrelated note, my bonkers incontinence issues have calmed considerably, but not quite back to where I can go without pads yet. Not sure what that was all about.

Be well!

Day 3,906 – UCLA PSMA Update

On By DanIn imaging, Prostate CancerLeave a comment

It’s been a week since I submitted the form on the UCLA website for a referral for the PSMA PET scan, and I hadn’t heard anything back, so I called them this morning.

When I mentioned that I submitted the form about a week ago, the agent said, “Oh. Yeah. We can’t book appointments using the form on our website. We need to take that down.” Uh. Okay. Good to know.

To schedule the PSMA scan:

  • The referring physician needs to call the scheduling number: +1 310-794-1005.
  • UCLA Nuclear Medicine will fax a referral form to the doctor to complete and return.
  • It will take 24-48 hours to process the returned form.
  • They’ll work with the patient to select a date for the scan.

They are currently scheduling appointments in September, so there’s a bit of a delay which isn’t all that surprising.

Now all I have to do is convince my doctor at the VA to go through the process once we get the bone scan results back. I’m not sure how that will go, but you can bet I’ll push pretty hard to make it happen.

If they insist on doing the Axumin scan at the VA first, I guess I’m okay with that. But if that comes back negative, I’ll really press for the PSMA PET scan. I’m just not all that keen on having all this radioactive juice injected in me over the course of a few weeks.

We’ll see how things go.

Be well!

Day 3,900 – Requested Info from UCLA on PSMA PET Imaging

On By DanIn imaging, Prostate Cancer2 Comments

Just a quick update…

This morning, I went onto the UCLA website and filled out the form to request more information about the Ga68 PSMA PET scan and perhaps even schedule an appointment with them. We’ll see how long it takes for them to respond. I’m gue$$ing it may be pretty quickly as they want to get more people using their test and facility. Ju$t a hun¢h.

“Cynic, table for one. Cynic.”

That contrast used in the CT scan yesterday really kicked my butt. The juice was injected into me shortly after 2 p.m., and as I was heading to bed around 9 p.m., I could still feel some of the side effects from it.

I did drink a lot of liquids to help purge it from my system and that translated into multiple runs to the toilet through the night last night. Oh well. It all caught up with me around 2 p.m. this afternoon when my ability to focus just ran head-on into a brick wall. I hung it up at the office and came home.

I just checked for the scan results online, and nothing posted yet. I suspect it will be on the weekend that I’ll be able to see them. Of course, they’re usually written in such a away that a lay person has trouble comprehending what’s on the page. We’ll give it a try, though, when the time comes.

That’s about it for today. Hopefully, the next post has news about the PSMA test or the CT scan results, or both.

Until then, be well!

Day 3,895 – Insurance Update

On By DanIn Prostate Cancer, Recurrence, TreatmentLeave a comment

I just received a quick update from my health insurance company regarding coverage of the Ga68 PSMA PET scan at UCLA—the quick turnaround surprised me. It appears to be good news, but it was a little squishy, so I had to ask for confirmation of a few things.

In their email to me, they listed the contractual amount that they would pay out for each CPT code that I gave them, but that’s all they said. It sort of implies that I’m covered, but it doesn’t say so explicitly. Needless to say, when dealing with insurance companies, I want things to be very explicit without any loopholes.

I just sent them and email asking them to:

  • Confirm that I am covered under my employer-provided healthcare plan.
  • Confirm whether or not UCLA Department of Nuclear Medicine is considered to be in-network or out-of-network (different deductibles).

Hopefully, I get that confirmation early next week and can share the information with my doctor.

More to come…

Be well!