Your Urologist felt a “suspicious lump” and wants to schedule you for a prostate biopsy. Two emotions come to the forefront….anxiety and fear. The source of these emotions are from the unknown- not knowing what expect during the procedure and not wanting to know the results. Here is a link to the original article: “FAQs to Help Overcome Your Fears of a Prostate Biopsy.” Here is a list of things to ask your physician to help alleviate some of this anxiety and fear.
- How is the prostate biopsy performed? Knowing what to expect going in, will help to easy your anxiety of what’s to come.
- Is the procedure painful? Knowing you pain tolerance, this would also be a good time to ask about plans to reduce your pain.
- What are the risks of a prostate biopsy? All procedures come with some risk…knowing this ahead of time will prepare you for what’s to come.
- Can a prostate biopsy rule out cancer? Yes, but keep in mind that a negative biopsy is not necessarily a guarantee of being cancer free. It is possible to miss tumor cells with the biopsy needles.
- What do I need to know in order to understand my biopsy result? Your Gleason Score is determined by the pathologist after looking at your biopsy slides, and it is a measure of how aggressive you tumor is likely to be.
Receiving the answers to your questions and concerns before your biopsy is the best way to prepare and reduce your fears about the procedure.