What just happened
Two appointments today. First, the biopsy consult with Dr. Glickman, the urologist. Then a walk-in at Dr. Nolan's office (my primary care doc) to put the clearance physical I need before the biopsy on the calendar.
Both on the same day. 7 blocks separate them.
What's on the books
The biopsy approach. Transperineal, MRI-fusion targeted. The needle goes in from below instead of through the bowel wall, which drops the infection risk a lot. The MRI gets overlaid on a live ultrasound during the procedure, so the needles can be steered straight at the suspicious area. About 4 to 5 samples from the lesion, plus 12 from the rest of the gland, under sedation. Results come back five to seven days later.
The dates. Biopsy is set for May 29. I'm on the waitlist for May 15 or May 20 if a cancellation opens up. The bottleneck is the clearance form from Dr. Nolan — it has to be at Dr. Glickman's office before they'll commit to a sooner date.
The clearance physical. Booked for Wednesday, May 6 at 12:30 PM with Dr. Nolan. He may fit me in this Thursday or Friday if the week thins out.
What this does/does not....mean
The biopsy itself was already decided in the last update. What's new is the how and the when. The transperineal-with-fusion route is what Sloan and the other big centers do, so the choice itself isn't one I'm second-guessing.
What it doesn't mean: I still don't have answers. The biopsy is the test that tells me whether there's cancer and, if there is, how aggressive it looks under a microscope (the Gleason score). That's the next real piece of information. Everything between now and the result is paperwork.
Clearance physical May 6. Sooner if a slot opens. Form back to Manuel, Dr. Glickman's scheduler, the same day. Biopsy May 15 or 20 if I can pull it forward, May 29 otherwise. Five to seven days after that, the call.
More when there's more to share.