A few year's ago, my doctor began sending me off every year for a PSA test. I couldn’t understand why someone who had no history of prostate cancer on either side of his family would need such a thing but she insisted and I’ve learned to respect her advice so I relented. In November 2007 I went for my yearly physical and again I got a PSA test but this time something was different. It was high, so high in fact that she shipped me off to a specialist who started testing me for various things and when he’d ruled out everything but the worst he sent me off for a biopsy. To make a long story short I had prostate cancer. I was in the hospital getting it removed within six months. It is now a year after my surgery and I’m cancer free. The reason I’m cancer free is I got it so early. Why? I was warned about this ticking time bomb by the PSA test my doctor insisted on. Doctors often use the PSA test and DRE (digital rectal exam) as prostate cancer screening tests; together, these tests can help doctors detect prostate cancer in men who have no symptoms of the disease. If you’re over 50 and you're male, these simple tests can save your life. Again, what have you got to lose?