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Fearing chemotherapy

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User
Posted 06 Jan 2015 at 18:30
Have been informed yesterday that my PSa level has increased to 42.5 and Hormone therapy(stilboestrol and zoladex) is no longer working.

My next,and only option I'm told, is Chemotherapy. I'm really terrified at this prospect having read so many negative comments and reports.

Can anyone out there who has had similar diagnosis please give me some information about treatment and side effects they have experienced .

Just don't know where to turn at present,family is distraught .

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 01:07

Alan

 

I've had 20 sessions of Chemo (Docetaxel) in 2 x 10 sessions, spaced a year apart. I'll probably have another 10 and I have no fear of doing so. Some men have a hard time on Chemo and some don't. Docetaxel is probably one of the mildest Chemo treatments out there and I would urge you to consider it in a more favourable light. It was the first treatment in 60 years to extend life for men with advanced prostate cancer (approved by NICE in 2004) and it's kept me going many years past my prognosis http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif. Everone is different but my main side effects were dry mouth, mouth ulcers, crap nails, no eyebrows and a general feeling of "yuk" http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif. This lasted about a week post Chemo then I was back to normal. You can adjust cycles to suit holidays etc. and the only thing that I had to do was to plan around how I would feel.

 

Hope you find this useful http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif

 

PS - I don't see this as your "only" option as you don't mention Abiraterone or Enzalutamide. If you have bone spread you can throw in Radium 223 (Alpharadin) as well!

Edited by member 12 Jan 2015 at 01:11  | Reason: Not specified

Nil desperandum

Allister

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 07:12
Hi Alan, I totally understand your concern, I have them too. My first ever docetaxl is tomorrow, I am more scared of the cannula in my hand than the drug!! (Always been a needle wimp). I am going on chemo at the start of my treatment with Zoladex as they want to hit it hard and fast. The short term side affects sound like an illness in themselves BUT they are only ever short term and I know that I will feel better again. It's only natural for us both to have our personal concerns and believe me that many people are rooting for you from this forum, personally I am focussing on what I will enjoy once the yuk time is over, for me that's running. I will post how it went later this week, I know chemo is a good thing for me. kev

Dream like you have forever, live like you only have today Avatar is me doing the 600 mile Camino de Santiago May 2019

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 19:40

Alan, my father-in-law had chemo at the age of 80 and didn't find it too bad at all. He lost his hair and had problems with his taste buds but he found the hardest part to be my mother-in-law not allowing him to go to the pub or eat shellfish in case he caught any bugs! Like Allister, he learned which days would be the hardest and planned his social life and activities around that. He did lose some weight but put it back on quite quickly after the treatment was finished.

Do remember to cube and freeze some pineapple before the treatment starts - sucking the frozen cubes during infusion is refreshing and also seems to protect your taste buds from the worst of the damage.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 19:56

 

 " My next,and only option I'm told, is Chemotherapy."

 

Like Allister, I don't see any reference to Abiraterone or Enzalutamide. Which are available pre-chemo. But not likely to get both.

 

You don't mention either if there are symptoms such as bone pain or just a rising PSA figure.

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 22:26
Alan

Like the others who have commented I am surprised that chemo is the only treatment on offer, but having said that, we are hoping that we will be starting chemo shortly being in the same position as you are but a lower PSA, but with a Gleason 10. John has started getting substantial pain from his mets so I'm hoping that chemo will make a difference. Funny isn't it? We are quite looking forward to it.

Good luck

Allison

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User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 01:07

Alan

 

I've had 20 sessions of Chemo (Docetaxel) in 2 x 10 sessions, spaced a year apart. I'll probably have another 10 and I have no fear of doing so. Some men have a hard time on Chemo and some don't. Docetaxel is probably one of the mildest Chemo treatments out there and I would urge you to consider it in a more favourable light. It was the first treatment in 60 years to extend life for men with advanced prostate cancer (approved by NICE in 2004) and it's kept me going many years past my prognosis http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif. Everone is different but my main side effects were dry mouth, mouth ulcers, crap nails, no eyebrows and a general feeling of "yuk" http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif. This lasted about a week post Chemo then I was back to normal. You can adjust cycles to suit holidays etc. and the only thing that I had to do was to plan around how I would feel.

 

Hope you find this useful http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif

 

PS - I don't see this as your "only" option as you don't mention Abiraterone or Enzalutamide. If you have bone spread you can throw in Radium 223 (Alpharadin) as well!

Edited by member 12 Jan 2015 at 01:11  | Reason: Not specified

Nil desperandum

Allister

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 07:12
Hi Alan, I totally understand your concern, I have them too. My first ever docetaxl is tomorrow, I am more scared of the cannula in my hand than the drug!! (Always been a needle wimp). I am going on chemo at the start of my treatment with Zoladex as they want to hit it hard and fast. The short term side affects sound like an illness in themselves BUT they are only ever short term and I know that I will feel better again. It's only natural for us both to have our personal concerns and believe me that many people are rooting for you from this forum, personally I am focussing on what I will enjoy once the yuk time is over, for me that's running. I will post how it went later this week, I know chemo is a good thing for me. kev

Dream like you have forever, live like you only have today Avatar is me doing the 600 mile Camino de Santiago May 2019

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 19:40

Alan, my father-in-law had chemo at the age of 80 and didn't find it too bad at all. He lost his hair and had problems with his taste buds but he found the hardest part to be my mother-in-law not allowing him to go to the pub or eat shellfish in case he caught any bugs! Like Allister, he learned which days would be the hardest and planned his social life and activities around that. He did lose some weight but put it back on quite quickly after the treatment was finished.

Do remember to cube and freeze some pineapple before the treatment starts - sucking the frozen cubes during infusion is refreshing and also seems to protect your taste buds from the worst of the damage.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 19:56

 

 " My next,and only option I'm told, is Chemotherapy."

 

Like Allister, I don't see any reference to Abiraterone or Enzalutamide. Which are available pre-chemo. But not likely to get both.

 

You don't mention either if there are symptoms such as bone pain or just a rising PSA figure.

User
Posted 12 Jan 2015 at 22:26
Alan

Like the others who have commented I am surprised that chemo is the only treatment on offer, but having said that, we are hoping that we will be starting chemo shortly being in the same position as you are but a lower PSA, but with a Gleason 10. John has started getting substantial pain from his mets so I'm hoping that chemo will make a difference. Funny isn't it? We are quite looking forward to it.

Good luck

Allison

 
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