My dad has been diagnosed at the age of 58

Thanks a lot for your response. Clears up a lot of confusions. The hormone that he has been prescribed is leoprolide acetate 22.5 mg every 3 months. Now that you have mentioned that a 3 months delay in start of radiations therapy is actually beneficial, it is a bit of a relief.

I have two more questions. There are still 10-15 days untill he gets his first hormone dose. Is it too late considering the gleason score is 8 right now? Doc says Pca grows very slowly but I'm still concerned lest it spreads even before the treatment starts?!

Also he's experiencing a lot of pain in rectal and pelvic area despite no bone invasion. Does HT acts to reduce the pain as well?

Thanks 

You might want to ask them to confirm this - it is double the recommended dose. I am a cynic; in your country would a higher dose cost more? 

The 3 month wait should not concern you; the purpose is to reduce the size of his prostate so that it is easier to zap. The medics are also probably hoping that he will get off the catheter as

1. it is more difficult to give RT with a catheter in ... he needs a full bladder during each fraction (session) and

2. RT can make urinary retention worse. 

Edited by member 02 Jun 2019 at 14:51  | Reason: Not specified

Zain

I had a supra pubic catheter fitted prior to RT as insurance against an on going stricture causing retention. He could have a flip flo valve fitted to his urethral catheter and simply turn the tap off to fill his bladder prior to each session. It would be important to make sure the tap is closed before each session so the bladder has a similar amount of urine in it for the RT treatment.

Thanks Chris

The concern right now or atleast untill the treatment starts, is the pelvic pain. Bone scan shows no tumor in the bone still he cannot sit upright. Currently we are on diclofenac for pain relief but the effect is very temporary.

Also, bone scan showed a little hold up of radioactive tracer in right kidney. Does this mean the tumor has traveled to the kidney or the prostate itself is pressing on it due to swelling? 

Zain

I am currently on anti biotics for a catheter related infection, it does cause discomfort across the whole pelvic area, not had enough for needing pain killers. In the UK we have a couple of gels for catheter use, they are instilagel and hydrocaine , they contain lubricant, antiseptic and local anesthetic, when I had a urethral catheter I would squeeze some gel down the eye of the penis at the side of the catheter. A large catheter can be particularly uncomfortable bit like a nagging toothache. Hope  you find a resolution soon.

Thanks Chris

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully the upcoming MRI will make things more clear.. 

The pain is getting worse day by day. We are done with MRI and the results are due on Saturday. We have been visiting multiple urologists etc to seek their opinion on pain but no use.

Did anyone else experience any such condition? Is prostate cancer really this painful considering there is no metastasis in the bones shown by bone scan?! 

Ultrasound showed a mild hydronephrosis in right kidney but does it really cause this much pain which is so spread out in the whole pelvis? We have had a urine culture as well as to see if catheter related infection is the cause, waiting for its results. He is also feeling very week and low on energy as is totally bed ridden and doesn't walk around much.

Please guide and help if you can! 

No there isn't. The pain actually increased dramatically after TRUS biopsy.

To be honest i think biosy related infection or a urinary tract infection is the cause since he has a foley catheter on for about 2 months now. 

Sorry to hear of your fathers problems and hope all comes out for the best. 

I assume he has had the results of his MRI now, but with low PSA, clear bone scan and, though a higher Gleeson score than you would like, he seems to be in a strong place for successful treatment options.

I too was diagnosed at the age of 58, Stage T3a, PSA 13, Gleeson 7 (3-4) and 7 out of 10 samples came back positive (70%). Finally went with HDR Brachy combined with 6 months hormone therapy and 23 doses of external radiotherapy afterwards.

Almost 2 years on I have not had any incontinence issues at all, erection disappeared after 4 months but returned after 15 months with help from Viagra and pump. Pump no longer needed and Viagra down to 25 mg from 100mg now.

I am still working, get much more tired these days, but only later in the day. Other than that seem to be pretty fit. My PSA is slowly dropping, taken 2 years but now finally at 0.1 (Feb 2019).

Good luck and hope all goes well for your father.

I was diagnosed and confirmed with Aggressive Prostate Cancer T3 Gleason scale was either 5-4 or 4-5 cannot remember which way round on 19/12/14.

From that point on everything happened very quick and efficiently at my Local Hospital which has always been outstanding and that of the Christie in Manchester, it started with my first injection of Zoladex 10.8 Jan 15 which continued with a new injection every 12 weeks for 2 years finishing Jan17.

The rationale for this HRT is this, Testosterone feeds the cancer in the prostate, so the way to shut that down is to give it female hormones it also over a short period reduces the swelling of the cancer itself making it simply a smaller target to deal with in my case this was 20 sessions of Radiotherapy which started 15 Apr 15, this so this explains why there is a short time delay from first HRT injection to 1st session of Radiotherapy, to allow the testosterone to stop and to hopefully reduce the prostate gland in size for it to be zapped more accurately and efficiently by the machine, my last of my 20 sessions finished 130515, which was when I rang the bell, wow what a great feeling.

Here I am nearly 5 years down the line with a PSA of 0.02 as at Jul 19, So the message is very clear No one knows your body better than yourself and you know when something is wrong and you know when something is so unusual you know you need to see the Doctor I was diagnosed with aggressive yes , but I reacted quickly and here I am 5 years later, had I left it, it might have been a different outcome.

IMO there has only been 2 down sides to all of this 1) first rear internal is a little unnerving to Mr Macho man, and 2) after 2 year of female HRT as it were I developed a little more than man boobs in fact a little more than that, but you will find it very very easy to live with these tiny 2 downsides, when you consider the alternative.

To all keep your chins up we have the best Medical Staff, the Best Equipment, giving us the best chance there is, no one can ask more than that, and when you ring that Bell !!! you suddenly realise this after all that you have been through, and the care carries on from there.

Edited by member 16 Sep 2019 at 22:44  | Reason: Not specified