CHAARTED Trial

Hi Piglet ( do i really have to call you that http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

I was diagnosed on the 23rd December 2012 with extensive mets but a PSA of 4.6, by early January i was on Chemo as first line treatment and had great results. I finished chemo in August and went straight on to Abiraterone and i am still on it now.

If you look at my thread Simon story there are pictures of my scans before and after chemo, i really did have good results.

Now my thoughts in my nutty world is if you have Chemo straight away then all of your cancers are wide awake and bushy tailed and absorb the chemo quicker, but if you use chemo later after HT then there might be just one cancer awake and the rest are still dormant and the chemo is not absorbed as quick by the dormant cells.

So in my nutty world and i am still researching, if i was to go back on chemo i would first stop HT have a shot of testosterone wake them all up then start chemo.

Now i must say my Onco thinks i am nuts as well, but as long as i get bloods tested every week to get the timing right that is my plan.

At this point i would also take the wife away for the weekend, ah the memories http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif

So if you get the chance of early chemo i would go for it.

Welcome to the nutty world of Si

Thanks for the encouraging comments so far, guys.
Si, I just had a read through your story and want to thank you and Ness for such frank and inspiring accounts.
Sorry about my silly name, I tried another but kept getting error messages, so I went for the name of a little boat we used to have.
I'll just give a little more background about us. My husband Tony ( real name!), aged 66, was diagnosed early in Sept after having severe back and joint pain - no waterworks problems at all, he still has the bladder capacity of a camel. Blood tests revealed PSA of over 2000 - this is not a typo, it was a 4-digit figure that T says he will now use as a PIN. Urologist, biopsy, bone scan showing multiple mets, Gleason 9. He was treated with hormone tablets and now decapeptyl injections. In a couple of weeks this treatment had stopped all the pain and he seems perfectly well in himself for the moment. A more recent blood test showed a PSA of 73 which is still high, but a huge reduction in 5 weeks.
We're gradually getting over the shock and adapting to the knowledge that this condition will probably bring his life to an end quite a lot sooner than we expected. But we're trying to make the most of the good times we can still have together, which will be easier once the chemo treatment is planned. It's good to know I can look in here for advice and support.

We are all different and our oncologists have their own favoured course of treatment.. I, too, came down from a PSA of 569 to one of 0.6 some two and a half years ago. My last reading was 0.2 so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays low for some time to come. I haven't had a second scan to see how the mets are (extensive in pelvis, lower spine and ribs on initial scan) so am totally unaware of the effect of Hormone Therapy on same.

Be interested to learn what your next reading shows.

Thanks for the various encouraging comments. Your story is really cheering,Speedy, and has helped calm me this morning when I was going through a wobbly patch.

We will see the oncologist on Monday, hopefully to arrange and sign up for the chemo. We will also see the nurse to discuss some of our concerns. It is hard for Tony to choose treatment that will make him feel ill when he's feeling so well at the moment (on Sunday we walked 7 miles!) but there's something to be said for being fit and strong at the start of it - and also having it in the winter, when there's not so much to miss out on.

We have booked a last-minute week in Lanzarote at the end of this month, which I am SO looking forward to. Having some quality time together is so important. Once the chemo starts (and a finish date is known), we can start to plan some treats for later in the Spring.

I signed up here with a silly name, not knowing how open I would want to be on a new forum, but I am already feeling more at home here and will sign off with my real name, which is
Marje

Hi Marje,

Currently undergoing chemo at the moment, just had #5 last Friday.

Diagnosed last September with mets in hips and spine, Hormone treatment has been going well with little side effects and PSA down to 3.0, but Oncol thought good idea to blast with chemo to reduce more and give "cancer a kicking".

I have been fortunate with the treatment, very little side effects, still got hair!, and still working. I am aware that others have not faired so well whilst undergoing chemo, but would say early chemo worth it in the long run.

Steve