Off RT but still on HT

Hope you have a good Christmas too Sandy and can set aside the thought of PC for the "festive" period. Not easy though when you have all this hanging over you.

I can understand your disappointment but having come this far and put up with so much already it must be best to kick the carp out of PC if you can.

All the best

Sandra

Hi Sanders,
John's predictions were similar to yours when he was starting salvage RT/HT but 5 years later his PSA is still bumbling along at between 0.04 - 0.09 so we are beginning to dare believe that the salvage treatment worked. Interestingly, he was supposed to be on HT for two years but gave up after 6 months because he couldn't bear the side effects.

HT or not, a PSA test at this point wouldn't tell you anything about whether the RT had worked ... it often takes 18 months to 2 years to get a new nadir.

Hope all goes well with your appointment next week.

Having a few beers at Xmas sounds good to me.

Sandy

i was told rt does not benefit everyone about 1 in 10 people,anyone else been told this.

What do you mean radar?

When you look at NHS statistics they say over 90% of men diagnosed at an early stage will still be clear of disease 10 years after RT or RP so I guess that infers that fewer than 1 in 10 find that radical treatment doesn't work for them?

If HT keeps it at bay then so be it and I will keep getting the injections for as long as it takes.

The way the consultant was talking, he wants me to stay on Zoladex for at least 2 years then take me off it for a short period to see how things are.

But he doesn't feel the odds are very good and HT could be for the long term the same as yourself but it's a small sacrifice to make.

Looking at your PSA over the past years it doesn't look bad at all.

Sandy.

Hi Sandy,

If you want cheering up, check out my profile, we have a lot of similarities:

I was diagnosed when I was 54 with Gleason 9. 

RT & HT were the only treatment options.  Incidentally you need a total of 3 years HT along with the RT.  Initially this is to shrink the tumour so they can focus the RT beams on a smaller target.  Then you need it afterwards to stop the cancer cells growing while they die.  (Look up 'adjuvant hormone therapy' on Google.)   

My consultants told me, because I asked them outright, direct questions, that firstly with Gleason 9 I was likely to die of PCa, and that the RT had at best a 60% chance of curing me.  Incidentally they define a cure as keeping me alive long enough that I die of something else. 

In the event it didn't cure me, but I have subsequently had salvage HDR Brachytherapy, so even if your cancer comes back you should be a candidate for that treatment, and while I am not counting my chickens that too has knocked the cancer back, maybe a cure, more likely an extra few years remission.

My last PSA test was 0.2 so I should live to see the swallows return this summer and I will then have survived 10 years post diagnosis.

So plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

:)

Dave 

Hi Dave

I read your story again and there is a lot of similarities in our journeys. I too was only given the HT/RT option due to T3B, G9 and PSA 32, I asked the consultant to enquire around the country about prostate removal but nobody would entertain me due to the fact that it was classed as aggressive and locally advanced.

A day or so prior to starting HT the only surgeon who could and possibly would carry out the Radical Prosectamony had just returned to work after being of long term sick, we chatted for about 3 hours before he decided that he would carry out the surgery and he did state at the time that Radiotherapy would almost certainly be required. Post surgery consultation did show that not all the cancer cells were removed so it was onto HT and then RT.

On the subject of Brachytherapy I was under the impression that I would not be suitable for it in the future, but he did state that there would probably be something in the next few years that would benefit me as we all know things are changing all the time.

I too like to know what is happening so I asked many questions that some people would rather not know the answers too, when asked about a successful outcome he just stated the facts that while they are trying to cure the PCa chances were stacked against that happening with myself which was due to the severity of the PCa. I have now come to terms with that assessment and am now looking forward to the future with some optimism as a lot of men on this forum have lived for a good few years after being diagnosed.

The one question that it did bring forward was do I carry on working or do I retire and enjoy life outwith work.

Onwards and Upwards.

Sandy.

Hi Sandy,

I am sorry if I misled you, I hadn't been aware that you had a prostectomy as well as RT when I posted about salvage brachytherapy last night, so I am not sure that what I said was correct.

However as you say there will probably be something new along in the next few years, and that is very true.  When I had the initial EBRT back in 2009 it was very much 'last chance saloon' treatment, in the sense that it was the only curative option available.  However by 2013 when it clearly hadn't worked salvage brachytherapy had become available.

I suppose that there are many of us, in the early stages of diagnosis and treatment who are destined to live long enough to receive treatments that are only on the drawing board at the moment, like the testosterone flood and drought that was in the news last week.

:)

Dave