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Cheshire Chris's Treatment Thread

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User
Posted 14 Jan 2020 at 12:13

Yes , I suppose none of us wants to get old. Just to keel over at some point in the distant future while still as fit as a flea...


I think it’s been one of the hardest things for me to deal with.


Hope your recovery from HT goes well. I’m only days into the loss of HT so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. 

Phil

User
Posted 14 Jan 2020 at 12:26
Another 33 days of HT for me. I believe that bicalutimide is flushed from the body relatively quickly, so I'm hoping to see changes within a few weeks of stopping HT.

Chris
User
Posted 30 Jan 2020 at 20:21

Chris, I had my last Decapeptyl hormone therapy injection mid July last year, That ran out in mid October so I’m now three months since effects of the injection expired. I have noticed no difference in any aspect of my life I was hoping that some of the ED effects would have lessened and also the hot flushes but that has not been the case


So I push onto my next landmark in my journey, which will be my review mid March where I will have a PSA and testosterone check, so keeping my fingers crossed as I am less than 0.1 PSA at the moment

Edited by member 30 Jan 2020 at 20:22  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 12 Feb 2020 at 16:07

Hi Pallance. I am now 4 months since last Prostap injection and not noticed any change yet. I have 4 weeks till my first consultant meeting since coming off the HT. So fingers crossed my PSA is still low and my testosterone is on the up.....


Good luck at your next consultation.


Phil

User
Posted 16 Feb 2020 at 08:43
Big day today - I've just taken my last bicalutimide and Tamoxifen tablets, so as of tomorrow I'm officially off HT! Hopefully this marks the end of my prostate cancer treatment, although I'm enough of a realist to know that, particularly given my relatively young age, I can't make any assumptions about the future.

It's certainly been an "interesting" couple of years. This time two years ago I was blithely unaware there was anything wrong with me, and then a "you're over 50 so we may as well check your PSA" remark from my GP started a whole process which ended up finding three potentially life-threatening conditions: prostate cancer, kidney cancer, and an aneurysm in my splenic artery. Now I'm minus a kidney, my prostate has been turned to mush by radiation, and the aneurysm sorted out by inserting metal coils.

But you know what? I feel a lot happier than I did two years ago! I now appreciate the value of life, and the stuff that used to get me stressed all seems trivial and unimportant. I've taken early retirement from my very boring job, and I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of my life, however long that may turn out to be.

I couldn't have got through everything that's happened in the last couple of years without the support of people on this forum, and I'd like to thank everyone who's given me such useful advice and support.

Looking forward to the future!

Chris
User
Posted 16 Feb 2020 at 09:22

Great post Chris. Wishing you a long time off HT and a happy, long life.


You've certainly been through a lot. 


Like you I am a realist and won’t take things for granted.


 

Ido4

User
Posted 16 Feb 2020 at 09:40

Hi Chris,


You certainly have had, as you put it, “an interesting” couple of years.  What a nightmare it must have seemed at the time but you always kept looking forward for the light at the end of the tunnel.  So good to read your positivity after all you have endured.


I sincerely hope you are now able to enjoy a happy and healthy retirement.


I have also found this forum informative and a great help.  Just to be able to express how you feel and know others truly understand and to read positive comments like your own.


With best wishes,


Ange 

User
Posted 16 Feb 2020 at 11:08
Thanks Ido and Ange. As you rightly say, the real value of this forum is being able to talk to people who understand the stuff you’re going through.

Best wishes,

Chris
User
Posted 16 Feb 2020 at 11:20

Good post Chris. We, of course, were treated at the same centre albeit under different consultants. My cancer has reared its ugly head again but here's the thing, the PSA level is less than half what it was on diagnosis and there is treatment available which I start tomorrow (already on the bicalutamide).


I have just watched a YouTube clip from Dr Scholz of the US PCRI on survival rates in the USA - 99% at 5 years, 98% at 10 years and even 94% at 15 years. These figures come with the health warning that they are based on early diagnosis which is more common in the USA because screening is much more common (as it should be here by the way).


Dr Scholz also makes the point that by definition these survival figures are based on people diagnosed 10 and 15 years ago - treatment has moved on since then.


But you make an excellent point about re-appraising your life and priorities. 

User
Posted 16 Feb 2020 at 13:20

Great Post, Chris. You helped me loads with hints and tips when I had my catheter. This forum changed the course of my life for the better. Wish you the very best and we are all here as a sounding board when and if you need or just let off steam. TG 

User
Posted 20 Mar 2020 at 16:49

This lunchtime I had my 6-monthly abdominal CT scan at Arrowe Park hospital, which is the follow-up check for my kidney cancer. The results should go to MDT next Friday and then I'm hoping my consultant will contact me to let me know the outcome. I'm trying to put it out of my mind. Although there's absolutely no reason to suppose that the result will be anything other than "clear", I do find waiting for these things a little bit stressful, especially in the current abnormal circumstances that we find ourselves in.


Best wishes to everyone,


Chris

Edited by member 20 Mar 2020 at 16:50  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 20 Mar 2020 at 17:54
Fingers crossed for you Chris, you deserve some better luck

🤞
Cheers
Bill
User
Posted 20 Mar 2020 at 19:38
Best wishes mate

If life gives you lemons , then make lemonade
User
Posted 20 Mar 2020 at 20:51
I will be keeping everything crossed for you as well x
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 21 Mar 2020 at 07:07
Fingers crossed for you hope for positive results. xx
User
Posted 21 Mar 2020 at 07:49
Thanks, everyone!

Chris
User
Posted 21 Mar 2020 at 09:58

Hope you get good news Chris.

Ido4

User
Posted 21 Mar 2020 at 12:04

Hope all goes well Chris.

User
Posted 21 Mar 2020 at 12:41

All the best Chris from a fellow Clatterbridger!

User
Posted 21 Mar 2020 at 13:21
Thanks!
User
Posted 02 Apr 2020 at 16:48
My consultant was kind enough to phone me this morning and let me know that my CT scan was clear, so that’s one less thing to worry about. I’m now moving to annual scans from this point forwards.

Next on the agenda is a PSA test in three weeks’ time. Just over a year now since I finished my RT.

Cheers,

Chris
User
Posted 03 Apr 2020 at 00:47

Great news Chris, so pleased for you.


Good luck with your next PSA result.


Ange

User
Posted 03 Apr 2020 at 02:52
Fantastic x
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 03 Apr 2020 at 15:55

Great news Chris. 

Ido4

User
Posted 03 Apr 2020 at 16:30

Wonderful news :) 

Some days you just have to create your own sunshine...... 

User
Posted 03 Apr 2020 at 16:55

Great news, hoping the good news carries on.


Phil 

User
Posted 04 Apr 2020 at 10:50

Good news Chris. 

User
Posted 09 Apr 2020 at 22:07

Excellent news! I had my latest PSA test at 0930 this morning at my GP’s, and the results appeared on the surgery’s online system at 1817 (is that a speed record?). It’s now 13 months since I finished my RT and two months since I finished HT, and my PSA has fallen to 1.4, down from 2.0 in October. I’m really delighted with this; my oncologist told me that he’d regard a nadir reading of 2 or below as an indication of successful RT. A PSA score of 1.4 is pretty “normal” for someone who still has a prostate, I think, isn’t it?


Happy days, particularly when I look back to where I was when I was diagnosed a couple of years ago. I really couldn’t have got through it without the help of this forum. Thanks, everyone!


Cheers,


Chris


 


 

Edited by member 09 Apr 2020 at 22:09  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 09 Apr 2020 at 22:37

Congratulations Chris really good news!
cheers me up on my birthday


Alan

User
Posted 09 Apr 2020 at 22:39
Thanks, Alan, and very Happy Birthday!

All the best,

Chris
User
Posted 09 Apr 2020 at 22:45
Lovely news - happy Easter!
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 09 Apr 2020 at 22:50
Thanks, Lyn. You know more about this stuff than I do. Do you think 1.4 is a decent nadir reading for someone who hasn’t been on injected HT?

Thanks,

Chris
User
Posted 09 Apr 2020 at 22:54

Really good news.

Ido4

User
Posted 12 May 2020 at 22:14
I had a telephone consultation with my oncologist this afternoon and he’s officially “signed me off”. Assuming things continue on track, I won’t be seeing him again - from now on it’ll be six-monthly PSA tests and a chat with a nurse on the phone.

So that’s another milestone in my treatment reached. It’s almost exactly two years to the day since my diagnosis and I feel that, for now at least, I can put it behind me.

Cheers,

Chris
User
Posted 12 May 2020 at 22:30
Boom! Sorted!
User
Posted 12 May 2020 at 22:37

Great news!


All the best moving forward.

Ange

User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 00:06

Fan-bloody-tastic!!!!


 


You should buy a lottery ticket this weekend. 

Edited by member 13 May 2020 at 00:07  | Reason: Not specified

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 00:22

Must be a good week, brilliant news.

User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 08:37

Brilliant news.

Ido4

User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 09:11
👍😁
User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 09:20

Absolutely brilliant news, so pleased for you. 👍


Phil

User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 10:52
Nice one Chris

If life gives you lemons , then make lemonade
User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 10:58

Chris


Good to hear and best wishes for the future.


Thanks Chris

User
Posted 13 May 2020 at 13:53
Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. They mean a lot!

Best wishes,

Chris
User
Posted 14 May 2020 at 12:16

Great news Chris. Hope you raised a glass and long may the good news prevail.

User
Posted 15 Jun 2020 at 19:35
Finger up the backside day again today 😀. Noticed a few spots of blood on the TP recently, so I thought it was best to get it checked out. I'd assumed it would likely be radiation cystitis, but it turns out I've got piles (or a pile, anyway)! GP says it should go away on its own.

Such is life!

Chris
User
Posted 15 Jun 2020 at 20:38

Another character building procedure 👀


Ive had haemorrhoids for a few years and had it all checked out. Increasing intake of veg and legumes usually sorts it. BBQ season doesn’t help unless I ensure it’s balanced with green stuff 🥴🤷🏼‍♂️

User
Posted 15 Jun 2020 at 21:03
Thanks, that's very helpful advice. A new experience for me 🙂.

When I look back at how stressed I was when I had my first DRE during diagnosis I have to smile at the memory. These days I don't bat an eyelid at the process. You can get used to anything with time!

Cheers,

Chris
User
Posted 26 Jun 2020 at 20:16
Cycling every day now to improve my fitness and try to shift some of the considerable amount of weight I gained during my 18 months on HT. One thing that strenuous cycling in hot weather has taught me is that I definitely need to start using deodorant again 😁. That's one aspect of HT which has definitely reversed now!

Chris
User
Posted 26 Jun 2020 at 23:04

Interesting Chris. I find despite deodorant I am noticing it isn’t always working! I have also put that down to HT ending.

Ido4

 
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