Hi all,
First post here and just wanted to get to grips with what we have been told.
Dad went to docs last week and told that he has "suspected prostate cancer". We had an urgent appointment due to his symptoms, mostly back pain.
Anyway fast forward to yesterday and we sit down with the consultant who proceeded to tell us that dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012. My dad has never told us this, but also, because he was being treated for a heart condition back in 2012, that was the priority. The consultant told us that he was on "watchful waiting" but no PSA level test had been done. I am not sure if dad was in denial or completely forgot about it.
He has blood tests done at the doctors and the consultant told us the cancer is now advanced and is in his bones, lymph nodes etc. He said the PSA level was 12000.
He was given a GnRH yesterday and will have LHRH in a months time. The consultant said although he will get a CT scan, it will be matter of course because he knew from the PSA level it was all over his body. They said chemo will probably.not be an option because of my dadheart condition but the hormone injections will stop all the symptoms and we will have years.
We haven't had a Gleason score, do you think I should ask for one? What can I expect to see from the CT scan? Are the hormone treatments effective for the high level of PSA? The consultant said that he would expect the levels to come down to single figures.
They were positive about the outlook but I can't help but worry that he is so far gone now with no treatment and that if this had been monitored we may not be in this position now. I'm not trying to lay blame anywhere, just trying to sort out my head and what is to be expected from technical perspective. I will speak about practical changes with other help available but for now just want to get guidance on this.
Thanks