PROSTATECTOMY TO METS IN RIBS IN 6 MONTHS

Looking at this positively you have no cancer in the prostate because it's gone. The HT should flatten the bone mets and seminal vessel prior to the chemo which will shrink the tumours.

As far as your question about how long you've got no one knows. I was given 2 years in August 2018 and after HT, Chemo and RT my PSA is undetectable although I realise this won't last. There are many of us on here holding our breath until the next PSA test.

Good luck with your ongoing treatment.

Thanks for the replies. At least the prostate and seminal vesicles are gone and can do no further damage, I do feel deep down that it had spread long before I even went to my GP in March, though I had no symptons of that spread at all i.e. bone pain etc. The consultant seemed confident about the next course of treatment and so do I at this point. I have started the hormone and know that will be starting to do something, which is a good feeling, though this is only the second day. It is a blow to find the surgery has not cured it, but reading on here and elsewhere there are so many options to manage this, and I hope for a good while longer, as we all do .

Ian

all the best to you too

Ian

Ian, sorry to read your story. I agree with the others that the cancer had probably already spread by the time of diagnosis. Like you, I didn’t have a bone scan prior to surgery which now seems strange. You will find a lot of expertise and friendship on this forum. 
The hormone therapy will knock any cancer cells right back. 

When I was on the doctor’s couch in my underpants with abdominal pain from humping Her Loveliness’s suitcases off a cruise ship in Venice and upstairs to a hotel in Lake Garda, and whilst he was palpating me, I asked him; “While you’re down there, can you do a DRE?”

”We don’t do that these days”, which came as a surprise to the urologist who first examined me following my PSA rise from 2 to 16.4 during the time the DRE was declined and the cancer had grown to stage T3a...

Edited by member 24 Sep 2020 at 18:23  | Reason: Not specified

Me too no bone scan, I thought they only did one based on PSA >20 or staging greater than 2 had to nag to get one when I had hip pain and small uspsa post op.

https://www.nice.org.uk/donotdo/do-not-routinely-offer-isotope-bone-scans-to-men-with-lowrisk-localised-prostate-cancer

Edited by member 25 Sep 2020 at 07:01  | Reason: Not specified

In Durham , I was given a bone scan on the basis that  the biopsy came back as Gleason 4.3. This was despite all other indications suggesting that the cancer was organ confined. I was told it was routine in cases where the Gleason score was greater than 3.4. 

Hi Ian,

My dad is in a very similar situation to you. He was diagnosed in April, after going to the doctors in March. Gleeson 9, PSA 49. Diagnosed with advanced but localised prostrate cancer after a bone scan came back clear (much to everyone’s relief). Had a RP and post op PSA was 8.5. A PET scan revealed spread to the spine, rib and pelvis. We were all devastated. Initially we thought it must have spread while he was waiting for the RP, which he had at the end of May but apparently a PET scan is much more sensitive than a standard bone scan so it’s more likely that it was already there.   HT started at the end of July, first injection in the middle of August. My dad was doing really well until a couple of weeks ago and now he’s really struggling with the side effects of HT. He is having injections every 6 months not every 3 months, as outlined in in his treatment plan.  We have been told this is due to trying to limit contact with the NHS. I don’t know if the dose is linked to the severity of the side effects. He had his first chemo session on Monday. Like you we don’t know what the future holds and can only hope for a good response to treatment.

Edited by member 26 Sep 2020 at 15:32  | Reason: Not specified

I will do. 

My dad didn’t have any side effects until a few weeks after his first injection. Luckily each one has passed, we’re just left with a lack of appetite due to everything tasting awful (I thought it was chemo not HT that impacted on taste but not in his case). Hopefully, this will pass too. 

I think it is good practice with advanced cancer to start chemo within 12 weeks of starting HT.

Good luck! 

Edited by member 26 Sep 2020 at 15:42  | Reason: Not specified