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First day diagnosed!

User
Posted 23 Dec 2020 at 17:34

My first post so hi everyone. I’m a 63 year old retired Fire Officer although I’m still working as a Fire Risk Assessor. My cancer journey started in April 2018 when I was eventually diagnosed with Bowel Cancer which was removed. I then had a year with an ileostomy bag  before my reversal in September 2019. All gone, hooray!
Not so fast! During an MRI scan a small area was noticed on my prostate. I had a biopsy last week and today was told that there was a positive from one out of 13 cores and it was 5+4 Gleason so not great. I’m due for a bone scan which is my next point of worry!
My doctor has been brilliant and was unsure if surgery or radiotherapy was the right way forward. Anyway he’s phoned this afternoon to say that RT should be ok so they’ve started me on 28 days of Biclutamide with a 3 month injection of leuproralin in a couple of weeks. Not sure how this then ties into the RT program???
I was a keen member of the bowel cancer forum so know how useful places like this are so feel free to give me info, hints or slaps on the wrist! Been a hard day but pleased things are moving fairly quickly. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

User
Posted 23 Dec 2020 at 21:36
You will be on the hormone treatment for 3 to 6 months before the RT starts - this is to weaken the cancer to make it more susceptible to the radiotherapy. Oncos have different views about how long a man should stay on the HT afterwards - it could be anything from immediate cessation to 3 years!
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 23 Dec 2020 at 23:32

Hi Bazzer,

Sorry about your situation.   You could say it was fortunate they found a sample on one pin as they could have missed it.  Although after an MRI they are supposed to be able to target the biopsy needles better so perhaps it is a very small lesion.

If they had missed it they would likely have done a template biopsy which doubles the number of needles under general anaesthetic or perhaps had another go at what you had.

They often leave the choice of surgery or RT to the patient.   

They can monitor your psa and decide when it's best to have the RT.  We don't know what your psa is.  It sounds like yours might be low, say under 10 in which case they might try to get your psa down to under 2 which shouldn't take too long.  It's better not to stay on hormones too long as your lesion adapts to them and they stop working, that could take anything from months to years but even so it restricts your future use.   They often put you on hormones after RT for a few months.  I was offered 3 months hormones, RT followed by 3 months hormones although I chose surgery.

I'm not an expert on these matters so others might expand or adjust what I've written.   Good luck with your bone scan.   All the best, Peter

 

User
Posted 24 Dec 2020 at 00:38

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
They often leave the choice of surgery or RT to the patient.

Previous abdominal surgery can make prostatectomy much more challenging due to adhesions, depending where it was.

Was there no RT for the bowl cancer?

User
Posted 24 Dec 2020 at 09:44

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
My Gleason is 4+5 not 5+4 although I don’t really understand the difference!

The first number is the majority of the tumour cells. The second number is the minority.

So you have mostly 4 with a smaller component of 5. The other way round would be worse (obviously). 

_____

Two cannibals named Ectomy and Prost, all alone on a Desert island.

Prost was the strongest, so Prost ate Ectomy.

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User
Posted 23 Dec 2020 at 21:36
You will be on the hormone treatment for 3 to 6 months before the RT starts - this is to weaken the cancer to make it more susceptible to the radiotherapy. Oncos have different views about how long a man should stay on the HT afterwards - it could be anything from immediate cessation to 3 years!
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 23 Dec 2020 at 23:32

Hi Bazzer,

Sorry about your situation.   You could say it was fortunate they found a sample on one pin as they could have missed it.  Although after an MRI they are supposed to be able to target the biopsy needles better so perhaps it is a very small lesion.

If they had missed it they would likely have done a template biopsy which doubles the number of needles under general anaesthetic or perhaps had another go at what you had.

They often leave the choice of surgery or RT to the patient.   

They can monitor your psa and decide when it's best to have the RT.  We don't know what your psa is.  It sounds like yours might be low, say under 10 in which case they might try to get your psa down to under 2 which shouldn't take too long.  It's better not to stay on hormones too long as your lesion adapts to them and they stop working, that could take anything from months to years but even so it restricts your future use.   They often put you on hormones after RT for a few months.  I was offered 3 months hormones, RT followed by 3 months hormones although I chose surgery.

I'm not an expert on these matters so others might expand or adjust what I've written.   Good luck with your bone scan.   All the best, Peter

 

User
Posted 24 Dec 2020 at 00:38

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
They often leave the choice of surgery or RT to the patient.

Previous abdominal surgery can make prostatectomy much more challenging due to adhesions, depending where it was.

Was there no RT for the bowl cancer?

User
Posted 24 Dec 2020 at 08:25
Thanks everyone. The issue of adhesions and scarring from the bowel surgery was mentioned by my Urologist consultant so I personally wanted the RT option. Also wasn’t really looking forward to more surgery! I had chemo following the initial surgery 14 months ago and had an ileostomy reversal carried out approximately three months ago.

I think my PSA was 4.5 which I understand is fairly low. My Gleason is 4+5 not 5+4 although I don’t really understand the difference!

My next process is to have a bone scan which is another point of stress I guess! Hopefully if that’s ok it will be defined as early localised prostate cancer which seems to be treatable.

Thanks again and any more reassurance gratefully received!!

User
Posted 24 Dec 2020 at 09:44

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
My Gleason is 4+5 not 5+4 although I don’t really understand the difference!

The first number is the majority of the tumour cells. The second number is the minority.

So you have mostly 4 with a smaller component of 5. The other way round would be worse (obviously). 

_____

Two cannibals named Ectomy and Prost, all alone on a Desert island.

Prost was the strongest, so Prost ate Ectomy.

User
Posted 24 Dec 2020 at 11:29
Any positives gratefully received! I’ve just had a call from the hospital for my bone scan this Tuesday 29th so it’s rattling along nicely. This scan will hopefully be ok and I can then focus on the one area!
 
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