53 with PC

What do you mean? Have you only seen the specialists privately? Have you not seen someone on the NHS? 

In fact, urologists and oncologists do not usually push their own treatment because they want to get paid - they have to publish their outcomes so the opposite would be true of many prostate cancer specialists; they will only agree to treat you if they are really confident that it will be successful. In truth, for a small early prostate cancer, there is absolutely no difference in outcomes between the three radical treatments (surgery, external RT and brachy) and hardly any difference at all over 10 years between men who have radical treatment and men who choose active surveillance. If you are suitable for all 4 options, it all boils down to your personality and your approach to risk.  

Is that the only reason? Save the radiation for later?

Best wishes,

Chris

Franci wasn't being difficult; he is speaking from experience and the heart as do the rest of us. There will be as many members who would advise you to have the op first and save the radiotherapy for if / when the op fails as there are members who will say you might as well go straight for the radiotherapy rather than 2 sets of side effects.

The point I was trying to make was that if you have only seen private doctors so far, you have missed out on the very valuable multi-disciplinary team assessment. In the NHS, each new diagnosis is reviewed at a MDT meeting by up to 12 / 14 specialists who agree the diagnosis and discuss the pros and cons of / your suitability fir the various treatments.If you are transferring back into the NHS now, it will be worth asking whether the MDT is still an option. Brachy may be ruled out if you are very overweight.

As muscle turns to fat you lose weight on your arms and legs and pile it on around your midriff

Fortunately my weight seems to have stabilised 2 stone heavier but I also find it hard to resist mid morning and mid afternoon snacks - something I never did when working.

I'm sure it's partly due to the medication this need to comfort eat.

Thanks for the clarification. Having read your blog what you experienced sounded somewhat traumatic. Sorry you had limited options but have somehow got through and adapted. My father died of PC. He was old school and left it too late before complaining about it (Aged 82 back in 1990). Luckily (or not?) he left me a legacy. At least caught early and apparently stable.

I totally get what HT does to a man and the body. This will require a total life changing approach - especially with diet and exercise. As standard they've already stuck me on Bicalutamide. Being a nonsteroidal antiandrogen im guessing i'm already on HT. Still, it's not impossible to lose weight, it needs a complete rethink. I read (above) someone saying about snacking. I understand snacking is difficult to overcome but it isn't impossible to overcome. When it comes to weight lose those are the things you need to overcome. Getting into the right mindset is key. Something like 'this' is a good incentive to kick start that mindset.

As said earlier, I've adopted over the last 12 months intermittent or extended fasting. Other diets didn't work. I lost a good amount of weight. 20kg. Put about 15kg back on, because I adopted my old bad habits over last 4 months. I don't do that 16/8 nonsense, but literally OMAD. Occasionally, maybe every 3 months fasted a full +48 hours - drinking only black coffee or water. Nothing else. The most enlightening occasion, which I will do again, is 120 hours. Sounds mad? It wasn't. It was actually an amazing experience. I had so much energy. Wired. Felt 'clean'. It promotes Autophagy. Cellular regeneration. Cancer need glucose to survive. Promote ketosis then cancer cannot survive. Who knows?

I guess there is logic to it. I might even try starving this cancer by fasting after tonight. Dump those standardised tablets I was given (Bicalutamide). Do a two or three week stint (easy enough) and arrange a PSA test to see what comes back. If favourable then maybe an MRI? Nothing to lose. Only gain, if it clears things.

Not sure if people know but the longest fast was 382 days. The man lost 12st. Didn't die. He had plenty of reserve energy stored as fat. This he burnt via Ketosis. We have all been conditioned to eat little but often. 5 meals a day. Snacks. Processed foods. Those ideas were bad ideas. If you are not hungry at breakfast why eat toast? Because you are told you should have breakfast? Listen to your body, but be careful. Certain foods you must avoid. There are good books worth reading by Dr Jason Fung about this for anyone who wants to look at losing weight easily.

Interesting article on fasting and Cancer:

https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2018/4/3/how-fasting-can-kill-or-slow-down-cancer-cells-while-leaving-normal-cells-unharmed

Edited by member 28 Feb 2021 at 14:38  | Reason: Link to article on Cancer and fasting.

Best wishes,

Chris

Not assuming anything. Nothing's decided. This cancer I have was only found because I only flagged a slightly raise PSA of 3.4. Once decided we'll do what needs doing.

Edited by member 28 Feb 2021 at 18:35  | Reason: Not specified

Hi Jacques

Hope you find the solution you are looking for. Great experience on this forum.  I'm sure you know >1kg weight loss per week often has negative long term effects on the body.    You obviously have great will power .

Regards

Update: Finally decided course of action for my PC. Switching from Private to NHS now I'm in the system. Not difficult and a 'bonus' in some respects. I will undergo Brachytherapy followed some weeks later by a course of 5 weeks of External Beam Radiotheraphy. Should start this August. From Sunday my Bicalutamide has been increased from 50mg to 150mg daily plus an additional weekly dose of Tamoxifen 20mg to keep boobs in check. Next blood test in June. Time to get fit. Losing weight, which is helpful. Not all too terrible tbh.

Alltrades,

Here's a link to my post that summarises my experiences of HT/EBRT/ LDR Brachy. My Avatar gives a brief summary (click on the left). I felt a huge relief once I'd made my decision as it was really stressing me out deciding which way to go.

https://community.prostatecanceruk.org/posts/t26895-My-HT-EBRT-LDR-Brachy-Experiences

As an update, I have virtually no remaining side effects since my treatment in Dec last year.. Last month I had my first meeting with the consultant since the treatment. He was very pleased with the procedure and subsequent scan. My first blood test gave undetectable psa, but I think that's only to be expected as the HT is still in my system. The crux will come in my next blood test scheduled for Aug....that's when I will become nervous awaiting results!

I started HT (150mg/day bicalutimide) in August 2018, had my RT in Feb/Mar 2019, and stopped HT in Feb 2020.

Chris

Alltrades,

You asked re. clarification of order of events. 

- Feb 20. Started HT for 1 yr (4 * 3 monthly injections)

- Oct 20. EBRT (20 fractions)

- Dec 20. LDR Brachy

They used to do 18 months HT, but found that 1 yr worked just as well. Note that they have a really high throughput in Edinburgh so assume that they know what works best for them.

Explanation re HT post procedure by Cheshire Chris seems to make sense.

That is good. I have read your profile update. I was under general anaesthetic so missed out on all the exciting parts you got to see. I needed a catheter afterwards for a short time, but HDR is definitely something I would recommend to anyone for whom it is suitable.