Hi everyone,
a post to introduce myself and join the community. When my dad passed (aged 82) with prostate cancer, I was 51 and I asked my GP at the time if I should have my PSA checked. He dismissed the idea, saying I was too young to worry about it. Hmm.
Three years later, in December 2018, I decided to have a 'health MOT', to check on cholesterol levels, etc. As an afterthought, I asked if my PSA level could be checked too. I was lucky, or unlucky, depending how you look at it. My PSA was 33, and the subsequent scans & biopsies showed advanced, inoperable Stage IV cancer with mets in my pelvis, spine and ribs. I'd had no warning symptoms: no pain, no blood in urine etc. The only thing that I perhaps should have acted on was a slight increase in urgency when needing to pee, but I put that down to being in my mid-50s.
I was immediately put on Zoladex, and had 6 rounds of chemo (Docetaxel) followed by 18 sessions of radiotherapy targeting the primary in my prostate in Spring and Summer 2019. This kept my PSA well suppressed until early 2021, when my PSA started rising again. My consultant at The Christie in Manchester put me on Enzalutamide, which again kept my PSA in check for around 2 years.
In early 2023 I started having bad sciatic pains, and my PSA started rising. A bone scan showed that the various treatments had shrunk every met apart from one on my L3 vertebra which seemed to be mounting a 'last stand', having grown significantly and interfering with the sciatic nerves. Two targeted fractions of radiotherapy helped with the pain temporarily, but it has recurred.
I was offered a vertebroplasty (injecting synthetic bone cement) to stabilise the vertebra and help relieve pain, but it didn't work as the tumour is sclerotic, and the surgeon couldn't get the needle in. So I'm currently managing the pain with suitable medication and targeted exercise.
Overall, I have a good QoL and I'm pretty happy to be still around and kicking 5 years after being given 3 to 5 years. I retired nearly 3 years ago, giving me much more time to get out for walks with my family and get out on my bike, which suits me perfectly!