Hi, All. I hope you are all as OK as we can be.
I thought it might be useful to share my treatment plan, ask about you experiences if on a similar route and to hear about your own plan.
I`ll give a you a short recap of my diagnosis:
PSA 8. Gleason 4 / 5 (9) T3aNO. Cambridge Group 5. Cribriform growth pattern -- aggressive and likely to spread. CT, MRI and bone scans clear. Localised advanced cancer, within the prostate and one about to break out.
Two weeks of HT tablets and then first injection of Prostap (Leuprorelin) start of June to be repeated 3 monthly for three years.
My meeting with the consultant confirmed that in October I will have 20 doses through four weeks of October. I had done a lot of research and mentioned to him I had read that an additional HT tablet can be very beneficial alongside the RT and Prostap. He agreed and I will start a daily, 2 year course of Abiraterone shortly.
All of which brings me to side effects. So far I have only had hot flushes which can be annoying but nothing worse. What are your experiences of side effects from 20 doses of RT -- and in particular, are any of you taking Abiraterone? Again I am concerned about an accumulation of these side effects.
To end this post on a massive high: the consultant organised a blood test when I saw him which I had the same day. I heard nothing, which does annoy me as we should all be notified of these important results. The NHS app is very hit and miss and also didn`t show any results. So I was too anxious to wait any longer and rang the hospital for the test result. My PSA of 8.....in just two months of treatment has gone down to 0.4. I was astounded as I was not expecting that. As the target is around 0.1 I am more than happy...so far. But as my aggressive cancer is highly likely to spread I know I still have a long journey ahead.
I still haven`t told my adult children as I do not want them to worry. This is adding to my stress and will have to be dealt with soon.
So tell me about your own treatment plan if it is similar to mine...and particularly if it includes Abiraterone.
Stay strong. There are many ways to kill `the beast`.
.