Thread: My battle with prostate cancer continues.

Originally Posted by beard1747

at the time i was told you either have the op (RP) or radiation therapy; if you have RP you cant have rad ther and vise versa; By the way, my cancer was very aggressive and the urologist said i would kark it in 2 yrs if op was not done. chin up, Cheers John

John,


Good to hear that you're okay at the moment.

Mine was also very aggressive (4,3 on the gleason scale) so I had the radical prostectomy and now whilst my psa is not yet high, but increasing rapidly (and it is the trend that the doctors are worried about), I'm having hormonal tratment and radiation therapy.

This contradicts what you're saying, so things must be different or treatment regimens are different at different hospitals and maybe influenced by cost restraints. The scans I'm having as preparation for the radiation treatment I would estimate to cost approx $ 4000 already and that with the radiation treatment (30 minutes a day, 5 days per week and 7 weeks long) so that may affect the doctors treatment plans.

Not cheap, but paid for by Medicare.

Peter.

I have been reading the posts on the forum with interest about the PSA levels and also the heart problems.

I fell into both categories..............
PSA has been increasing over the past few years - 5 years ago it was 3.5 (on the upper limit), and last september it jumped to 13.5

By the time i got in to be able to see a Urologist i was placed on a 90 day hospital waiting list for a Prostate Biopsy via the bowel - but the stress got a bit much it seems thinking about the possibilities and i suffered a massive heart attack in the meantime - so it was off to Lismore base hospital, then air ambulance to Sydney for corrective surgery, and back home by air ambulance, my blood pressure had dropped to below 88/60 and wasnt coming up because of the medications that are pretty close to what the other guys on here are on as well.

At the moment, i am having 90 day PSA tests and the last one was still hovering at 12.0 - the problem with a PSA biopsy test is the bleeding from the bowel because of the medications to both reduce blood pressure and thin the blood, and also i lost heaps of blood through an operation i had the day before the heart attack and subsequently being put on blood thinners that it left me short on red blood cells, and find it really hard to breath properly. Just cannot seem to get sufficient oxygen at times, so the rate of me doing anything is painfully slow.............

I think the worst part is that i live by myself - hard to meet anybody in a small place of 250 like this - and when i had my heart attack drove myself to the hospital during the attack as there wasnt anybody else around to do that -

As i said, it has been interesting to read of what others on the forum had gone through, and i would also advise anyone to make sure they have regular PSA tests also.
My high levels may not indicate cancer, but until the biopsy tests can be done, there is that distinct possibility.

Welcome to the forums Tez2. Bloody h*ll you sound like a tough bugga. Sounds like some company would be a good thing for you. All the best.

Originally Posted by Tez2

As i said, it has been interesting to read of what others on the forum had gone through, and i would also advise anyone to make sure they have regular PSA tests also.
My high levels may not indicate cancer, but until the biopsy tests can be done, there is that distinct possibility.

Welcome to this forum, and I'm glad that reading about my journey to combat cancer has been of help to you, at least you'll learn what to expect.

In regard to the biopsy, I've also got high blood pressure and use one Atacand tablet daily as medication, and I didn't bleed very much at all. I bled a bit during the procedure but not after however my brother bled profusely for a while so it could go either way.

I never had to wait for the biopsy, as I had it done privately, and was admitted to hospital for my operation within a short time.

But I'm glad that I'm only a 1/2 hour drive away from one of the best cancer treating hospitals.

Good luck and keep us informed of your problems, for a problem shared is a problem halved.


Peter.

The hormonal treatment has been going for about 2 months now and the only side effects I'm having is mild hot flashes of a short duration at iiregular but fairly frequent intervals. It's not effecting me much but still annoying.

Otherwise I'm back to my old strenghts and endurance I was before my operation a year ago. It has taking this long to get there and I feel great. I've been busy redoing part of the garden, including digging and moving 3 metres of soil and 15 metres of mulch, as well as regrouting a whole bathroom.

I've had my first visit to the Austin's Mens health clinic last week. They will monitor and treat any side effects of the hormonal treatment. So to establish the base against which to monitor my health I've got to now have a bone density scan (this is in addition to the recent bone scan) and a whole series of blood and urine tests before my next visit in 3 months time.

So far so good.


Peter.

The start of my radiation therapy is getting closer and preparations are in hand. Last week I had a planning radiation C T scan where they made a cast for me to lie on when I'm having the treatment and they worked out the various aiming points which they also tattoo'ed on my body. There are 7 dots on my stomach but they will fade away as they are minutely.

This is to someone who always refused to have tattoos even when some of my mates got them done. I've had to eat my own words but such is life.

I've also had an MRI done yesterday, so now I'm waiting and meanwhile getting all my jobs finished before hand.


Peter.

Peter,

all the best, I feel for you while at the same time feeling very blessed as I just had my 18 month visit to my urologist and my PSA is still <.01 and I am now on yearly monitoring.

I'm not sure if it is relevant, but I had the full open the guts up Prostatectomy as there isn't the keyhole option up here, but the guys who seem to have difficulties seem to be those that have the laproscopic proceedure and are up and about so quickly (mine flattened me for weeks).

My thoughts are with you and your tat's (my SIL's mother is having radiation for breast cancer and she has crosses and dots all over her boobs and unfortunately is happy to show them off (;-O>

Cheers

A-Drain

Hello Sturdee,
Sorry to hear your PSA numbers are going up, hope your CT Scan and Bone Scan reports come back clean, and the Radiation Therapy gets the rest of the Prostate Cancer. You have a good postive attitude and plans for tomorrow, this will go a long way in your fight against PC.

I had a radical prostectomy (63 years old) in 2005, radiation therapy in 2008, and started hormone therapy March of this year. PSA was 0.95 got a 1 month shot and PSA was 0.00 in April, will be getting 3 month shots, but doing shots intermittently. Hope this helps. PM me anytime.

Let us know about the mini woodworking show you are attending tomorrow.

Good luck,
Don

Good luck Peter. Hope RT works well for you.

By the way, don't think of them as hot flushes, think of them as power surges

Yes mate same here I hope all goes well for you.

I'll take your advice Peter and get the sump plug checked ;-}

Originally Posted by rsser

Good luck Peter. Hope RT works well for you.

By the way, don't think of them as hot flushes, think of them as power surges

Been nearly 3 months now since I started the hormonal treatment, due for my next injection Friday week.

Haven't noticed much of side effects aside from the hot flashes but they are getting fewer in number and much less in intensity. They now happen only occasionally so I must be getting used to it.

Peter.

Best wishes Peter, I hope it goes well for you and is successful.

Originally Posted by Sturdee

the interdepartmental review committee that looked into my case last week recommended that I undergo hormonal treatment as well as radiation treatment. Radiation treatment to target the area around and near the prostate and hormonal treatment for my whole body in case some of the cancer cells settle outside the nearer area.

Well that was 3 months ago and yesterday I went in to get the second hormonal injection. The possible side effects of this treatment have been very mild indeed. I only get occasional mild hot flushes which only last a short time.

At the time I was also advised that the radiation treatment at the hospital had a 3 month waiting list but that should not worry me as they prefer that the patient had 3 months of hormonal treatment prior to starting radiation.

As we often hear stories about delays in waiting lists I was very pleasantly surprised to be told yesaterday that my first radiation treatment session will start next Tuesday, and then ofcourse continue for the next 7 weeks.

No delays, no problems, so I'm happy that hopefully we will now kill of my cancerous cells that are invading my body. I'm not sure if I will enjoy the treatment but I am happy that I'm now fighting back to regain my health.

I'll let you know how I get on during the radiation treatment.


Peter.