Welcome JohnK11- first post- waiting for PSA and stats listed

Welcome JohnK11 to HW. sorry you have to be here. JohnK11 posted in another thread. He said:

I'm from Naperville, IL, USA 30 miles west of Chicago. I hope that my luck turns positive with the next PSA test (so far, it's been negative)

Age: 65, PSA : (4/09) 4.2; (10/09) 6.7 (post-biopsy before surgery); 7/6.4
(6 weeks post surgery); 9.2 (10 weeks post surgery)
Family history of PC (Father at 85, uncle at 75; another uncle has brain
cancer at 62)
Biopsy: 8/09 - 2/12 positive; one 70% Cancer, Gleason 4+3; other 21% 3+3
CT scans : (Pelvic and chest) negative
Da Vinci RP: 10/9/09 (65th birthday), Right seminar vesicle invaded/removed;
surgeon went "wide around the prostste, negarive margin"
left nerves saved, 1 day in hospt, on catheters for 10 days,
Path Rpt: Gleason 4+3, pT3 b/c,
Incontinence: at 3-1/2 month, down to 3 pads + diaper per day (was 8 pads
for 1 month ; expect slow recovery since large amount around prostate was
removed, as well as larger section of tube
ED: no response as yet
Post Surgery 7/6.4 (6 weeks post surgery); 9.2 (10 weeks post surgery)
so doubling time is 2+ month.
Bone scan and Prostascint/MRI fused scan* negative (* real expensive)
Latest: Trelstar injected 12/16/09; awaiting anxiously PSA test on
early March; 5-weeks after Trelstar--see no evidence of heavy hot-flashes
(some warmth), though incontinence seems to be worse, as well as having
trouble sleeping after the 5,6th hourly bathroom break at night (bladder
capacity seems to be lower than 3 weeks ago).

Any discussion with a radiation oncologist about potential use of salvage radiation? 

 

re : further radiation treatment

Before the surgery, the urologist did discuss
the likelihood of radiation treatment 6-9 months after the
surgery to "make sure the cancer is removed totally". The
wait is to let the surgery region heal, as well as some
of the side effects.
Since the high reading 6 weeks after surgery,
and the T3c grading, it does not appear to be that useful.
radiation at the former-prostate site would only
make sense if there were local spread (the surgeon already
went "wide outside the prostate" so that much of the surrounding
material was already removed. He see negative margin, which
would imply any residual cancerous cell is not likely to
be JUST nearby in contiguous regions ONLY. The most likely
situation is widespread release of cancerous cells, some of
which has taken foothold in one (or most likely, several)
locations, mostly likely bone or lymph nodes (the nearby lymph
nodes removed during the surgery did not show sign of cancer).
So, even if radiation remove some of the cancerous
growth, it is unlikely to remove all. I'm not sure that it's
worth the side effects (I always have some bowel problems,
and radiation will exacerbate that).
In any case, it is an option which I will consider--
if my PSA goes down to near zero due to the Trelstar, I may
just hang on keeping the hormone treatment until it stop
working. If not, I may wait till PSA rise above 30, so that
Bone scan will more likely find the cancer (I found out
after the 2 scans that below 20 PSA (some say 40), the growth
is too small to be seen by such scans).