New Update....Not so good

We received more news today.... Things are not looking good at all.   As it turns out, in addition to his lymph nodes being affected, the tumor has also breached his bladder wall, seminal vesicles, and part of his colon.   Total game changer here.    Lupron to start on the 16th along with Casadex and Experimental Chemo to being on the 25th of this month, with surgery to remove his prostate, bladder, and any affected part of his colon to follow as soon as he is stable from the chemo. We are like walking zombies here. We have an appointment with the urologist tomorrow and the radiologist on Monday. I am terrified to go to these appointments as the news keeps getting worse and worse.   Medical Oncologist seems awesome. He said due to my husband's young age, they need to step outside of their protocol parameters and be as aggressive as possible.   So, after more testing, the option of only HT and RT has changed to HT, Chemo, surgery, and possible some radiation after surgery.   Had anyone else dealt with bladder needing to be removed also?  

I wish you all the best in the time ahead.

Mal.

WorryWart, my heart goes out to you and your husband. As a wife who spent months worrying about her own husband, I feel your pain. Sadly, there is nothing I can offer in terms of helpful information or advice.

Please stay with us and let us know how things are going. I'm sure you already know that the road ahead will be a bumpy one but there is much hope for your husband.

That is upsetting news. I just want to offer my prayers and best wishes for both you and your husband.

You and your husband are at one of the finest centers in the world. No matter how good the treatment center, treatment or type of cancer, the most important thing you can do for you husband, is not give up hope. Do not let him give up hope. Strengthen your support group with friends, family, social networks, and here.

This news is not what any of us had hoped for either, but it does not mean its over. The road just got bumpier and longer, thats all. I dont personally know a lot of cancer survivors, or a lot of people for that matter. But in the small circle I am in, I know of 2 survivors that were told by experts that they need to get there life in order. We all should anyways, right? But they beat the odds and if you met them, you would never know the battle they won if they did not tell you. Fight, fight, fight and never give up hope.

 I agree with Startech, with your husbands diagnosis there are only 4 or 5 centers in the country I would want to be for treatment, and MD Anderson is one of them. Tell him to keep up the good fight and that a lot of people are praying for him to beat this.

Terry

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=2184905

My heart and prayers go out to your husband and you. As others have stated, although this is not what you hoped for, this is just the beginning of the fight. As difficult as it may get at times try to find the positives. Rely on friends, friends, support groups and HW for them to ease some of the burden. The more I read, the more I'm amazed at the treatments available for all levels of this disease. God bless you.

So sorry for what you are dealing with right now. My husband is also 49 and will be having surgery Monday. I want to pass on to you an encouraging story. One of the men that my husband works for told him about his father's own experience with Prostate Cancer. He was diagnosed in his early 50's and they "gutted him". They removed his prostate, bladder, and whatever else they had to. He of course had to have a bag, but he lived into his 90's and went on fishing trips, basically anything that he wanted to do. The manager told my husband that he lived a good life despite not having his prostate or bladder and was able to do anything he wanted.

I hope that after this long ordeal is over with you and your husband will find many good things to look forward to. Try to just take one day at a time. Trust that the doctors have your best interest at heart and will do all they can to ensure a successful outcome for your dear husband. Keep us posted. Being on this forum will empower you to face these obstacles. You both are in my thoughts.

Sorry to hear the news, my thoughts are with you and your husband.

My uro said they can build a bladder these days so there is hope that recovery from surgery will be good.

Ms,

I am so very sorry that you two have received another bad dose of news.

I may be of some help to you and your husband, if they totally remove his bladder, he could have some form of Urostomy. My bladder was entirely by-passed due to severe radiation damage. I had the Ileal Conduit Surgery last September. The surgeon formed a "pipe" so to speak, and the ureters from the kidneys drain to the pipe, then out my body through a stoma. So I have an Urostomy. I urinate through the stoma, into an "appliance" or "device" with a bag with a drain on the bottom. If he ends up with this, or something similar after his bladder is removed, I can give you a lot of good first hand advice for living with and dealing with one.

There is also an Ostomy group here on HW, but there are very few people there familiar with Urostomies, most of them have have Colostomies instead. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know, or if you ever want to talk, e-mail me and I will give you my private number.

My thoughts and prayers with you both. Never give up hope, no matter how rough the path my be.

David in SC

Post Edited (Purgatory) : 8/12/2011 4:43:16 PM (GMT-6)

MsWorry,

So sorry to hear your bad news. I have nothing to add to what's been said, other than to echo to call to hang in there and not give up.

You've got great medical resources at your disposal and it sounds like they'll go the extra mile for a good outcome.

Let's keep a good thought; I know I will.

Jonathan

I'm so sorry to read this today. Wishing you the best as you move forward.

Juliet