Prostate Cancer at 47

I was recnetly diagnosed with Prostate cancer in Nov 11.  My urologist is a surgeon so immediatley that was his suggestion to me.  I was leaning towards radiation therapy.  I talked to a Radiation Oncologist and he stated I was a good candidate for external radiation and the combaination external and brachytherapy. My numbers are as follows: 8 of 12 modules positive; Gleason Score 3+4=7 involving 60%, 3+4=7 involving 30%, 3+4=7 involving 5%, 3+4=7 involving 40%, 3+3=6 involving 25%, 3+3=6 involving 30%, 3+3=6 involving 20% and 3+3+6 involving 5% PSA 4.93. CT and Bone scans reveiled the cancer so far is contained in my prostate. All of my DRE were normal so my prostate is not enlarged.  I started treatment 5 Jan 12 the first day of 5 weeks of external radiation.  So far so good has anyone done the combination treatment and if so I would love to hear your success stories and your setback etc.  I really did want to risk incontinence or ED problems with surgery so that is the reason why I went with radiation.  But if the Radiation Oncologist had told me he felt it was better for me to seek surgery then that is what I would have done.  It just seems at times when I am laying on the table getting my treatments that I do hope I have made the right decision.      

How long has it been since your procedures.. Thanks Mike and GOD Bless..

Buzz,
I went through the combo treatments 3 years ago , but had Seeds first followed by 5 weeks of IMRT. You will have more short term side effects after seed placement; urinary frequency and urgency that will last about 4-8 weeks and are very tolorable with FlowMax and Ibubropin. Just stay off the alcohol and caffine during this period. These effects should not keep you from performing normal activities.
I have had no long term effects, no ED or uninary issues and my psa has been a consistant 0.1, so in my case the treatments have been very successful and exceeded my expectations. If you have any specific questions email me. (can be found by clicking on my name)
JohnT

Welcome Buzz,

Sounds like you did you research and you are well on your way with your treatment, best of luck there.

You are on the young side, but there's quite a few under 50 guys here at HW. I was dx at 56, my uro said I was one
of his youngest PC patients ever at the time.

I had salvage radiation after a failed surgery, it turned out to be a disaster, but there were a lot of unusual circumstances
surrounding it. I hope you deal well as you continue yours.

As far as surgical risks of side effects, it really seems like a random event, even for those that went to top notch surgeons.
I had open surgery with a local surgeon, and had minor incontinence for a week or two, and never had any ED, even to this day. So you never quite know what you will end up with.

David in SC

Buzz,
Stay positive. Here's a good example why ~ my journey. I started this game in 2006 at the age of 44. Today I am doing well and staying healthy. Except I like red wine and drink coffee. if you cut these things back it should be for general health purposes. Some dietary changes have shown the ability to slow prostate cancer growth but none show curative effects. That argument is not going to go away. Red meat is another one the guys like to say you need to drop. I say to all these things you need to moderate smartly. Eat a heart healthy diet and combine it with exercise. Your heart is more likely to kill you than prostate cancer and that's sensible logic to me.

Peace and blessings back to you...

Tony

Buzz -- my numbers are similar to yours.  i did HT, BT and IGRT.  so far so good.  everything works like it's supposed to (as long as i take my cialis).

ed

 

Buzz,

I too am in Georgia and had combined therapy. You will do well. You have received great advice here. I found the important aspects to limit side effets during radiation included no caffine, plenty of exercise, stay well hydrated with water throughout the day, limit spicy and greasy foods, and a glass of red wine every night. I gave up beer because of the carbonation. I had no problems whatsoever and only experienced some increased urgency and frequency of bot urinary and bowel functions. All that cleared up within a couple of weeks after the radiation stopped.

I too met with the team at Prostrcsion, but chose HDR brachytherapy. One of my business partners used them 7 years ago and has done well. My urologist-surgeon said he wouldn't operate as I was too high risk and suggested the HDR brachytherapy and IMRT. It takes awhile to be confident that the treatment chouce was the best, but most of come to that determination so long as things go according to the expectations the doctors set.

Where in Georgia are you? I am at Lake Lanier.

Good Luck

Jack

I live in Canada, not sure if you have this treatment where you live - but im getting Brachy theropy. I have phase 1 prostate cancer. small seeds are implanted in the prostrate which radiate for 3 months and kill the protrate and cancer cells with minimal damage to anything around it.

Buzz,

Like John T above, I had BT first followed by 25 IGRT treatments. My experience was very similar to his....no incontinence, no ED, some frequency/urgency/burning issues that have now gone away. You will also experience some fatigue somewhere around the 15th rad treatment but that, too, will start to disappear after your last treatment. I have had no diet issues but have cut way back on caffeine....had already cut out alcohol many years ago.

I have been very happy with my choice and believe you will be too. If you want to communicate further, please feel free to contact me by email....my address is in my profile. Best wishes,

Joe

Buzz,
I agonized over the decision too. It's a hard call because it is so hard to know for sure if you've done the right thing. I have numbers similar to yours (fewer cores involved) so I decided on just external beam radiation. I am lucky to have a clinic within a 15 minute that can do it. I started last week.

Right now I am trying very hard just to focus on this treatment and not think about the what ifs - what if this doesn't work, what if I chose wrong. If this treatment doesn't work, I'll just have to try something else.

and if I chose wrong? well won't be the first time I've screwed up. ;)

On diet - so far I've found it best to avoid coffee and alcohol. I have been trying to keep the rest of my diet about the same and the same amounts.

After a long decision making process, I chose seeds only (my journey is in my signature). I had frequency for 3 months or so, but now 6 months out and things are pretty much back to normal. I still do take a Flomax pill once a day though. I have my 1st PSA teat appointment coming up in a couple of weeks, so I'm a bit nervous about that. I did not really make any dietary changes. Still have my one cup of coffee in the morning. I don't drink that much, but when I do, I don't notice a difference from before the procedure. Good luck to you.

BUZZ1,
I was dx with PC on 11/23 my oldest daughters birthday and the day before thanksgiving. at that time I was not very knowledgeable about the options 4 treatment. So I saw a urologist in December who has done numerous open prostatectomies and scheduled surgery for January but I was losing sleep over the worry of what happens after ward. As i already suffer from ED the uro said i would most likely lose whatever i had. But that believe it or not didn't worry me as much as fear of incontinence. so i went and saw an oncologist and he indicated that surgery or radiation would both be good for me and said that i had time to decide and shouldn't stress over a decision during the holidays. So i cancelled my surgey and BAM I felt so relieved. Backing up to the previous March 2011, I had a urinary retention episode so painful I barely made it to the hospital in one piece it felt. They catherterized me while i was fully conscious and got the equivalent of two wine bottles of urine out of me. Not that i had been drinking which is a much longer story. the catheter had to stay in for 7 days. When it came out I was a happy man and vowed never to be catherterized again. The urologist started me on Jalyn ( avodart and flomax) to shrink my prostate as he said it was enlarged. That was the first time I had an episode of retention. Anyway, I am vacillating between IMRT by Calypso Beacon and surgery. However, I haven't decided which treatment yet partly because I was thinking that I was an outlier considering radiation therapy by IMRT at my age of 51. Thank you for your post and the replies are encouraging. sorry for the long post to ur posting. Good luck to you, I may not be too far behind.