My timeline is almost identical. "Successful" surgery November '09; rising PSA first noted 18 months later; just completed on Monday (Feb 20 to April 16) 41 sessions of IMRT. Difference in my treatment: wide angle to include pelvic lymph nodes and also began six months Casodex/Lupron hormone therapy last December 1 (my leading indicators are not good, so my medical oncologist and radiation oncologist team decided for the most aggressive treatment). Because of the hormones, my PSA is now undetectable, so no follow up testing for three months -- it may actually be another six months after that before data will reveal whether it was local disease only. In other words, residual hormones effects by themselves may suppress PSA when I do three month follow up in July. If PSA is >= .05 at any time, however, my team will consider radiation to have failed to solve the problem-- disease would be considered to be not local. After that, back to various combinations of hormones, I suppose, for as long as they help. (As near as I can tell my recurrence 18 months out from surgery is pretty closely linked to having a Gleason 8. The Gleason seems to be the main thing with prognosis for this disease.) Best wishes!
NewspaperLover, age 68
DaVinci Surgery Nov '09; clean margins and seminal vessels. Quick recovery. Not a day of incontinence.
Gleason 8
PSA recurrence first noted June '11
PSA rose from June '11 to Nov '11 from .07 to .17
Three MRIs and bone scan in Nov '11 negative.
Began hormone therapy Dec '11.
Began IMRT 02/20/12. Included pelvic lymph nodes.
Finished IMRT 04/16/12
Follow up July '12