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Posted 11/20/2012 9:39 PM (GMT 0)
So, anyone else been in that nice bubble that comes after treatment when you think and feel like things are turning your way? And you start to believe that you may have turned the corner and are on your way to being a true PCa survivor? And you start to relax?

Well, I may have allowed myself a premature bubble. I was wondering whether I could forgo RT until I saw my oncologist yesterday and she had me take another PSA check. It rose from .6 a little over two months ago to 1.1. Her message to me: do the RT.

So, RT is what I'll do. It was supposed to be adjuvant RT, but it looks like it's turning into salvage. Maybe there isn't much difference, but it looks like I have the aggressive kind. Lucky me.

In for my mapping on Monday. I suppose the actually RT will follow shortly.

Wish me luck.

Ted
Posted 11/20/2012 9:57 PM (GMT 0)
Ted,
Sorry to hear the bad news.

I'm just wrapping up my first 30 IMRT sessions now. Aside from having to be here every day and some minor SE it has been a breeze. Zap the crap and get on with living.

Greg
Posted 11/20/2012 10:43 PM (GMT 0)
Ted,
Hopefully that will do the trick! I know that the nurses will tell you this, but please drink plenty of water or fluids..I probably didn't and got "freezer burn"--mild case
Bill
Posted 11/20/2012 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
ted,

sorry to hear the news. so on to your secondary treatment, and hopes it does the job for you. you are just right over the 6 month mark from surgery, so this would make it salvage surgery, but those are just words. hopefully, they will do at least 70 gys of radiation, giving you a better shot at getting the remaining cancer.

david
Posted 11/21/2012 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
I just finished and must say not that bad at all. SE minimal. Go for it.
Posted 11/21/2012 12:16 AM (GMT 0)
Ted, best wishes that the RT SE are not significant. For me, the only real SE was fatigue. It was definitely tolerable, and knowing that there were a limited number of treatments helped me march my way through. Hopefully that will do the trick.
Jeff
Posted 11/21/2012 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
Ted. Sorry to hear that news and I know you are too. Ya just gotta move forward and do the best you can for yourself. Best wishes.
Posted 11/21/2012 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, guys.

Just got back from my first PCa support group meeting. Should've gone sooner. Good to see guys who've been through more than me who are still walking and talking (and laughing). Good quote from the meeting: Cancer is not a bump in the road, it's a fork in the road. (And I'm going to take Yogi Bera's advice!).

Greg, I won't catch up to you, but I'll see you on the other side of RT. Zap the crap is my plan!

gunfighter, got it - drink plenty of water. Wish that were beer they recommend.

David, thanks. You've been through so much more, so coming from you it means a lot. I will ask plenty of questions of the rad doc. According to the online nomogram from Mem. Sloan-Kettering, the best dosage for my situation is 64 Gy's, and I'll bring that up, but I have to have some faith that the rad doc knows her job and go from there. I will impress on her that I want to get it all.

Pax and IM, thanks. My anxiety level is already going down.

Gleason 6, yup. That's what I've come back to. It's really the healthiest way to see things, emotionally wise.

Thanks again, guys. Here I go!
Posted 11/21/2012 5:13 AM (GMT 0)
By my calculation the six months won't be up for 23 days. I dunno if it counts as adjuvant if you start RT before the six month mark but finish it after. I don't suspect it makes a big difference.

I am a bit more that half way though my adjuvant IMRT. I am getting 37 treatments for a total dose of 66.6 Gy to my prostate bed. The first 30 treatments cover a wider area and the final 7 are closely targeted to the prostate bed. This means that the area surrounding the prostate bed will be getting 54 Gy and the prostate bed will get the full 66.6. I have five more of the wider area treatments left. I am kinda looking forward to those last seven treatments when they stop irradiating my hemorrhoids quite so much.

I am also doing two years of triple blockade HT which, some studies have shown makes the RT significantly more effective.

So far the side effects of the radiation aren't too bad. Can't say I like the hormone therapy but two years isn't a life sentence. It's more like the time you do for stealing a car.
Posted 11/22/2012 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
Peter, I am indeed at month 5 post op. I think the whole adjuvant scenario comes in play when they don't wait for a rising PSA (even though mine is already) but just plan on RT sooner. The rad doc said that with aggressive PCa, that's shown to be a good approach.

I'm not having HT (yet). She said studies are inconclusive as to whether it helps along with RT. If I get to that fork in the road, I'll take it too!

I'm feeling better about the whole RT process. I was a little freaked after hearing a doc on the radio (who is against PSA testing) throw a scare out about RT. After that I was wondering whether I should just do what I can through diet and lifestyle and forget any more medical treatment. I'm now back to a more moderate place where I believe RT is the next logical step AND do what I can through diet and lifestyle. Also doing some positive imaging and meditating. If I'm going to throw everything at this cancer, I may as well add the kitchen sink and all the dishrags while I'm at it.

Ted
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