My Dad's Prostrate Ca.

My father is 86 - well, he will be 87 next month.  Up until a couple months ago he was in pretty darned good health for a man his age...lives alone, drives, goes places, took a daily walk or treadmil.... then one leg started swelling...he went to his GP who had an ultrasound done looking for a blood clot, and found none.  The leg kept getting bigger, until one day I was visiting and checked out the "swollen leg" and had a fit.  It was a tree trunk ! from hip to foot.  I made him go back to the dr.  This time they did a pelvic CT scan.  Found some "fuzzyness on the bones and maybe some lesions on bones of his spine."  Also did a PSA and came up with a PSA of 85.  GP sent Dad to his urologist who gave him an injection of Trelstar.  3 weeks later, his other leg is almost as big as the first one, and his scrotum has swollen also.  Dad can barely walk, and is so upset and unhappy.  He also seems to be somewhat ... not as clear mentally...

I requested a consult with an oncologist, since this symptom of the legs swelling is making such a negative impact on his ability to do anything.  I accompanied Dad to his first appt with his new oncologist.  I liked the doc, and he was great with both of us.  Dad just had a full body bone scan and CT on Friday.  The Urologist re did the PSA before he sent us to the oncologist and the PSA had risen to 135. 

I know my dad is a senior, but until this leg swelling ordeal he was up and out daily, and now, we are looking at needing in home help for him to get a bath, and things that he can no longer do in such a short period of time. 

I'm looking to see if anyone has heard of this kind of edema in the legs from Prostrate Ca.   Even his onolcolgist is .... perplexed.  He also has a cardiology consult coming up in a week and a half, as I am concerned about congestive heart failure too. 

I guess, I'm just looking for answers....sigh....

 

I have never herd of this, but rest assured, the doctors will treat and at least comfort. At his age it best to leave the cancer untreated but do treat whatever symptoms he is having for whatever the reason. In today age, He should have palliative care with out a lot of effort, I would hope.

First, welcome to HW. Sorry you need to be talking to us but it's a good place to ask questions.

That's a tough one to diagnose. While it's possible it could be PC, it could be other cancers, blood clots, and the list goes on ( like I am sure the doctors have told you). My father had swelling in his right leg due to heart bypass surgery - they take veins from the leg and over time it affects the circulation in the leg and edema gets much worse. My mother had a problem like this - turned out to be a tumor on her liver was pressing on an artery but they saw that in the ultrasound.

The rising PSA is the big concern. Hope there is more they can do for that. If it is PC the drug will take awhile (weeks) to have any real affect and they might need to be even more aggressive.

Let us know if you learn anything from the scans.
Andrew