weed newbie- those who have had rad therapy ...how was the hormone part??

I know most have had the RP...but those of you that have ha the shot of hormone then rad therapy and follow up of hormone treatment 3-6 months ....how bad - good --fair was it all ??? how did you feel through it all ??? just gathering info ...trying to figure it all out as most all of you have ......been told by a hospice friend tonight that the only way to face this is RP ...NOT RAD therapy ....I would be making a BIG mistake with the Rad therapy ....I know it`s mt decision and all the docs will make their own play to get you in their hands...pockets .....but still exploring rad therapy ...the only doc. I`ve liked so far ....but back to hormone therapy ....how bad is it ?? Thanks ...David

Hey Fl, I had the double dose of HT(One was the shot and the other was daily pills)for 6 months before my surgery. I had some wild rides of side effects for short periods of time but I was prepared mentally to get through it and I knew it would end in 6 months. By the 4th month or so I had adjusted pretty well and the last 2 months was not bad at all. I am just now starting to get my testosterone back and it is almost 6 months since I stopped the HT. In my mind it is not too bad when you weigh the benefits that it provides. At one point I was facing the 2 to 3 years of hormone therapy if I went the radiation route so I thought 6 months was a walk in the park by comparison. Not the easiest thing to go through but it is manageable if you are prepared mentally. Unfortunately there is no easy choices in this situation but you can make the best of it.

Good luck with whatever your choice is...Jim

Hormone Therapy, what does it mean?? In a nutshell it means chemical castration. They inject a drug that causes your testosterone to drop to almost nothing..Without testosterone, lots of things happen, most of them unpleasant..It is however very effective at suppressing prostate cancer which needs testosterone to grow. There are always a few cells that are "hormone independent"....They don't need testosterone to multiply so after a while the cancer continues to progress. The patient becomes "hormone refractory"

So what are the side-effects? Loss of libido and the ability to have an erection. annoying hot flashes, especially at night..loss of most body hair. Slow loss of muscle mass (in many cases replaced with fat) slow breast development. Testicles shrink to less than half their former size, penis too...strength and stamina noticeably reduced..A quick temper and aggressive behavior no longer a problem..

Now it takes TIME for ALL these horrors to manifest themselves..Three years or more...The hot flashes and body hair loss are first, then sexual desire and ability gone..if the treatment is stopped after a year or so, you can expect to recover fairly quickly from these things..The longer you are on it, the longer recovery takes...

Thank you all for the information. In some was I feel lucky because the doctors where at one time seriously considering giving me chemo in addition to radiation and hormonal.

I don't want to highjack this thread, but I was just thinking we haven't heard from PDA in quite awhile. First Krissy, then Peter. Good to see you back, both of you!

David,
You seem to be a good candidate for radiation + HT. You should be seen by a radiation oncologist for their opinion, don't place too much weight on your hospice friend's advice. I am sure he means well but may be misinformed. If you do decide on HT with radiation, 3 to 6 months is not a big deal. You will recover from any side effects fairly quickly. Good luck with your treatment choice.
Regards,
Kris

Did your hospice friend quote you any statistics on why RP is the only way to face this? Is he familiar with all the different types of radiation--both types of brachytherapy and SBRT? None of us here are doctors either, but I certainly wouldn't base your decision on what person said, although I'm sure he is a well-meaning friend. You need to talk to the right doctors that specialize in the different types of radiation if you're going to have a meaningful basis for making comparisons.

To answer your question, hormone therapy is not a walk in the park, but it's not terrible either--particularly for a short-time frame. My sentence was 18 months and you just need to power through it.

Have you set up any kind of internal decision making process for yourself? What factors are the most important to you and what you still need to learn? I think you might find that helpful. I think most guys here would tell you that making the treatment decision is one of the most difficult parts of this process.