Posted 12/26/2016 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hello !
You've found a caring and compassionate corner of the world, right here! It's a mighty network --- a place to glean information --- insight --- updates on new treatments.
We share advice --- we collaborate with each other from across the miles --- we share insight --- we share first-hand treatment experiences --- and most important of all, we SUPPORT each other in incredible ways.
We have members here from every corner of the country, and loyal members from across the globe, as well. Members check in 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, weekends and holidays included !
Your treatment story has some common threads with my treatment story. My treatment signature history is shown below at the bottom of this post.
I was diagnosed unexpectedly with advanced prostate cancer in my 40s, with a PSA score of over 100 at the time of diagnosis. I'm a school teacher, having taught for 25 years, and a new school year had just begun.
In a manner of speaking, it was time to put on a suit of armor, grab a sword and shield, and walk out onto the battlefield --- with my fellow warriors, who walk alongside me on this forum.
Soon thereafter, several friends of mine also became diagnosed with prostate cancer --- hometown friends, one of my college roommates, some work colleagues, a church minister friend of mine, and other friends from the community. I have a bond of friendship with each one of them --- and bonds of brotherhood emerge --- we check on each other and do all that we can to support each other through treatments. That same level of support is found right here on this forum, each and every day ...
It's a lot to deal with, as you know, when you are first diagnosed --- learning all you can about prostate cancer, the treatments, the side effects, the seemingly endless barrage of tests and scans at the time of diagnosis. You have to form bonds with doctors and nurses, seemingly overnight. You deal with physical side effects --- and a whole new range of emotions at the time of diagnosis.
I started on the LUPRON shots that you mentioned in your post, at the time of my diagnosis. The first PSA reading after I started the shots showed me that the shots were working, as they are in your case ! That was such a relief !
Soon enough, my PSA had worked itself down into single digits, as it has done in your case. Over time, my PSA dropped down into the decimal range, as my treatments continued. You already have the assurance that YOUR treatments are already working well --- and that brings encouragement and hope !
From there, I pursued the "early chemo plan" with TAXOTERE, just as you mentioned in your post. With the shots continuing, and by adding the TAXOTERE treatments, my PSA continued to climb down even lower. After chemotherapy is over, many of us here have then added either ZYTIGA or XTANDI to our treatments, to continue suppressing the PSA levels. Stay in close consultation with your doctors ! They become lifelines in all of this !
If you need first-hand insight into how to mitigate side effects during and AFTER the TAXOTERE chemotherapy treatment are over, please check out the thread entitled "TAXOTERE SIDE EFFECTS" --- simply type that thread title into the search box located in the top right-hand corner of your screen and I think you will find it informative and helpful. Many of us here worked together ... teamwork, in a "Band Of Brothers" effort ... to create this thread to help other fellows navigate through chemotherapy treatments ... in a "one brother to another brother" format ...
We are here to support you and encourage you, along the way. The members here are insightful, caring, compassionate, and supportive beyond all words to describe. If you've been reading here for a period of time, you will already see the bonds that emerge over time --- as members work together to help each other.
In your search box at the top right-hand corner of your screen, I would also recommend that you check out this thread, as well. It is entitled "Letters To The Newly Diagnosed" --- many of us here contributed to this thread, in the interest of reaching out to our newer members here who were recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Please take some moments to read through this thread --- it will help you grapple with some of the emotions that go along with a new health diagnosis.
I want to tell you that probably the most important thing I have learned since being diagnosed ... stay connected to family, friends, and faith, in whatever form that takes for you ... keep interested in your usual hobbies and activities and exercise routines ... in other words, keep living LIFE to the fullest extent.
I have adopted a saying in regard to this health diagnosis, and I hope it is helpful to you ... my saying can be summed up this way: "Although cancer has now become a CHAPTER in my life story, I don't want cancer to ever become the TITLE of my BOOK OF LIFE."
Words to think about ... words to live by ... words to encourage you right now ... I just celebrated my fourth Christmas since being diagnosed ... I have a lot to be thankful for, and I want to encourage you right now, as your treatments continue ...
You are taking a proactive treatment approach, and I think you are already seeing positive and hopeful results ! Please continue to check in with us, let us know how you are faring, and let us know how your treatments are helping you.
I wanted to reach out to you today --- to let you know that I understand what you are going through --- and that there are many others here who are walking right alongside you. We are all in this together ...
I'm thankful that you have posted and joined this group ... it's a powerful network of information ... advice, support, encouragement, and hope are shared here on a daily basis.
Handshake of support, from across the miles,
"Cyclone Team Fan" ~ Iowa State University