16.5 years and on to a new treatment

Last I posted my husband was finishing up on treatment #5 of Jevtana. He had the bone biopsy which was sent to a lab back east and they found nothing helpful for him, so he has started on a combo chemo of Taxotere and Carboplatin. He will be receiving that weekly for the next 12 weeks, and then we will see what comes next. Hopefully he will once again have some luck with Xtandi, which worked for over 4 years. His baseline PSA is now at 3.8, so it had gone down a slight amount from the finishing of the Jevtana.
It has been quite a 16.5 years, never give up!

Keep it going. Here's hoping the new treatment works.

Andrew

I've tried to get a signature on here, but no luck, so briefly:
Diagnosed 2/2001
Surgery 4/2001
35 radiation treatments starting 8/2001
Lupron shots since 2001
The first record of medications I have kept was beginning in 4/08-10/09 Casodex
11/09-4/12 Ketoconazole
4/12-8/12 Taxotere (6 treatments)
9/12 Zytiga stopped because of Liver function
10/12-4/17 Xtandi
4/17-7/17 Jevtana (5 treatments)
9/17- present Taxotere/Carboplatin weekly, scheduled for 12 treatments, has had 2 of 12

Some of the drugs were taken with Prednisone.

My husband had a PSA of 9 when all this started, Gleason 9. The cancer had spread to one nerve and I if I remember right, no lymph nodes involved. (It's been a long time!)
He has been a strong believer in Pom juice, so a glass every evening has been a part of his life since all this began. Has it helped? He thinks so!

His original oncologist stopped taking our insurance, so I really started making note of his medications after our current oncologist took over.
His lowest PSA was .04 in 4/01 and highest 4.8 in 7/17.

Today he had a port put in to give his veins a break, so we are waiting for some smooth sailing coming on!

It's interesting that soon after his surgery we went to a support group at our local hospital and I think the average age was 80. We got many stares as to why a 55 year old man and his 47 year old wife would be there. Needless to say we never went back! A doctor gave a talk on the expected lifespan of a G9 was 8 years.

Hope this helps.

Thanks smo1,

You and your husband have been through a lot! I admire your husband's resilience. Sooner or later I will probably be going through a lot. You and your husband's story is inspirational. Thank you, and it does help.

Hey smo,
Maybe when your DH gets closer to the age of that support group you attended, you can start a support group for scared young guys with PCa! Show them what's achievable. What a great run on xtandi!!
Best wishes for minimal side effects (other than no PSA rise!) with the chemo.
Beth
PS...he's getting it weekly??? Don't think I've ever heard of that!

It bothers me that you received that input from a support group. I would think that both of you would have so much to add and contribute to a support group. Shame on them.

Paul