Positive update for ADT and RT

I haven't posted in awhile but trust me that I have been keeping an eye on the board. I have read so many posts regarding members fear and negative experiences. Often times in forums it is the people who have poor experiences who post most. I just wanted to give some hope and alleviate some fear for those that might have to take this route of RT and ADT.
We had hoped that my husband would be one and done in terms of treatment. That pesky G8 has remained a negative factor. We had met with with several Uros and an RT who felt he would be a good candidate for surgery. Anywho he wanted the surgery and is still comfortable with his choice to get it out and get a true picture of his pathology. His sample from his biopsy showed only one positive node with only 5% 4+4 but there was a larger turmor. The kicker was there was a positive margin. Again another pesky factor.
So after some consults and research ( some of which I got on this site) we decided that 37 sessions of RT was prudent and the Onc recommended Lupron. At least 6 months and most likely 18 months. He has tolerated both pretty well. There is hope for others facing this choice and the treatments are not always life altering.
In terms of the Lupron, he has been more tired, has gained maybe 10 lbs and is less frisky than normal. The stress and overindulging of the holidays could also be a factor. The Lupron fog has not been a huge factor if at all. He has to do bids and precision is imperative and he hasn't felt debilitated.
In terms of the radiation, it is no doubt a grind. However, he has been handling it really well. He has taken no time off of work, still works out for an hour of heavy weight lifting and 30 min of strenuous cardio (either a stair climber or an elliptical)3 times a week and with the exception of holiday dinners he has eaten pretty clean. He has the first appt in the morning and drinks 40 oz. of water an hour before his treatment. That seems to do the trick. One time he didn't drink it early enough and he had to back outside and have more water. One time he got on the table and the machine had issues. It was taking too long and he had to go out and try to relieve himself just a little. It was painful. He has only 9 more sessions. Yippee!! At his weekly meeting with the Dr. on Friday they said they would like to clone him because he is doing so well.
I am not posting this to brag but to give hope. I have read about men on here saying that they don't want to do a treatment that may very help help them for fear of the SE's. The whole decision making process is agonizing. Despite my husband's post RALP PSA getting up to .2 and the surgeon telling my husband he could wait for it to go higher we felt based on the pathology it didn't make sense to possibly fall short. We were petrified to not do RT and then have PSA go higher and have missed an opportunity to nip the beast in the bud. The Lupron took his PSA to undetectable really quickly. He said yesterday that he thinks he actually might not feel as tired. I wish all of you the best. Whoever said that prostate cancer is one of the "good" ones to get is misinformed. You are all very brave people and I wish you peace in your decision making.

Up4thefight, thank you for this very encouraging post. I just had a consult with an RO regarding SRT and his protocol calls for six months of ADT (lupron + casodex) along with 37 radiation treatments. And as with most I’m leery of the potential side effects of the ADT so your update on your husbands progress is very helpful to me, again thank you for posting!!

Mike

Thanks for the update U4TF, and glad to hear the RT/HT battle is going well!

Nice to hear from you all. I know as we have been on this journey I appreciated hearing all of the member's experiences. My husband would never have checked any of this out. I am the type who needs to investigate. I have learned so much thanks to you all. I've had several drs who have asked if I am in the medical field based on my questions and observations and that is thanks to this forum and Tall Allen's articles.
No bowel issues as of yet. I'm hopeful with 9 to go that just maybe it won't happen. Also, no burning of the skin. I know people with breast cancer getting RT and in the end their skin was super tender. Maybe that doesn't happen with PC RT.

Another thing I didn't mention was that my husband is 98% dry. Maybe a little leak with a stress move and possibly after a few beers. The dr suggested he go to the PT who does work for the PC guys. I was so surprised that he made an appt. It turns out he wasn't doing his kegels the right way. So word to the wise, if you get an opportunity to get this kind of help go for it.

Thanks for the update. He is certainly doing all he can on his end, now we can only hope that the RT+ADT works its magic.

You are right that skin burns are not an issue with PC RT because the energy is released deep inside the body. They use 6MV or 15MV X-rays that are not stopped at the skin. And the "burn" only occurs where lots of beams converge at or near the prostate bed and pelvic lymph nodes.