ADT and SRT Journey Part 3

Gary it will be at least two years so another 18 months and then I can probably get off. The RO gave me the choice but said my team looked at my path report looked at the cancer slides and the seminal invasion and nerve involvement and strongly recommend that I stay at least 2 years if I can handle the side effects so I agreed I know there is a lot of talk about 18 months and a lot of talk about guys getting both Lupron and another chemo drug at the same time so a person never knows hey? I can live with the hot flashes and the fatigue sometimes it' s discouraging for me. putting on fat in my upper legs with all the walking and biking and snowshoeing I do is kinda disheartening but will just have to work harder at trying to keep muscle instead of fat?

Larry


p.s. time for a nap!

Great news Larry

Crazyick said...
First day getting zapped went without a hitch. They were happy with how full my bladder was and how empty my colon was. Told me to keep doing what I’m doing regarding prep. While under the machine I kinda lose tract of time but I’d guess the CT portion took about five or so minutes followed by another five or so minutes for the radiation. 37 more to go!

Mike

Good for you! I think it took me about five or six sessions to get repeatable with bladder volume, then I was either spot-on or had to loose a half a cup of urine. It's a long slog but it will become more or less routine for you before long. I had a good (relatively speaking) time joking with the radiation techs, the one fellow was a football fan so I had fun talking football with him.

Depending on the Gray units you are getting, you might get really tired at some point. Apparently the radiation intensity is variable depending on the radiation plan the RO prepares. At about treatment 20 or 25, I wasn't nearly as tired as I was early on. My RO said the Gy was decreased.

Had my final 3 month Lupron injection Friday, which brings me to about 2 years, in conjunction with my SRT.

Hate the SE's but very happy the hormones worked.

Will meet with my MO & RO in about 4 months & hope the PSA will still be undetectable.

Bobby Mac

AZ congratulations on your reduction and look forward to the same good news on May 9! Anybody heard from Zzarth he was suppose to get his psa check same day as me.

Larry

Progressing said...
Starting on the journey. First 3-month Lupron shot yesterday, surprised it was painless, waiting for it to kick in. RO said the 3-month eased in rather than hitting as immediately as the 1-month.
Psa rose again, now .14, but the rest of a complete blood count and metabolic panel were in normal ranges.
Simulation the last week of May, radiation will begin first week of July, 40 sessions, 72 Gy, prostate bed and lymph nodes.
Hoping to hear more good news from you who are ahead on the path.

Progressing, today was fraction 4 of 38 for me. The actual treatments for me take about 15-20 minutes between getting lined up on the machine, imaging to insure you’re lined up, and zapping. They have me on a low residue diet and I have to drink 16 ounces of water 45 minutes prior to each treatment. So far the prep hasn’t been an issue and you do tend to get in the habit of what you need to do pretty quickly or at least that was how it’s gone for me so far.

As to ADT, I took my first casodex pill on 2/18 and my first one month Lupron shot on 3/6 followed by a three month shot on 4/6. So far so good regarding side effects with that double barrel of fun. At night my bald head will get sweaty which seems to go away as quickly as it comes on. I feel fatigue in my legs when I ride my bike but other than that I’m doing really well with the ADT (hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself!).

I will definitely post more as my treatments progress.

Mike

Gary - soon you will look back and think, gee, that wasn't so bad. And then another hot flash will hit you.

garyi said...

RobLee said...
Gary - soon you will look back and think, gee, that wasn't so bad. And then another hot flash will hit you.

Then I can advise guys that it's "no big deal" and "throw the kitchen sink at it".

So true! The essence of garyi wisdom.

Progressing and Crazyick— Safe sailing to you!

I have 5 fractions left. No significant radiation SEs. A few days of loose poop around week 6 seems to have resolved on its own — may just have been something I ate.

Thanks for info everyone — it helps to anticipate, especially the possibility of manageable SEs.
How about fatigue? RO nurse was pretty strong about napping when tired.

I actually got fatigue the worst after treatment ended.


Larry

Today is number 36 of 39 treatments - the fatigue really only hit me in the last week or so. I've had a bunch of bowel issues - look up radiation proctitis. No urinary issues, but a band of "sunburn" where the radiation enters / exits my pelvis.

Four to go - can't wait to be done with radiation and give everything a chance to heal and "only" be dealing with lupron side effects.

Good luck guys.

Rob

Hardlyrob said...
Today is number 36 of 39 treatments - the fatigue really only hit me in the last week or so. I've had a bunch of bowel issues - look up radiation proctitis. No urinary issues, but a band of "sunburn" where the radiation enters / exits my pelvis.

Four to go - can't wait to be done with radiation and give everything a chance to heal and "only" be dealing with lupron side effects.

Good luck guys.

Rob

You're in the home stretch Rob!

I was expecting 37 sessions but to my pleasant surprise the RO stopped at 33. I remember my pelvic area being pinkish and I lost all of my hair in the radiated area but it ultimately grew back. Only had a little bit of bowel problems but you probably had more Gy than I had.