The rest of the story part 2...

Nytngale,
My husband's situation is similar to yours. He was diagnosed May 15 and had surgery July 26. He had a positive lymph node and the surgeon said he went wide in the margins--I don't think any nerves were spared. He didn't think he could since my husband had a g9 in the biopsy. He had a clear CAT scan as well with no METS.

I understand where you are at--my husband was feeling very depressed yesterday and is taking Effexor-150 mg--for depression. It should be therapeutic since he's been on it for about 8 weeks now. I don't know that a med can really alleviate the day to day moods that come with cancer, though. Our days are still up and down! He is a retail manager and has a hard time letting go of work, even on days off, and I get quite frustrated with him some days. Yesterday was rough and I was depressed as well. It gets better, though, and some days are just crummy days

My husband started ADT therapy 3 weeks ago with Firmagon. They will switch him to Lupron, possibly next week. We met with the RO at the facility who was pretty blunt with us but is also a nice and supportive guy and a really good RO. We are in Colorado and were referred to The Urology Center of Colorado by our internist. I'm so grateful we went to him...he felt a nodule and his PSA was around 15 in March. It was over 18 by the time he got into TUCC in May. He cancelled his first appointment because of work. This is something I'm going to conquer with my husband! I think he is trying to NOT think about the cancer so much by focusing on work...I can be pretty persistent, though

I hope things go well for both of you. Please feel free to contact me at my personal email--it is posted. The people on this board have been very helpful and kind. You're in a good hands!
Take care,
Kitty (Charlene)

nytingale, You're in great territory with that initial PSA, especially at 3 weeks. The definitive PSA is at 3 months. If he stays in that area, with another 0.006, or even better with a "<", the docs may rethink even the ADT, and almost certainly the radiation unless something changes. I'll let some of the G9 guys weigh in on that.

kittytalk371 said...
--my husband was feeling very depressed yesterday and is taking Effexor-150 mg--for depression. It should be therapeutic since he's been on it for about 8 weeks now. I don't know that a med can really alleviate the day to day moods that come with cancer, though.

Please feel free to contact me at my personal email--it is posted.

Charlene- Your email is not in your profile. Perhaps someone else here can walk you thru setting that up.

As for you and your husband, I hope things go well for both of you. Don't expect too much from the Effexor after only eight weeks. I've been at 150 all of this year, starting 18 months ago and doubling twice, and just started feeling like the weight had been lifted last April after one full year. It helps, but it's not a miracle drug.

There are a lot of unknowns at this stage, and that tends to drive one crazy. It helps that you seem very supportive, that's a big plus. Keeping busy will help also. Good luck to you both!