HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

So now what? I just got my last Lupron shot.

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/10/2019 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
Received my last Lupron shot a week ago.
What is next?

No check ups of any kind?
Who do I follow up with, my GP?

I don't know but it seems to me you RO should tell you when and how to follow up???????
Posted 11/10/2019 10:57 AM (GMT 0)
I can only go from my experience but when I got my hopefully last lupron shot the RO dept. turned me back to the Urology dept and scheduled a psa for 6 months as I was on a 6 month lupron shot. I had my psa check in Oct and a quick check-up with my Urology team and for the next year they are having me check PSA every 3 months because of my path report. The big difference is I had surgery so not sure what they would do in your case would think that they would at least want you to check every 6 months for a while? Larry
Posted 11/10/2019 11:13 AM (GMT 0)

Skypilot56 said...
would think that they would at least want you to check every 6 months for a while?

I would think the same thing.

I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow. Mostly I will just vent to her but I do need to take ownership of this. It seems insane to me to just pat me on the head and say goodbye with no follow up instructions.
Posted 11/10/2019 12:36 PM (GMT 0)
In my humble opinion, it behooves the patient to take ownership of their own treatment rather than just sitting back and letting the 'professionals' handle that.

Initial PSA of 10, probable ECE and a G7 Dx are concerning. Regular blood tests would be the minimum follow-up IMHO.
Posted 11/10/2019 1:39 PM (GMT 0)
So it appears RT is your primary treatment. The RO released you following treatment. Interesting. He must be a confident practitioner. It’s fortunate that you’re an educated patient who knows what to do post treatment. I guess you can monitor your PSA through your GP. Should you have a recurrence your next stop would be a PCa MO. Seeing an MO now doesn’t make sense to me, but it would be nice to have someone to help you interpret the PSA bounces that can come with primary RT.

I hate to think about the guys the RO has pushed out door who think they’re done, and may not be monitoring their PSA.

I hope the RT nailed it, and that you are done. Good luck!
Posted 11/10/2019 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
Tailguy gave you good advise ...Have your MO or GP check your PSA every 4 or 6 months for a while. You can even do this on your own, most labs accept walk-ins and you don't need a prescription..As long as the test comes back "undetectable" you are good to go, consider yourself "cured" . There are two types of PSA test, Standard and Ultrasensitive. I would do the standard test, a lot fewer false positives and a lot less worry and angst.. You want to see the results posted as <0.1 which means undetectable..This assumes you have had a prostatectomy.. Best of luck to you...
Posted 11/10/2019 7:15 PM (GMT 0)
Mentor: So as not to confuse us further, please complete your signature with treatment details.

Re the above post, an ideal result would be posted as <0.1. This applies to those who have had their prostate removed. But as it seems (!) that you have had radiation therapy, a good result is defined as less than nadir +2

As a friendly reminder, use the same lab and test method.

Post Edited (Sr Sailor) : 11/10/2019 12:19:19 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/11/2019 2:00 PM (GMT 0)

mattam said...
So it appears RT is your primary treatment. The RO released you following treatment. Interesting. He must be a confident practitioner. It’s fortunate that you’re an educated patient who knows what to do post treatment. I guess you can monitor your PSA through your GP. Should you have a recurrence your next stop would be a PCa MO. Seeing an MO now doesn’t make sense to me, but it would be nice to have someone to help you interpret the PSA bounces that can come with primary RT.

I hate to think about the guys the RO has pushed out door who think they’re done, and may not be monitoring their PSA.

I hope the RT nailed it, and that you are done. Good luck!

I am honestly pissed. I had a bad potassium test in July. The RO called me to tell me (surprise!) however when he called he had no clue what he was treating me with. I had to refresh his memory.
Then last week my final test results came back and my Kidney function has tanked. Tanked. Not even a call.(That is another thread)

I heard nothing about Lupron causing kidney damage.... well I am now ****ed!
(and I was pro active, I did take ownership. I, not the RO, reached out to a nephrologist prior to taking the darned drug. He said it was fine.

Post Edited (mentor5959) : 11/11/2019 7:03:23 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/11/2019 4:31 PM (GMT 0)
Did your RO do a baseline testosterone level? My MO didn't - didn't know enough to ask for it initially.
I was on Lupron for 18 months - last 3 month shot in April - still have lots of side effects, but they seem to be slowly getting better.

What I'm doing is following with my urologist. 6 month testosterone and PSA (not ultrasensitive) until I have a non detectable PSA, and a testosterone in the normal range (don't know what that is for me...). September tests were non-detectable for PSA, but a testosterone of 20 - so not a meaningful test.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Rob
Posted 11/15/2019 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
sooooooo what do i do now?

What is the consensus?

Find a urologist, look for a medical oncologist, grovel to my RO in the hopes he will do follow up?

My primary care doctor says I should chance down the RO and beg him to monitor me.... not something I want to do.
Posted 11/15/2019 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
I suppose I might have the Uro take up your PSA monitoring, then switch to an MO if your PSA starts showing a clear upward trend. Hopefully you won’t have to cross that bridge.

The main thing is that you need to track your PSA, but I think you’re well aware that.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply