ADT and SRT Journey Part 6

Gary,
Totally fair points. Substitute for "cure": whatever PCa cells remain in your body never activate and your PSA never starts rising for the remainder of your lifetime. So that you never know you're really cured till you're dead.
And BTW: my opinion's more humble than yours, IMHO.

I'm seeing a RT this Thursday for a radiation consultation and more than likely a Zoladex injection. If I understand correctly I should have blood drawn and tested so they have a baseline testosterone level to go by before the Zoladex skews the real reading. Besides the psa number, is there any other blood chemistry that they need baseline readings prior to ADT.

I'm noticing that we have been having some new people asking about ADT and Lupron, so just wanted to refresh this page. There are many personal stories of guys going through ADT since December of 2017.

Larry

Wut he ^^^ said - we're here to share our experiences - which vary quite a bit.

Rob

Howard -
Not sure how many lymph nodes the surgeon looked at, but too bad they didn't radiate the nodes the same time as the prostate bed.
Following my surgery, in 2016, my PSA was was 2.6.
I went to UCSF and had the GA 68 PSMA scan that detected uptake in my left side nodes.
I had casodex & lupron before SRT and stayed on lupron for two years, until August 2018.
Thus far, T level still at castrate levels, but thankfully PSA still undetectable.

It's been a year now since my last Lupron shot, and as some of the guys know I had some pretty severe side effects, still have a lot hot flashes but the last month I have noticed that the degenerative arthritis in my hands has improved tremendously. I am hoping that this will continue. I have even quit wearing braces on my hands. I haven't changed my diet or done anything really different so I'm thinking it's the Lupron.

Larry

Dear Salvageers (or maybe Salvageezers),

Just felt like checking in and reporting on the lockdown in Saipan, but don't want to be part of the Rantin' and Ravin'.

We're into our fifth week of lockdown. Amazingly, only 14 confirmed cases of covid-19 in Saipan -- amazing because we hosted thousands of tourists from China and South Korea in January and February. Guam, with 3x our population, has 10x the number of confirmed cases, not including the Navy crew on the Roosevelt. Hard to understand why Saipan's fared so much better. In the past three weeks, we've had no new confirmed cases. (One asymptomatic presumptive positive, the test kit's been sent to CDC for confirmation.)

Voluntary testing (antigen test) is underway, we have enough kits to test almost everyone on the island. My wife and I tested last Friday -- negative. The Govt's having trouble getting volunteers -- less than 3 percent of the population have raised their nostrils -- no doubt many people are afraid of being tossed into quarantine if they test positive. A shame, because we need a good read on the actual infection rate in order to determine if/when to reopen businesses. On the whole, our territorial Govt has been behaving rationally and responsibly. We haven't had public protests like in some states, and my sense is that the local community broadly supports continued caution.

A few months ago, my wife bought me a used stationary bike which I stared at blankly for weeks. It made for a nice piece of modern art in our spare room. about a week into the lockdown, I started riding it -- at first for only 5 or 6 minutes at a time, then gradually more and more. Now I ride it twice a day for 30-45 minutes a session, mostly at top gear. I feel better and have even dropped a couple of pounds. So that's something, I guess.

Next 3-month PSA in June. If that comes out undetectable, my MO will switch me to 6-month checkups.

Best wishes to all my forum friends and your families!

Skypilot56 said...
Any idea where your testosterone level is at?

528.

Luck of the draw. One year ago, it was <10. My T's higher now than it was in Feb 2018, just before I started ADH (431). Go figure.

Hey Guys. Its time for my one year PSA check on 5/15 at Mayo. I get blood drawn in the morning and then have the consult with the doctor a couple hours later. Everything is good with me, I've lost some weight due intermittent fasting over the last 2-3 months but PSA anxiety is rising.

I go to Mayo and will get my blood drawn. I'll wear a mask and I'm not going to put off the draw because of covid. The Dr is going to do my consult/results over the phone.

Guys, good luck to all of us facing PSA draws in the coming weeks.

I'm pretty sure you're safer going for a blood test at a clinic than you are out grocery shopping. Even on this lowly tropical island, the hospital and clinics are scrupulous about precautions. Hard to imagine they're any less careful in FL or NY or AZ.

👍👍👍