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Short stay in the zero club

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Posted 3/31/2010 1:54 AM (GMT 0)
One year PSA is in. I managed to go from .07 to .28 in less than 3 months. Very disappointing. Well it's time to move on to phase II. Will talk to my surgeon tomorrow hopefully, and then make some appointments with medical oncologists. I got a lot of good information from this site, and feel more prepared for the next steps. Thanks all. Any additional words of wisdom would be appreciated.
Posted 3/31/2010 1:58 AM (GMT 0)
BB, sorry to hear this news. Yes, good time to speak to a medical and radiation oncologist. There has been a bunch of us in the past 3-4 months that have needed salvage radiation. so there is plenty of varying experience in dealing with it. If you are at .28, good time to plan to deal with it before it climbs much higher. Good luck and please stay connected to us.

David in SC
Posted 3/31/2010 2:00 AM (GMT 0)
BB - sorry to hear the change in stats - but you seem to have a good foothold on what is needed next - and what to ask the docs
- wishing you all the best and a return to the zero club.
hugs
BRONSON
Posted 3/31/2010 4:00 AM (GMT 0)

BB

Sorry to hear your bad news.  You are heading down the right path now.

Waiting for you to return to the zero club!!

Please let us know how you progress.

Skeener

Posted 3/31/2010 4:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hi BB,

I am hopeful that the nerve sparing procedure left behind the suspect tissue and that any remaining PCa is highly localized for a successful treatment.

'Wishing you the very best in your plans for getting back on track!

Barry
Posted 3/31/2010 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi BB,

Sorry to read about the increased PSA. I was in a similar situation about 18 month ago and had the SRT. For me it was not such a big deal. Had some anal discomfort and a bit of rectal bleeding, but all petty much cleared up 6 month after completion of the SRT. If I was you, I wouldn't wait much longer. I understand that SRT is most effective when started soon after a recurrence is confirmed. Hope all goes well with you.

All the best.

Magaboo

Posted 3/31/2010 5:44 AM (GMT 0)
BB,

Sorry to hear about your increase in PSA and moving out of the zero club...    Same thing happened to me and I finished my SRT about 2 1/2 weeks ago.   I had 32 treatments at 2 gys each for a total of 64 gys.

I had little side effects and treatments were a snap for me.   I am just waiting for another month or two to take a PSA and see where I am at.

As David mentioned,  there have been a bunch of us going thru SRT after a rise in PSA...   Feel free to ask any questioned you want.

Praying that we all get back into the "zero" club!

pasayten

Posted 3/31/2010 9:43 AM (GMT 0)
BB
Sorry you've left the club (I never even made it, I'm due RT any day now)

I was wondering how old you are as your age isn't in your profile. You don't have to reveal, but There have been a lot of posts lately about BCR and RT and choices etc and I think a person's age is a factor in how you reach a decision about what to do when PSA starts to rise after surgery.
Being only 48 at dx and 49 at BCR means I am now looking for treatments that may help give me more years and have to accept that the side-effects are the price to pay.

Alfred
Posted 3/31/2010 12:26 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for kind words and support. I will seek several, perhaps 3 opinions on futher treatment. However, I was thinking because of my high gleason and quick recurrence chances that cancer is still local are slim. I will post my progress. Probably will have questions along the way. BTW Alf, I am 57. In what way should my age affect my future treatment.
Posted 3/31/2010 12:41 PM (GMT 0)
Really sorry to hear your news. Hopefully this is just a small scrap left over and the next treatment will wipe it out.
Posted 3/31/2010 12:48 PM (GMT 0)
darn: I hate seeing news like this. There have been a bunch in the last 3 or so month in your situation. Let us know what your consults revel. Hope that this is just a bump in the road.

Good luck with step II.

Cajun Jeff
Posted 3/31/2010 1:42 PM (GMT 0)
BB,
I was in the same boat and as someone said there have been a number of us recently that had SRT. Sounds like it was caught early so now is a good time to get the rest of it. good luck and keep us posted.
Michael
Posted 3/31/2010 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
BB:  As suggested earlier it is a good idea to start SRT ASAP before your PSA goes above .50, the cure rate has been documented to be much better at that PSA or lower.  It takes a while to get set up for SRT so here is a suggestion:  Go ahead and get a lupron shot, that will stop the cancer in its tracks for the time being and allow you time to preopare for SRT.  My guess is your Doc. will reccommend that since your dealing with a Gleason 8.  I had the almost exact same stats as you, I received a lupron shot when my PSA reached .28 and then waited for 2 months to begin SRT, the theroy being the lupron would weaken the cancer over that period of time and make the SRT that much more productive.  I'll continue on the HT for possibly 2 years. 

Good luck and move at a good pace if possible.

David

Posted 3/31/2010 3:14 PM (GMT 0)
(read with caution)
The age issue for me is about the big issue I am in fact slightly reluctant to mention
ie When might I die?
It's an issue I think about occasionally. I choose to think about it deliberately almost to make sure I have had a good think and then I can forget about it for a while so as not to brood about it.

I can't not choose a treatment without investigating it a bit (lot) to find out if it's going to make me live longer as it's a lot to go throguh if it's going to make no difference or just a small diference.
If it's going to make a big diference then that's fine.

And in the way that an old man with PCa may choose to opt for AS an older man with a BCR may choose to do no more. as the differnece it will make in terms of the number of years may be irrelevant.

But me aged 49 and you aged 57 sound like men who should obviuosly chose to do something that will give us more years.

Alfred
Posted 3/31/2010 6:10 PM (GMT 0)

BB,  I'm sorry to hear the bad news.  Please keep us posted.  I can add a little insight to Alfred's comment about age.   My wife and I are both in our 70's and most of our health care decisions are based on quality of life issues more so than length of life.  With my shorter life expectancy, my issues may well be different than yours and Alf's.  And then, they might not.

Carlos

Posted 3/31/2010 10:56 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone. Your comments are helpful. Did contact my surgeon today. He wants to get one more PSA, ultra-sensitive this time. At least we will do it right away. I will let you know how I make out.
Posted 4/1/2010 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
BB it is always a bad news when one of our brother leave the zero club;just keep the faith.
Posted 4/1/2010 1:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, BB. I was in the same boat last fall. Had a Psa doubling time of 3 months. Started RT in late October and finished 12/22. Psa results 3 months post RT came back at 0.1, so it was cut in half. Doc told me it could rise some, or it could go down further,(fine by me). Had no major side-effects other than some bowel irritation, and would get dog-tired in the late afternoon, but a nap helps that. Just fortunate that I got to do the 39 treatments during the bad weather so I'd be pretty much be good to go by Spring. Will have follow up Psa in June and go from there. Played 18 holes of golf today with the sons and son-in-law and came in second, losing by 8 to my oldest son who can hit it a ton. Fatigue is pretty much history and the bowel situation cleared itself up by the end of RT. All in all, not a bad experience, but I think the worst part of it was having to make the drive back and forth everyday. But time passes quickly, and it's over before you know it. Good luck to you if this is the route you take. There are few mulligans with this disease. Do well.

Bob
Posted 4/1/2010 1:13 AM (GMT 0)
Hi BB - sorry to hear about your PSA reading. Here's to hoping it's a fluke and that the re-test will put you back in the zero club!
Posted 4/2/2010 3:03 AM (GMT 0)
Hi BB,
Sorry to hear the bad news. Here's hoping you'll beat this thing and return to the Zero club very soon.

Bob
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