New Member - WBgl9

Hello, everyone. This is my first post. I hope my experience can be of help to anyone beginning the difficult process of choosing a treatment plan.

I was diagnosed with PC in June of 2007. My Gleason score was 9. After many weeks of research, I opted for 10 weeks of IMRT followed by 2 years of hormone therapy (Lupron injections every 3 months). Now, nearly 4 years later, my PSA is 0.5 and most systems are back to something near normal.

I was extremely fortunate in finding a very good radiologist who guided me as I weighed my options. I had been leaning very strongly toward Proton radiation but my doc felt that, with a Gleason of 9, there might have been some migration of the cancer out of the prostate gland and into the prostate bed or beyond, even though tests indicated otherwise. His recommendation was to go with a ten week radiation program with the first six weeks being "wide pattern" and the last four weeks being narrower and more focused. I finished my radiation treatment in Sept. of '07 and immediately began my Lupron injections.

I had some post-treatment issues with both the radiation and the hormone therapy. Radiation caused me to have bowel problems for a while and the Lupron side effects subsided but did not go away completely for nearly a year. Now, however, my bowel functions are normal and the hot flashes and night sweats are gone. I'm still working on tightening up my chest muscles as I had developed breast-like fat deposits that were difficult to get rid of. I'm happy to say that, after many hours of specific, focused exercising, my chest has returned to normal.

I have intentionally not gone into a lot of detail in this post to keep it short and readable. However, if anyone finds this helpful and would like more detailed info, just let me know.

Will

Will, Welcome to healing well. Thanks so very much for you post. Many of the new G 8 and G9 need to see post like yours. Congrats on the great choice of Dr and the success of your treatment. That is the value of this board helping each other.

Cajun Jeff

Will:

You can email me with more detailed information.

(David -- I sent you an email on another matter)

Mel