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Newly diagnosed, considering Brachytherapy?

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Posted 9/7/2011 2:04 PM (GMT 0)

During my frantic self-education on all that is PCa at the beginning of our own journey, I discovered an old post from JustJulie while searching Brachy posts, see link below. 

If you are newly diagnosed and considering Brachytherapy do take a look.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=1139717  

JustJulie, if you are still dipping in at HW, would love to hear an update.

x

Posted 9/7/2011 6:12 PM (GMT 0)
Great post. Very similar to my journey.  I hope that newly diagnosed people will take a look.  IMHO It’s something to consider.
Posted 9/7/2011 7:44 PM (GMT 0)
Dear Over:

Actually, I remembered that post.  When I came almost 3 years ago Julie was pretty much the only brachy patient (or spouse) that was posting on this forum.  It was pretty much wall to wall surgery.  Julie's journey was very helpful to me in making my decision just as I hope mine and yours are to other new patients.  The forum has come a long way as well.  Now AS gets decent billing, there is a live TFT example that was just updated, we have a couple of proton guys, cyberknife has made an entrance and there are a fair number of brachy patients who seem to be generally very happy with their choice.

Tudpock (Jim)

Posted 9/7/2011 10:05 PM (GMT 0)
I, for one, I am glad to see more and more "seed" treatments being done, there's a lot to said good about that method. Even in 2008, that was my original choice, but there were factors that prevented me from doing that as a primary treatment.

david in sc
Posted 9/8/2011 10:40 AM (GMT 0)

Exactly the reason I desperately wanted to give JustJulie’s post another airing with Brachytherapy in the title.  I know how deeply I personally had to dig to find the information Jeff and I wanted on Brachy.

I salute you guys who are still here flying the brachy flag years later (you know who you are), not all of us have the confidence/knowledge to do so, hence my use of Julie’s post – I suspect from reading her own posts that she won’t mind in the least!!!

Brachy won’t be for everyone, no more so than Surgery, AS, TFT, Proton, Cyberknife will be BUT it is great to see all of these posts here to help all newcomers make an informed decision on their own treatment.

x

Posted 9/8/2011 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
Brachytherapy was a clear choice for me. I was advised to go the High Dose Rate method and am very glad I did. I would suggest that anyone learning about brachytherapy should investigate both permanent seeds and HDR before deciding.

Excellent website to learn more about HDR is www.cetmc.com from the organization Dr Jeffrey Demanes founded. He is the HDR pioneer for PCa and many other cancers as well and now heads up the radiotion treatment at UCLA.
Posted 9/8/2011 5:10 PM (GMT 0)
Julie has probably had more influence than she realizes. I really got a lot of info on seeds/BT back in late 2009 from Tudpock's posts. Turns out he learned a lot from Julie.

Regardless of the treatment finally chosen, this is the great value of this site....reading the real life experiences of others who have been down the road you may take.

Thanks to all who share!   

Posted 9/8/2011 5:21 PM (GMT 0)
WOW!!!! I just read JustJulie's post and it is IDENTICAL to me!!!! 46yrs old, healthy, pre-cautionary psa test, a little high, pre-cautionary meeting with specialist, biopsy "just to clear the air once and for all". follow up meeting. Gleason 6, "prostate cancer" "caught early" "you are young" etc etc. I shut down hearing it (as JustJulie did). didn't hear a word after that. I have kids the same age as JustJulie.
all too weird ........
I had my Brachy mid June 2011. 101 seeds. now on flomax with everything working fine except for being up 4-5 times at night. things are getting better, last night up twice and had a great sleep! woo-hoo!
first follow up; psa down from original 5.8 to 4.7. next follow up in two months.

anyway, it feels good to type this.
thanks for listening/reading.
Posted 11/22/2011 9:30 AM (GMT 0)
bump
Posted 11/22/2011 2:22 PM (GMT 0)

Wow everyone, I didn't realize how much I missed being part of this forum.  To PSA 5.8 amazing how much your circumstances mirror mine- hopefully your results mirror them too!

I'm so thrilled I have been of help to some of you - I know this forum was a huge resource to me - not only for information but for support - for both patients and spouses.  It's not easy talking about your husband's "private parts" but the one thing I have learned is that modesty has no room here and nothing is off limits.

Blessings to all of you starting or continuing on a journey - know that you are not alone.  I think it's high time I come back to the nest for awhile and catch up with all of you.


Post Edited (JustJulie) : 11/22/2011 9:39:01 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/22/2011 4:34 PM (GMT 0)
I'm another satisfied Brachy patient going on 3 years. Psa two weeks ago was still 0.1 and I have no side effects. Life is exactly the same as before treatments.
JohnT
Posted 11/22/2011 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
I'm three months out from seeds and just had a hernia operation two weeks ago.  Seems the Hernia surgery messed with my bladder and I'm having more frequency because if it.  I can't say that everything is back to normal yet.  Maybe I'm just a bit down because of this setback (and still having to take Flomax - I'd like to get off of it, but for now that is not possible).  Still some ED, but not too bad and that frequency is bugging me a bit.  I guess I still have to be patient and let the treatment run it's course.  There is no free ride in PCa.
Posted 11/23/2011 12:11 AM (GMT 0)
I had Brachy done twice with EBR in between + HT.....5 months left on my 12 month sentence of HT
Posted 11/23/2011 3:18 AM (GMT 0)

GlennKavanagh said...
I had Brachy done twice with EBR in between + HT.....5 months left on my 12 month sentence of HT

Very interesting. First time I have heard of brachy being done twice. Was this HDR or seed implant brachy?

Sancarlos
Posted 11/23/2011 3:37 AM (GMT 0)

Sancarlos said...

GlennKavanagh said...
I had Brachy done twice with EBR in between + HT.....5 months left on my 12 month sentence of HT

Very interesting. First time I have heard of brachy being done twice. Was this HDR or seed implant brachy?

Sancarlos

HDR implants done June 16 and July 21.....EBR from June 22 till July 29
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