Ted has had a fantastic response to ADT, which I wasn't entirely counting on, since his biopsy and other results indicated he had such an aggressive cancer. The latest bloodwork just came in at 0.01...not truly zero, but close enough! (and maybe as close as we could hope to come? I feel like I read a post saying that if you still have a prostate, you'll never get to absolute zero) He's feeling really good too. Still pretty emotional, although news like we just got will help with that, but physically he's feeling great -- no back pain, very manageable side effects.
In other happy news, after one appeal, the insurance company just approved the last of the prescribed meds, and one that I wasn't counting on having approved. It's Sprycel, a leukemia oral chemo the FDA hasn't approved yet for PCa. That should have given them an easy out, but they didn't take it, despite the high price tag. Between that and the fact that they also approved Zytiga (again, after a denial and an appeal), which he also doesn't technically qualify for, based on what the FDA approved it for, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised and relieved by our insurance. I still worry they'll jack up the rates on the plan for his very small employer (maybe 6 employees have coverage through it), but hey that's a problem for another day.
I hope this post gives someone in the fingers-crossed phase some hope 