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No Advantage to Immediate HT After Failed RP + SRT?

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Posted 4/22/2015 4:54 PM (GMT 0)
That's my takeaway from posts in another current thread. I've just finished SRT and would love to forgo a followup PSA, just assume I've been cured, go on with my life, and then fight aggressively if evidence of mets show up later. Is this actually a reasonable strategy, and if so, should I be getting periodic scans of any kind to catch the mets before physical symptoms present?
Posted 4/22/2015 7:22 PM (GMT 0)
Because you have a good chance of favorable outcome, don't you want that assurance from PSA tracking? And if it's, God forbid, unfavorable, don't you want to know when to check for mets so you can start chemohormonal therapy if called for?
Posted 4/22/2015 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
Phenom,

You've had the radiation. You're cured, guy! Get out there and live your life. Don't worry about your PSA tests. That's your doctor's job. Just let him take your blood a couple of times a year so he can earn his money. But try not to pay too much attention to what he does with it.
Posted 4/22/2015 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
Peter:

I hope your tongue is firmly planted in cheek.

You've had the radiation = you're cured??

I only wish

Mel
Posted 4/22/2015 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
Mel,

I am trying to point out the false dichotomy of either continuing PSA testing or considering oneself cured and getting on with one's life. He should do both. He is cured until such time as his doctor tells him he isn't.
Posted 4/22/2015 10:07 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, guys, much appreciated. To explain the real point behind the question, I am so enjoying NOT knowing one way or the other. Since I do have a fair chance of being cured, so far, two months after SRT, I've had no problem pretty much putting it out of my mind and going about my life as if PC hadn't happened. If I start getting tests, I will at least have the periodic anxiety to deal with, and if it shows my SRT has failed, then my current state of mind will no longer be possible. So the next question is, what is it costing me to forgo PSAs--more precise timing of when to initiate scans and treatment? Is there such a thing as active surveillance at my stage, such as yearly or bi-yearly scans? Any idea what it might cost me to wait until symptoms of mets? I'd like to go as long as possible living with the assumption that I'm fine, then when it's clear I'm not fine and need treatment, do whatever I can to put off dying from it as long as possible, perfectly willing at that point to endure SEs to buy extra time. But would knowing through PSAs how it was progressing buy me extra time on top of that, and if so, how much?
Posted 4/23/2015 4:33 AM (GMT 0)
Read my latest thread for my view. The best way to monitor the the need for scans is a psa test.. But I totally understand the dilemma first hand. Having said all that, who the heck really knows. It all gets back to personal choices and living with them..turning the corner without the toy periscope.
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