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Posted 8/10/2020 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
Finally...after about a year, I am now undetectable.

My surgery was last October and I did not earn my less than sign. Lupron started in January 2020, radiation to prostate bed late February through April 2020, an experience I will never forget. I bought the entire radiation oncology department at Fox Chase coffee to thank them for being at work during the lockdowns.

I know it is something I have to watch for many many many years, but I was happy to see my first < sign. I think that is by far, my favorite key on the keyboard! My signature string is updated.

I meet with the RO on 8/31 and I am looking for a MO to keep an eye on me these next years. I am waiting for my second opinion from Johns Hopkins (my last 3 month Lupron shot was on 5/2020) to make sure there was no G9 or G10 running around. I would imagine Lupron would continue if I was G9/G10, so just making sure!
Posted 8/10/2020 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
Good news, Stephen! The first < is a milestone.
Posted 8/10/2020 9:54 PM (GMT 0)
Big time congratulations Stephen! Hope it stays that way for the next 50 years or so.

PS Classy move with the coffee!
Posted 8/10/2020 10:09 PM (GMT 0)
đź‘Ťđź‘Ťđź‘Ť
Posted 8/10/2020 10:19 PM (GMT 0)
Stephen....was it Starbucks, Dunkin, or WaWa?

Congrats!
Posted 8/10/2020 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
Stephen - Good to hear, enjoy the next 3 months. How are doing now after your treatments?
Posted 8/10/2020 11:02 PM (GMT 0)

Mumbo said...
How are doing now after your treatments

I am nearly 100% dry but am dealing with severe ED unfortunately. Surgeon had a hard time because of some scarring left over from nearby radiation treatment 7 years ago (dedifferentiated liposarcoma high grade....talk about scary) So one of the nerve bundles definitely didnt make it. There are signs of life but nothing functional yet.

Halbert said...
was it Starbucks, Dunkin, or WaWa?

If I could have, it would have been Dunkin’ but It was the coffee they have in the cafeteria at Fox Chase. There was no way to bring in anything so I purchased a ton of gift cards and a basket on site, added a note and handed it to the receptionists who checked me in everyday. smile
Posted 8/10/2020 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
Stephen, OK. Again, glad you're doing well. Maybe, once the dust settles and life gets better...we could meet sometime. I'm up in bucks cty.
Posted 8/10/2020 11:15 PM (GMT 0)
Always makes my day reading such updates! Outstanding to say the least.
Posted 8/11/2020 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
That's great news, Steohen. I'd be intetested to know how the field size and total dose for adjuvant therapy with SBRT compares to field size and dose used when SBRT is the primary treatment.

Thanks,

Djin
Posted 8/11/2020 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
Djin - I hope he meant SRT or ART based on the 2 month treatment period he described as being late Feb to April in the original post?
Posted 8/11/2020 12:54 AM (GMT 0)
Great news, Stephen! Wishing you many many years of "<" signs.
Posted 8/11/2020 7:20 AM (GMT 0)
Stephen S
Great news....You da Man!!...keep it going... That first < is special, here's to at least 70 more months like that and even longer.....like I have been blessed with!
Wings at 6 years of remission!
Posted 8/11/2020 12:18 PM (GMT 0)
Stephen, congrats on that "<", may it last the rest of your natural life.
Posted 8/11/2020 1:06 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats!!
Posted 8/11/2020 2:48 PM (GMT 0)
May your < run longer than the nothing post.
Posted 8/11/2020 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
BRAVO!!!

So very, very happy for you!

My "Radiation Graduation" happens this coming Monday, August 17th! True, "the old sausage" has only bestowed the "dry heaves," but the grand feeling happens, nonetheless.

May you and PCa be strangers forevermore!

Fred
Posted 8/11/2020 5:38 PM (GMT 0)
Excellent news, congratulations for staying on top of it - I know a couple of guys who haven't and are now running into issues
Posted 8/12/2020 10:51 AM (GMT 0)

halbert said...
Maybe, once the dust settles and life gets better...we could meet sometime. I'm up in bucks cty.

Absolutely. NJFred is also in the general vicinity of NJ/PA near Philadelphia.
Posted 8/12/2020 11:06 AM (GMT 0)

DjinTonic said...
I'd be intetested to know how the field size and total dose for adjuvant therapy with SBRT compares to field size and dose used when SBRT is the primary treatment

I do not know the answer. In my case I was hoping to avoid radiation completely because I was treated for a liposarcoma some years ago with radiation, and the area that was dosed overlapped the prostate to a certain extent. That treatment actually disqualified me from a number of PCa clinical trials I was interested in. As Maxwell Smart might say “Missed it by that much.”

Interestingly the liposarcoma was treated at the same hospital and as luck would have it the same two radiation room techs were assigned to me this round. It was an odd reunion of sorts! Hopefully just as successful.
Posted 8/12/2020 7:31 PM (GMT 0)
Great news
Good move on coffee
Though its a small token the staff appreciates someone going out of their way to show appreciation for their work

The small things count bigger than we know
Posted 8/14/2020 1:54 PM (GMT 0)

Some great news in your latest post!

I remember learning the difference between the "less than" and "greater than" symbols in elementary math class, back in the day!

This was probably followed by math homework printed on those "purple ink" mimeographed worksheets our teachers used to crank out for us. Remember those from your school days?

Truth be told, in my first few years of teaching, we still used that type of machine to crank out worksheets, then came the "big day" when we got a Xerox copy machine.

Thankful for the GOOD NEWS in your post.

Our favorite math symbol today? You guessed it! The "LESS THAN" sign!

Celebrate that good news!
CYCLONE ~ # Iowa State University
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