I'll be starting Cabazitaxel chemotherapy in a couple weeks. My doctor said they only do blood tests before each infusion and not during the cycles. My understanding is that for the first cycle,...
Update on my situation: Had blood tests done before my doctor appointment today. My AM cortisol came in at 2.8 mcg/dL, significantly out of range on the low side. I've been trying unsuccessfully to...
Cyclone, I'm doing OK, thanks for checking in. Still not able to reduce the steroids though. Todd, I'm thinking you are right about the possibility of permanent dependancy on steroids. I've been...
Recently, I got off Zytiga when it became ineffective for me. The problem has been getting off the steroid. I've been trying to reduce the dose of .5mg of dexamethasone (I had switched from...
Thanks. I have been gone for quite a while, but just went over 5 years with stage 4. My most recent scan (last month) was a PSMA Pylarify and my doctor said it was almost completely clean except for...
I've found it more helpful than not to share my Stage 4 cancer status. It's often an opportunity to share what I've learned and also talk about PSA testing, treatments etc. People have also been more...
Just want to encourage you on the chemo, I did it last summer and will do it again if it can benefit me. The side effects are very tolerable for most and it often has a good benefit. I was afraid of...
I am currently using VA healthcare and so far I have been pleased with the level of care I've gotten. I have metastic prostate cancer currently on primary ADT. Lately I've been concerned because my...
I would get the imaging done first: at least a T99 bone scan to check for metastasis just because of the high PSA. If you do have cancer, there's a good chance it's spread with a PSA that high (mine...
Thank you to everyone who responded to my post. It will help me make my decision....
I currently go to a VA hospital that's about an hour away. And there are others about 2-4 hours away. One of the risks mentioned is that lower priority VA patients such as me could lose their...
Thanks Joe. What part of the country do you live in? I know you can switch hospitals, but thought you could only use one hospital for your care....
I'm wondering if there is anyone here that only has VA healthcare and how their prostate cancer care has been. Currently I have both Kaiser and the VA, but I am losing my premium assistance through...
In my opinion Varian systems are the best, but I'm a little biased since I've been repairing and installing Varian Linacs for around 30 years now. They hold their energy, calibration, flatness and...
Early chemo gives you almost exactly the same survival benefit as early Zytiga, but at a much lower cost. I could see some insurance companies pushing people toward early chemo to save a lot of money...
I have also seen this attitude, it's kind of arrogant. Where I live, people are influenced by this narcissistic culture with all of these self-focused improvements: exercise routines, special diet...
I think you might have popped his "mortality bubble"....
You are absolutely right about that. Not everyone knows, in fact a lot of people don't know. And to be really honest, I'd have to say I used to be one of those. Recently, I was on a plane flight and...
I forgot to mention. Great post!...
At first I didn't want to tell anyone outside immediate family and close friends. Now I'm pretty open about it. I'm learning a lot from people's responses, I find it very interesting. Don't care...
You maybe be right although I hope you aren't. Not because I need to be right, but because I think patients should make informed decisions and hope they are. I wonder if there are some statistics on...
Sorry to say, but for some urologists, "pursuing treatment" means surgery and therefore anyone who doesn't want surgery is fatalistic. Hammer/nail is a real problem for some urologists (I know first...
You're right. Any treatment is the choice of the patient. There are basically 3 kinds of people I've seen who use these alternative approaches: Those who have been given no treatment options, those...
I never said it was aggressive! No, but seriously. I was being sarcastic. 2 points: You hear a lot of "stories" and that's just what they are. It's always anecdotal and only successful. Except for...
I've listened to a lot of stories about people with success using alternative medicines. More than I can count (although some were probably duplicates). Everyone I've heard about was a success now...
Completely agree. I think what you are saying is part of a bigger problem with denial of mortality. Many people try to protect themselves from the reality that we are all going to die from...
Thanks mattamx. I've had this happen a lot. It gets a bit hard to ignore. It's seems ironic that the healthier people are, the more they seem to know about treating/curing cancer. There's a really...
Personally, I don't have a problem with people talking about supplements and diet. No doubt, good nutrition is important to our overall health. The problem is when we get into the claims of treating...
A little perspective is needed here. If you look at the bottom of this screen, you will see that there is approximately 155,000 registered users on this forum. I know that a lot of those are not...
That's a bummer. I'll have to hold out that long so it will be available :) I've just e-mailed my Kaiser doctor who was at an ASCO presentation Q & A regarding the STAMPEDE trial. I asked her if...
TA, speaking of Darolutamide (ODM-201). So far it's showing some promise. It's too bad the ARASENS trial is only accepting patients with no previous treatment. If they had a trial for CRPC patients...
I agree, looks like the risk is fairly low. The issue I have at this point is that I now have 3 doctors telling me not to go on Zytiga mainly because it hasn't been proven that there is an...
Thanks Charles....
Thanks for the information Annie. I just spoke to a third doctor who is a regional specialist for Kaiser. She was at the ASCO conference in June in Chicago where the results of the LATITUDE and...
Geop, Your doctor sounds like mine. My doctor also talked about how good my response has been on chemo and ADT. But the issue here is not trying to make the response better, but making it longer....
I don't understand why he would say that primary treatment might not be available. Was he concerned about resistance developing? Also don't understand why chemo is not an option if he is staying on...
Please keep posts "on topic". Thanks....
Thanks for unlocking the thread. I appreciate the help so far from all who have posted. So I'd like to know who on the forum has done early chemo and is now doing early Zytiga. And also what their...
I agree and that's why I did early chemo. You go for the maximum survival benefit, whether that is now or later. And who knows if later will even come? For that reason, I would do it now even if it...
Terms and conditions: The opinions expressed in this post are that of the author and are not a substitute for advice of medical professionals. The reader is hereby notified that the writer of this...
Wondering if a lot of Oncologists are just slow to accept this result of early Zytiga and change the way they have been doing things. I found it interesting that my Kaiser doctor strongly recommended...
I am in Kaiser in northern California and yes they would cover it if I want it, no problem. It's just that my doctor there is not recommending it. And my other doctor at the VA also does not. Just...
TA, thanks for the response. I was talking about finishing my last round of chemo, then going on Zytiga so my Kaiser doctor said they would approve that after chemo was over. My doctor basically said...
I am wondering why neither of my doctors think early Zytiga is a good idea. One doctor at Kaiser said they would approve it if I wanted it, but that doctor did not recommend it, thinking it was...
As far as I know, your husband could switch back to Taxotere and may get a good response. As a note of interest, a small study was done where patients were switched between the two chemo agents...
I just talked about this with my Medical Oncologist who specializes in prostate cancer. As TA has correctly said, he said you should try Taxotere first and use Jevtana only if Taxotere doesn't work....
Beth, It's really hard to know what to say and I feel at a loss for words right now. I'm very sorry to hear the news of Gary's passing. We are all thinking of you and holding you in our hearts. I...
Rather than tell you what to do, I will tell what I would do in your situation. I would be watching my PSADT (PSA doubling time). If it is less than 6 months I would go with proven treatments rather...
Yes, these articles are often difficult to read. My question is usually simple: Does this work or not? But quite often, the answer is much more complicated than that. I think the answer to the...
I just want to clarify my comment above regarding rechallenging Docetaxel chemotherapy. There has been some data that suggests that there is no OS with Docetaxel rechallenge, but As TA has correctly...