Haha! He would probably say I’m a good drill sargeant Allen ;) He just took the dog for a walk on the beach. Seems a little better for doing so. Hopefully a little better each day. I’ll make sure he...
Ok thank you Michael. It makes sense that it’s related to positioning. It’s weird that we’re on day four and it’s much worse today. We’ll have to ask doctor to try something different, if he even...
Hi everyone— Husband finally got treatment on July 25. Everything went well but he is dealing with upper back, neck, shoulder and, to a lesser extent, hip soreness and discomfort. Can’t get...
Got it, thank you Allen. I clarified with husband who is sure that King was adamant about Lupron. It was part of his discussed treatment plan, saying it will make the radiation more effective. Said...
Everyone— I’ve had a day to read these and think clearly and I’m less freaked. :) I really appreciate everyone who responds and takes the time to share their experience. There’s a lot of value in...
Thanks John. Glad to hear about your successful treatment. I feel silly for stating my fears. Hopefully everything will be fine! Ive read a couple stories about depression and people being...
Allen, I will talk to my husband about this. It was the first appt I was unable to attend due to work, which was a bummer. My husband recorded the appt. but our nights are crazy busy with kid stuff...
Hi everyone— Husband saw King at UCLA (thank you Allen) and is now seriously considering ADT 6 months, followed by SBRT. I guess Dr. King feels strongly that ADT be used, with SBRT, but that this...
Sober 1, I’m so sorry to hear that. It’s really hard to be in a position where you’re fortunate enough to have healthcare coverage, but it’s still just not enough. We’re new to the healthcare game...
Hi Boosted—my husband is in the process of researching treatment options so your post is of interest. He was originally diagnosed with 3+3=6 and we were hoping for active surveillance. We opted for...
Great, thank you for the above info. We’ll get on that today. Dr Szabo is name of urologist. He was second doctor we saw at Kaiser, after first doctor told my husband over the phone that he has...
Thanks Michael! I need to look into that insurance angle with my employer next week. That’s a great point that someone else mentioned. My husband got a certified letter in the mail, from Kaiser uro,...
Thank you! No, any treatment or consults outside of Kaiser would be paid for by us, without any coverage. Kaiser would never approve of anything beyond what they offer. What they offer is active...
Husband’s MRI results show irregularity in capsule, 4/5 for extension liklihood. PIRADs 5. No apparent vesicle involvement. Met with RO today. His thinking is that Gleason score is low given size of...
My husband and I meet with RO Dr Eincke at UCSD on Friday. He was one of two RO doctors we were referred to and were told both would do an excellent job. Not sure why, but Demanes was not on that...
Can I ask what the results were of the second biopsy? The first was 3+3, which does not extend beyond the capsule, correct? I thought that brachytherapy did a thorough job on cancer cells within the...
Tall Allen— I’ve heard from doctors and read online that instances of brachytherapy side effects are less common than they were years ago. That improvements have been made. Do you agree with this,...
Ok great—thank you! Will discuss all of this with my husband. Grateful for the input....
Thank you for that info Allen. We have appt with RO next week. Is there a way to search on this forum for threads organized by treatment? Might be a dumb question, but i couldn’t find a search tool....
Logoslidat thank you. Hope I didn’t offend anyone. I really do take in everyone’s experiences as I read them and respect everyone for having their opinions. Tall Allen is one crazy smart guy from the...
Ok, totally different viewpoint. I get it. I hear what you’re saying. We came away from our first appointment with the urologist scared to death. You should have heard what he had to say about how...
Allen—we decided to consult with medical oncologist at the urging of PC survivors and due to what we read online. My understanding is that they can provide an unbiased opinion about treatment options...
Also says on report that “grade groups” range from 1 (most favorable) to 5 (least favorable). What does that mean? Thank you!...
Thanks Mary! I need to research those other options better for sure. We have brachytherapy in our heads, as it was the treatment mentioned by our oncologist (medical oncologist, not radiation guy) as...
I added this info to my last thread—sorry for being redundant. Just hoping to hear from people about PNI and Gleason 3+4. We are apparently leaving behind our hopes for active surveillance. 4 cores...
Well we just got report back. I don't think it's particularly good news and we are done with idea of AS. There were (2) cores 3+4=7 (80%, 60%) positive, with 10% being Gleason 4. There was perineural...
Will be hearing back from JHU any time now. Wondering about percentage of cases that were upstaged on second opinion. If anyone here has had this experience, I’d appreciate info. Husband’s 3T MRI at...
This is very encouraging. Thank you all for the info!...
Glad to hear that serious long term rectal problems aren’t the norm. My husband is so focused on minimizing risk of impotence, but I think the incontinence and bowel issues would be as difficult....
12 core biopsies show PNI? So we would already know about that after biopsy? Does a second opinion from somewhere like JHU rule PNI out? What was interesting was learning that, presumably, a Gleason...
Ok thank you. Seemed like good idea maybe. I figure, at 50, my husband would have to live for many years with bowel problems if there were side effects from the radiation. It’s hard to know what to...
Has anyone used SpaceOAR gel during brachytherapy? Supposed to fill the space between prostate and rectum and protect the area from damage? Our (first) doctor was pretty dramatic about the problems...
You guys are great— thank you so much....
Tall Allen—can you explain what the Oncotype testing shows? That would be our last piece of the puzzle before deciding on treatment, and we need to use same slides that were sent to JHU. Our...
Thank you for all your input. It’s appreciated. I’m nervous about what upcoming testing will show, but we’ll deal with it when we know. From what I’ve read, low-risk PC grows so very slowly,...
Hi there—my husband was Dx’d four weeks ago. Age 50 Gleason 3+3 7/12 cores 30%, 2 x 50%, 2x 60%, 70%, 80% PSA tests at 5.3 and 5.1 Negative DRE Small prostate, high density and tumor volume Tumor...