So, Tuesday Chris had his last radiation treatment. It has not been easy for him. Because the radiation is targeted at his lower back, it has affected his stomach and he's experienced quite a bit of nausea. I went along with him yesterday because he did not have a good time driving home on Monday.
Then we saw the Chemo doctor. She was very good, thorough, and encouraging. He will not be put on "real" chemo right away. There is an intermediate sort of drug that should help and also he is to stay on the hormone treatment. He hates the estrogen because of the side effects, but the doctor was adamant that he must keep taking it to reduce the testosterone. The thing is, that the aggressive cancer that has got into his bones - while it is still prostate cancer - is "immune" to the hormone and is NOT fueled by testosterone. Still, the estrogen does definitely stall the testosterone-fueled kind and so he has to keep taking it.
We hope, of course, that this "intermediate" drug has a good effect. She spoke of 2 years or so on that, and then, depending on how it goes, maybe needing stronger chemo. Of course, there is the possibility that this treatment will not work in which case Chris will move on to stronger chemo sooner. I hope not.
He has asked both the oncologists if the outcome would have been different if he had had surgery to remove the prostate, instead of having the Brachytherapy - radioactive "beads" implanted in the prostate. The answer was "probably not". ( :( I hate those "probablies".)
There are no guarantees with any treatment for 
any[/u] cancer, and some decisions need to be made that are not just "medical". Chris was told at the time, in 2003, that he could not have the surgery due to his history of heart disease, but in retrospect that was probably being over-careful. He's had 2 pretty major surgeries since with no trouble.
He's been given some better painkillers, and that has led to him getting some proper sleep, which is a big help. He was warned that the side-effects of radiation may get worse for a week or so. But it already seems to have helped with the pain. He seems to walk more freely and not so bent over.
This is a very wearying time. I hate to see him in pain and, worse, to see him feeling low and almost in despair. He is not afraid of dying, it's not that, it's that he worries about what will happen to our lives without him. It's very hard to answer this.
But those moments don't last, thanks be. He is generally dealing with this in the usual Norske way.
