Help needed please re treatment

Hello Paige - Welcome to the club - we are a friendly bunch.

The question you have asked has been asked many times before - the answer is down to personal choice. If you do have any statistics for your partner - Gleason Score, PSA and full staging T, N and M numbers this would help. His age, other health issues and fitness will also come into the equation. 

I can only suggest you read up as many personal journeys as you can on this forum for the different treatment options open to you and ask as many questions- however trivial they may be.

I will throw my hat into the ring and say I went down the HT/RT (hormone therapy/radiotherapy) route, although I had no choice! I am 21 months into my journey - still on hormones but feel amazing. You can follow my journey by clicking on the icon of the beach. (I did have a few complications on the way!!).

I hope this helps - I am sure others will respond - and if you have any questions I am happy to answer them.

I wish you both well on this new journey

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello Paige and welcome!

The diagnosis you have just received is not only unwelcome it is a huge shock which removes all taken for granted certainties.

so, can we start by taking a deep breath and then considering the following?

You don’t say whether your OH has had a biopsy and scans etc? I assume, but might be mistaken , that by saying ‘stage 1’ these have happened and the cancer is contained within the prostate with no spread. This is a good position to be in as the treatment will be with the intent to cure.

we found the Prostate cancer uk web site brilliant for providing a lot of answers to our first questions www.prostatecanceruk.org  once we had got our heads around the basics I started googling further. I also used this forum and people not only answered my queries but also gave me the support I needed. ( I was very frightened and very anxious and in continual tears)

you don’t say how old your OH is. Mine was 75 and so at the ‘borders’ for surgery. He actually did not want the surgery because he didn’t like the thought of possible surgical risks, incontinence and erectile disfunction. The upside of having surgery is that you can always have radiotherapy after if the cancer returns.

instead, my husband opted for radiotherapy and hormone therapy. The radiotherapy was demanding because we had 20 difficult journeys for 20 fractions! He had minimal side effects - a bit of bloating and a bit of urgency to pass urine. They soon passed. He is still having hormone therapy -,injections every 3 months. The side effects are not so good - brain fog, tiredness, sweats, weight gain, man boobs, low mood, loss of libido, erectile disfunction and , longer term diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis. I think most men are like my husband and don’t have all of these and most of them are , if you think about it, equivalent to the female menopause.  

I think the most important thing is for you to do as much research as possible so that your OH can make an informed choice which feels right for him. Also, this is a couple’s illness. It affects both partners. You will have your own feelings and reactions. 

finally, the NHS is under tremendous pressure. You have to be politely assertive and ‘on top of the situation’ to make sure that your husband gets the care he needs. We found that letting the various departments know that we would take late cancelled appointments got us through the system more quickly!

good luck!

Hi Paige

I echo what the others have said. I will add,  Macmillan produce a number of really useful, and informative booklets, that I'm sure would help make a very difficult decision.

Like Brian, I had no choice  and I can only imagine the stress you are going through.

Regards

Stuart

My husband had the surgery 11 weeks ago today and if you want to read about our journey  please feel free to read my profile. None of the options are easy and you have to decide together as a couple which of the inevitable or possible side effects you can live with. 

Remember that although it is his body and choice,  us wives and partners should be involved in the decision making process because it affects us too.

Hi p

So, stage 1, that would indicate all stats low that's y he's got the choice of 3 treatments.

Difficult decision which one to go for.

Check out prostatecanceruk.org ,  there's lots of good info on there.

Possibly the simplest one is Radiotherapy, no lasting side effects as well, or very unlikely.

Best wishes

Steve 

Hello Paige and welcome.

A friend of mine had the radioactive seeds several years ago, which was accompanied short term with HT. He said it was a little uncomfortable at the time and the HT brought out his feminine side but to date he is fit and active and full of life, PSA is negligible. My husband was diagnosed at the other end of the scale so was not eligible for surgery but had radiotherapy, HT, and is now having chemotherapy. We have a good quality of life and going through this has brought us closer together.

No matter what stage you are diagnosed at it still comes as a shock and takes a while to be processed. You have taken the lead by reaching out for help so well done and I hope that you get the information you need from the friendly people here to make the joint decision which is right for you both. 

Being stage 1 your husband has all options and a very good chance of a cure. Did the words Active Surveillance come up? Some prostate cancers are very slow growing and need no immediate intervention. Remember most men die with PCa, not of it. If you have any more data from a biopsy then the people on this forum could help with more targeted information.

Come back with any questions no matter how large or small they may seem. All the best.

Hi . I had a robotic prostatectomy 20 months ago for a localised (2b) Gleason 4+3 . Generally very well . PSA undetectable as of 3 months ago .My tuppenceworth -

I think there are 3 groups regarding surgery .

a. The tumour is too ‘early’ to justify the side effects of surgery . This will be generally G3+3 and small 3+4 with very low PSA . Active surveillance or localised treatment or radiotherapy will cure.

b. The tumour is too ‘late’ to have a high chance of cure with surgery alone . If the PSA is higher than (roughly) 20 , or there is any suggestion of spread outside the gland 

c. The middle group of some 3+4 , 4+3s , and some 4+4 s , with psa s less than 20  . In this group , surgery can be the easiest treatment , without long courses of hormone therapy and the significant side effects that worried wife has described . This roughly corresponds to prognostic grade group 3 .

I would say my side effects are moderate , but I think I did the right thing for me .

this is entirely personal and has evolved from thinking about it too much . I was a doctor but have no more knowledge about prostate cancer than the next guy .

Best wishes

Bill

An excellent post. My husband was in your bullet point c and so far we have no regrets.

Us your PSA  behaving it's self?

Hi there I would suggest you go into the Prostate Cancer Uk website lots of info there. You can phone one of the specialist nurses also they are very helpful.

 I went for surgery mainly due to my age and the fact the hospital is so far away good luck

Hi Steve - looked at your profile. May I ask what your latest PSA figure is? (It was 0.93 just after RT).  I’m thinking of following the HT / RT Route.