Results are in.

Hello Willow, yes, my husband was immediately graded as T3a as the MRI showed the tumour making the prostate wall bulge and they couldn’t be sure whether or not it had broken through the wall. I am not sure whether or not they can take samples outside the prostate when they do the biopsy. I asked the question and was given a vague answer of ‘yes, but not finding any cancer in the cores might mean that we missed any cancerous tissue’. We were told that they alway err on the side of caution and treat at the higher level ( ie t3 not t2) to be sure as the RT can only be offered once.

our hospital trust did not offer brachytherapy but were happy to refer us to a hospital about 50 miles away but warned of a longer delay. My husband opted for external beam RT and HT.

HTH and I hope all goes well for you and your husband

Ps My husbands Gleason was 4+3=7

Hello Willow67  

The thing is your results are in - you have the "curative pathway" and you are good to go - because you know where you are going - happy days, In answer to your questions:

* Yes I have seen "T"'s being upgraded and also Gleason Scores -(I started off as a Gleason 7 but was promoted to the "9" club when the "chips" from my TURP were looked at.).

* Side Effects - Keep as fit as possible - I have Sage Tablets for the hot flushes, Baby moisturiser as I got bad itchy skin, Take calcium/Vitamin D tablets to stop bone thinning (check with your GP) Erectile Dysfunction (we have found other ways to have fun - imagination required !) - Breast swelling - I have a nice pair of "moobs" - thanks NHS !!

* Brachytherapy - I will "tag" our expert to this post and Alpine Wanderer can help you with that one.

My HT/RT journey is on my profile - I had a few issues though - your Hubby's journey should be much smoother (oh yes - I lost a lot of body hair too!).

I hope the above helps, any questions - fire away.

Best wishes - Brian.

I will deal with this tomorrow - my dear Mums funeral is at 1pm, then wake etc afterwards.  AW

Hello AW, I’ll be thinking of you and hope the funeral service and wake are supportive and not too upsetting x

I'm so sorry for your loss. Sending love and hugs for today.xx

Thank you. We are lucky to live near a centre of excellence regarding prostate treatment so although not our local hospital it's not too far away. Thank you for the reassurance re the T grading xx

Hi Brian, yes it all feels so much better now. I will check out the advice on calcium and vitamin D  . Exercise is really important and is helping with the mental side of it all too.

Thank you x

Hello AW - Sincere condolences - I trust you find great support at the funeral and hope that the celebration of life afterwards is a true celebration of her life and not such a sad time, 

Kind Regards and best wishes to you and family - Brian & Lorraine

Sorry to hear your news AW. Sincere condolences and thinking of you at this time.

Hello Willow67.

I have put a link to our Alpine Warrior's link to Brachytherapy, but if you click on his name it will give you a summary as well.

With regards to the time on HT, then this should be at the shorter end of the spectrum as your husband's stats are favourable, but the cancer is close to the capsule edge. The HT is used to stop any further spread but also to shrink the mass making a smaller target for the radiotherapy. I take it your husband has started on Bicalutamide but has he been told if he is also having Androgen Deprivation Therapy with something like Prostap which would be given as an implant/injection either monthly, 3 or 6 monthly. 

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/prostate-cancer-forum/f/diagnosis-and-treatment/265758/surgery-or-radiotherapy-decision-made