What if HT doesn't work?

Hi AFLMF .

The hormone therapy is very effective in the majority of cases, however, if the cancer becomes resistant to the first line of drugs then the next one will be given as well as additional therapies. Can I suggest you watch the video that BarryW has just posted which will show that there is a whole battery of treatments in the toolbox now.

 Advanced Prostate cancer with high PSA. 

Thank you so much.

This Community is a life line for me at the moment!

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Hello AFLMF 

I know it's hard and you are new to the "club" but you are already in great hands and your team have started hubby on Hormone therapy - that's the first step - it puts the cancer to sleep and once it's done it's work they can progress to which ever course of medication they think suitable.

The entire Prostate Cancer journey is different for every Community member and we all take a different route but aim for the same destination - a fact to remember is the 98% of men diagnosed with Prostate Cancer die WITH it rather than OF it..

You are right though to keep asking questions - there's always someone here for you.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello AFLMF 

I know what you mean about crippling anxiety - it is all consuming ! However, to put your mind somewhat at ease…..

I couldn’t stop crying when we were going through the diagnostics and those first horrible months. I remember sitting with my husband in front of the prostate cancer nurse and her giving us the prescription for the hormone tablets and a letter for our GP to start giving the injections. Her words were, ‘Understand this, as soon as you take the first tablet, the cancer stops growing’. 

im not sure whether or not that was scientifically correct but the sheer relief those words brought us was immense. Within weeks my husbands PSA had plummeted! 
As Always Hope has already said, if the cancer learns to escape the control of the initial hormone therapy, there are ‘back ups’ waiting in the wings to fight the cancer!

To put our feelings at the start of thee journey more into context - I think the diagnosis is accompanied by both shock and grief. All our known certainties gone, our plans for the future lost , suddenly having to face our own and our partner’s mortality and sheer fear absolutely overwhelm us. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with the two words ‘prostate cancer’ screaming in my brain!

however, give yourself time! You will settle into a new way of being  - not one you envisaged but one that is quite acceptable! The cancer will have every trick in the book thrown at it and you will be able to enjoy life again! As you get to know people better here you will see that there are cruises to be had, mountain walking to be done, rowing to keep fit, holidays , weddings to celebrate etc . Life with cancer can still be lived and enjoyed! Yes, there are side effects of treatments to take on board but, as somebody recently said , ‘it’s better than the alternative!’

I think the prostate cancer actually brings a differen and specialt closeness to our relationship and I hope you will find this too! We now appreciate TODAY much more than we ever did, too!

love and encouragement to you both x

Hi Aflmf

As WW said anxiety is so normal especially in the first few weeks of treatment after diagnosis. We both calm down after the first PSA which proves that the treatment works. As WW said life goes on almost normal and what I noticed is that the most excitable topic on the site is the cost of travel insurance!

Take a deep breath and trust the treatment. HT works in most cases so there is no reason why it should not work for your husband. That's is what i was thinking in the first month. As AW said there is a battery of tools in box.

Lots of love

Dafna

Thank you!

We were told not to Google but  we did ....and read that only 1 in 3 men with mets survive past 5 years and that the life expectancy for mets is 6 to 48 months.

Those stats just blew us apart.

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Good moorning AFLMF 

I always say - use trusted sources for your information, This Community, Prostate Cancer UK and Macmillan - NEVER Dr Google.

You will find on the Community we have plenty of Community members who have the same or similar diagnosis as your hubby who have been here much longer than me - some over 10 years and are doing well.

I can't remember if I have given you these two links for information but here they are again-

https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org/our-publications/all-publications/advanced-prostate-cancer

https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org/our-publications/all-publications/advanced-prostate-cancer-managing-symptoms

I do hope this helps - if I can do anything else for you please let me know.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi AFLMF,

We are concentrating on the here and now. Jacob just came back from early morning swim and later we going to the garden center to buy spring summer flowers.

In 3 - 4 years time when HT stop working there will be other tools and new treatments. The Enzulatimade that Jacob taking is in the market for only two years. Who knows what they will come up with in 3 years. AH husband just had a new RT treatments to the mets that was not exist few years ago.  Fight this bas..rd and keep enjoying life.

Lots of love

Dafna

Yup! Google is just too much at our finger tips to ignore but can often cause us unwarranted extra anxiety! The trick is to look at the dates , validity and reliability of the research you are looking at! Are you looking at old or spurious data?

my husbands grandfather died of kidney failure caused by untreated and under diagnosed ‘prostate problems’. My husband’s father was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer about 25 years ago. The medics bought him about 4 years of extra life with first line hormone therapy - all that was available then.  18 months ago, regular PSA testing showed it was time to act on my husbands rising PSA. He chose to go down the radiotherapy + hormone therapy route with ‘the intention to cure’. We don’t know whether or not he has been cured and will only really know if the treatment has failed, I guess. What we do know though is that his family history shows the advances in prostate cancer medicine! Our menfolk are in the best position ever to live life and for much longer. We know that when the first line hormones stop working, there are multiple ‘fall back’ positions. I also know that our 4 children are benefitting from annual screening due to the high incidence of prostate cancer and breast cancer in my husbands family. Medicine has come a long way and we have a lot to be thankful for.

I think the people posting here will give you positive proof that prostate cancer is mostly now considered as a long term condition, pretty much as, say, diabetes is a long term condition. It might not be curable but it can be very well managed and life does go on!

Thank you

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