Oncology has stopped my husbands Bicalutimide tablets

Hello Goggie, I’m sorry to read of your anxiety and would like to add some thoughts. But, first, please note that I am not a medical doctor and most of my understanding of this disease has been gained from this forum and from our own prostate cancer journey.

My husband had a PSA of 10 and was diagnosed  as T3N0M0 and treated with radiotherapy and hormone therapy. He was initially told he would be on HT for 3 years by a prostate cancer nurse specialist. We saw the oncologist who said the HT would be for 6 months only! We queried this. His reply to us seems very relevant to your husband. He said that there is a balance to be had between extended HT and the long term side effects such as osteoporosis, diabetes etc . Later on the journey, the ‘ht sentence’ was extended to 2 years. I queried this and the reply then was that we only have one stab at cure when treated with RT and HT so why jeopardise it!  The other thing we were told is that the cancer is prone to getting around hormone therapy so better not to use it for longer than necessary.

my husband has other health problems and it all came to a head in April 2024 when I found him in a heap on the bathroom floor and he was rushed off to hospital. Fortunately the diagnosis was not as bad as feared and they realised there had been a counter action of drugs prescribed by different medical departments. But, my husband reached an all time low mentally. There is a term ‘iatrogenesis’ for when too much medical intervention is counterproductive and causes harm. Almost unanimously there seemed to be recognition of this across the different specialities and the HT was stopped after 18 months.

i have elsewhere stated that his coming off the HT felt like riding a bike without stabilisers! It is scary because we are so frightened of recurrence. It’s a long term anxiety!  However, there are people here who have lived with a very positive mind set with or without recurrence but still acknowledging the possibility.

I think your oncology team will be monitoring your husbands PSA closely ( my husband is monitored 6 monthly). I get twitchy at ‘PSA time’ .

i hope our own experience helps to reassure you 

best of luck and I hope you enjoy ‘HT freedom’!bx

Thank you sooo much Worried Wife 

I hear every thing you are saying …I understand the reasons its is just hard to think your in the hands of the Gods so to speak 

I really hope your husband is feeling better and is coping with all that has gone on for him and 
I hope he remains cancer free 

I think we have become complacent and comfortable on the HR treatment 

I thought it was a “ choice decision “ wether you continued to cope with the side effects for piece of mind 

Obviously not …and it has just brought a resurgence of the anxiety on diagnoses 

Thank you again and it’s good to know that so far your husband is doing well inbetween PSA tests x 

You’re very welcome! This is a rocky journey we are all on! I remember years ago being sat at a table in a pub with a bank manager and a builder coming up to retirement. They were discussing how much should be saved into a pension pot and how much to draw out of it. The bank manager said that, in an ideal world, we would know the date we will die so that we could spend our last few pennies on that day. What this cancer ‘malarkey’ has taught me is that we have to enjoy the ‘here and now’ and let the future take care of itself. We can’t change the past. The worries for the future may never happen so why waste energy on the past or the future and, I so doing, miss out on today?

xx

That is so true I'm self employed (I have a small workshop that I rent to do specialist bodywork) there is just me and my dog I'm nearly halfway through my 20 rounds of rt most of them are in the middle of the day .I have bills to pay and rent to pay but it's just not worth going in to work some days as late home from the hospital etc but I've decided not to stress and what gets done gets done what does not then sod it 

Hello Goggie 

My view (not medically trained - just a prostate cancer geek ) is that your hubby is doing really well and with a PSA of only 0.01 the HT/RT has done it's job.

Keep him on HT and his body may well become "Hormone Resistant" as it becomes used to the HT.

Take him off it, first off it gives the body time to recover from the HT and it can be used again if needed in the future. Secondly with such a low PSA if the HT/RT has done it's job then he's no need for further HT.

Only time will tell now and with 3 monthly PSA tests they will keep an eye on him. The "normal" rules for further intervention are a rise of 2 whole points or 3 consecutive rises.

I agree with Worriedwife when she said

Worriedwife said:

best of luck and I hope you enjoy ‘HT freedom’!bx

Time to celebrate his low PSA and enjoy life.

Best wishes - Brian.