Oncology appointment

Hello Jewelse2b714 

I am a T3aN0M0 Gleason 9 (5+4) and it's been Hormone Therapy/Radiotherapy for me. I appreciate not the same diagnosis but I would have thought with dad's diagnosis they may throw in Chemotherapy as well for good measure depending on the M1 where it's spread to.

Here's a link to help you plan your questions for the meeting:

Questions-to-ask-your-healthcare-team.

I hope the above helps. please do let us know how you get on.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Jewelse2b714 , as you say, we are all different but your dad has a similar diagnosis to me.  Initially, I was diagnosed G9 T3bN1M0 which was treatable but not curable (now it might be curable with advances in treatments).   After 5 years the M0 became M1 in my case, so I share that with your dad.

The key in this is the M1.  Do you know where and how much bone spread?  Sometimes these mets can be zapped with the aim to kill the cells, but sometimes it is not accessible or too numerous to treat, in which case HT and chemo are systemic treatments used which can give many additional years.  RT attempts to hit the primary source and kill the bad cells in the target area.

I have been on HT for 8 years and it is tolerable but I do envy the guys who are able to stop it!

Please come back if you have any questions.

Hello , my husband was diagnosed with much the same as your dad back in February this year . He has been on apalutamide daily and 3 monthly prostrap injection . Because his spread to bones was what the oncologist referred to as " very low level " in his pelvis he was eligible for RT which he completed in July . His last PSA 2 months ago was 0.04 . We have an appt this afternoon with the oncologist to look at the recent scans he had and to look at how he has responded to the treatment so far .

Sending your Dad best wishes 

Good luck for this afternoon Drifter 

Thank you , very kind . Trying my best to keep positive  

Hi Jewelse2b714, my partner is T3bN1M1 gleason 4+4.he had triplets therapy finished in September and is now starting radiotherapy this week. He is on his usual HT plus twice daily darolutamide. He experiences fatigue and we try and go out every day dog walking or cycling but had to adjust to the fatigue and some aches and pains. Triplets therapy has  encouraging results so you can discuss with the oncologist if its right for your dad. I did a lot of research in advance various sources, found prostatecanceruk.org really useful. Good luck.

I was briefly 'T3b N1 M1a' and my treatment plan was 'curative', my grading has been downgraded to 'T3b N1 M0'. From what I understand there was a second 'Multi-Disciplinary Team' meeting which spotted an error in my initial grading.

However as far as I am aware the treatment plan has not changed. So a month of 'Bicalutamide' tablets which I understand block the action of testosterone on the cancer cells. After about 10 days of that, my first injection of 'Decapeptyl' to reduced testosterone levels. This will be repeated every 3 months for three years. In mid-December I am due to start 20 sessions of radiotherapy. 

So far initially some hot flushed which were mildly annoying but not that bad. In recent weeks I hardly notice them. The big difference is below the belt line if you take my meaning. c'est la vi.

Well our appt went well . 2 of 3 lesions on husbands pelvis have disappeared and the 3rd one was just a blur on scan . He is responding well to the treatment and the oncologist said the rapid reduction in psa suggests long term effectiveness on apalutamide.  So we are so pleased with how things are going .

Excellent news! 

Here's to continuing down the same path.