I was diagnosed back in early September having visited the GP because, I had back pain, lost weight, no appetite and was tired. I also developed pain in my right arm and leg. I had an x ray and blood tests. The former indicated wear and tear but I was shocked when the GP said your PSF is 420 and sent me to my local Urology clinic. The GP oroginally thought I had arthritis of some sort. I had a CT scan and bone scan which confirmed I had prostate cancer and that cancer cells were in my skeleton. I started on the tablets almost six weeks ago and had my first hormone injection almost four weeks ago. They suggested to me that I might want to consider chemo which I have to say I initially refused. The nurse persuaded me to have an appointment with an oncologist just to discuss it to which I agreed, She said if you do not want this treatment that is fine don't have it.
I saw an oncolgist a week ago who was in my view bordering on useless! By this time the pain in my leg and arm had gone, I still have some pain in my back if like now I am bent over a keyboard, but it is nothing like the pain I had before treatment. It is like the pain you get if you do a lot of bending and goes away when I sit upright, My GP originally arranged an x ray and this showed wear and tear in my spine, I am 75. I think I now have the wear and tear pain it is nothing like the permanent nagging pain I had. The oncologist asked me questions about how the hormone treatment was working, I explained the back bit, that I now had got my energy back and was eating normally again. She said you seem to have reacted well to the hormone treatment. She told me all about the side effects of chemo but I had already read these! She talked several times about how chemo was dangerous and could kill me, this is why we have an emergency number. She did not advise me in any way more or less saying you can have chemo if you want it but if I did,'nt that was fine. I asked her if this would improve my prospects she talked about the Stampede trial and how it suggested those who had chemo lived 10 to 15 months longer than those that did not. I said so you are saying this would be of benefit to me, she said she could not really say if it would or would not be.
The decision is left to me she would not give a view on if I should do this. I have always been very opposed to chemo so I think I am going to refuse it and take the gamble that the hormone treatment is and continues to work. My urology nurse says I will die of something else in all probability and the chemo is just a belts and braces addition. By the way I should have said the cancer has not spread anywhere else but for the cells in my phones at present. The oncologist also said you can have chemo later if necessary and of course there are several hormone treatments to try if this one stops working in the future!
Anybody got any thoughts, do others have this lack of advise from am an oncologist? To be honest it seemed to me in some ways she was telling me not to have chemo, she also said I would not have the option a year ago. Has anybody on here been offered chemo and refused it?
