Waiting.

Hi John 

I haven't seen a consultant since my RT finished in 2017, just telephone calls to report PSA figures every year.

I presume that you are still on Hormone therapy?

Obviously your PSA is fine, allowing for some small movements it should stay at that figure hopefully.

If u r on HT u might find some more movement when it finishes.

I can't actually think of any questions, presumably there have been no more scans .

Best wishes

Steve

Unless you are having any problems then there are no questions I can think of to ask.  I didn't see my oncologist until 4 months post cessation of Radiotherapy - so finished at end of January and saw him towards the end of June, then early the following January and then annually for 2 years in the January.  Never be embarassed  or feel silly about  having a list of questions or that the questions are stupid - they are your concerns and the medical professionals are there to answer them.  Also, don.t  feel silly if you have to ask them to explain their answers if you don't understand either - sometimes some Docs and specialists do use far too much medical jargon.

All the best.

I finished RT in March 2019 and my PSA is 0.01 and I have a call booked for this Thursday. I intend to ask what to expect of my PSA level now I have finished 3 years of HT.I also want to know if the side effects I suffered with HT will stat to reverse. The big question for me would be has the RT been successful if he knows.

Good luck. Regards Reg

Depending where you live, you will be largely 'on your own' now the RT is over, so long as things continue to be OK. There are two things it's useful to clarify:

• Exactly how long will the HT continue, and is the plan in place to deliver it (hospital/gp)?
• Your PSA will remain low while you are on HT; once that's over, what level would be considered a "red flag" for further investigations? This is important, because the "normal" level (for people without PCa) is much higher than is safe for someone who's had the cancer treated, and GP surgery staff will compare your results with the 'normal range' and may assume that all is well when it isn't. You will need to police that!

I hope that makes sense, and Good Luck!

Hi Reg

don't think that they can know if RT has been successful because scans are not normally done after RT. Its all done through the PSA which funnily enough is what they were invented for , monitoring after treatment.

As heinous has said HT will keep it low but it may alter when HT is finished or sometime after. The important point is that u get a new normal for PSA eventually and so long as it doesn't start increasing slowly on every PSA test u can assume all is OK

Side effects such as hot flushes, weight gain, mood swings and fatigue etc. caused by the HT will slowly disappear over the next 9 to 12 months, until one day you will notice you are not getting any hot flushes or whatever any more. You need to give the weight gain a bit of a kick and maybe stick to a good healthy diet and start doing some more exercise.  Maggies Centres used to do a get fit after Prostate Cancer Treatment Course over 6 weeks where you were taken for exercise classes and healthy eating planning to help you get back onto a more even keel - I don't know if they still do these due to the effects of Covid but you may be able to find help via your GP, specialist nurse, cancer centre or local authority gym.

The RT has been successful if your PSA levels, once they have reached their nadir after the HT effects have left your body continues on a level number.  What should happen is that your PSA will have gone down thanks to the HT and Radiotherapy and may continue to do so over the next year and then should stay pretty stable.

Hope you are now fighting fit and continue to be so.

Hi, Never trusted PSA much as at the start of diagnosis mine was 11 and then 8 months later still 11. that led to the Consultant who did the first DRE to say it would not be a problem for 8-10 years. Turned out to be T3 with a Gleason of 8.So that left me with little trust of rising PSA.

Best regards Reg  

I can't imagine what your consultant was thinking.

An isolated PSA has no value except to raise a red flag. Any suspect PSA should be repeated within a few days.

Falls or rises in PSA can be quite useful, especially as a guide to the effectiveness of treatments.

The rate of fall or rise is most useful.

A digital examination in isolation is also no more than a red flag. It's never enough on its own.

There's no substitute for biopsy and scans.

You should start to see reduction of side effects of HT starting 3 months after your last dose, but it'll be another few months before the last of it leaves the system. Then you'll know how much has reversed and how much probably never will.

Not long to go!

I finally got my useless urologist to refer me when my PSA rose slowly over about 3 or 4 years to 12.8.  Thankfully the cancer found was Gleason 7 (3+4) and although there were worries that the cancer may have spread locally as the tumour was pressing on the back of the capsule and T3 disease could not be ruled out it seems it was confined to the capsule and after 9 months of HT and 20 sessions of RT I am to all intents and purposes cancer free and have been for the last 6 years with undetectable PSA.  However, when I met with my oncologist he was of the opinion that I should have been referred when my PSA went up to 9 particularly as I had other bowel and bladder problems that would make some forms of treatment unusable.  Not able to complain about the treatment from the urologist as he left for the USA within a few weeks of my last consultation with him.  During those 3 or 4 years when my PSA was rising I had difficulty accessing PSA tests more regularly than 1 a year from both urology department and GP who refused to carry  PSA test out.  I should have paid to have private tests at a private hospital but livign where i lived at the time that was a 2 and a half hour drive away - 5 hours round trip - however, it would have been worth it.  I just had confidence in the professionals until the reading went from just over 9 to 12.8 in one year and I had to actually insist on a consultation with the urologist and a referral - so glad that at last I insisted.