The Wait

Hi Steve

The waiting is difficult at all stages.

Were you on HT as well as RT? If so how long are you due to be on it? I had 37 RT sessions and 2 years of HT. Until the HT wears off and my body starts producing testosterone I won't know whether it's worked or not. Potentially it could be years after I was diagnosed.

Can you give us your stats so we can help?

Hang in there this is a long process and nothing seems to happen quickly.

Regards

Stuart

The waiting part is always the worst part of all this.  Waiting for test, biopsy and scan results.  Waiting to hear from Multi disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings, appointments and for treatment to start and so on.  waiting for that first PSA test result usually 6 months or so after the end of radiotherapy can be purgutory but is unfortunately, like all the rest of this waiting necessary.

Have you been on Hormone Therapy (HT)?  If you were on Hormone Therapy how long are you going to be on it?  If so it will take your PSA longer to reach it's nadir.  I was tested every 6 months for 2 years and am now on yearly PSA tests as I was having long before the Cancer was diagnosed.  Thankfully my PSA had already gone down from 13 to 1.6 after 6 months of HT injections and then at the first 6 monthly PSA checks was down to less than 0.1 (undetectable) and has remained the same in the 5 years since. 

What were your stats going into Radiotherapy - PSA, Gleeson and staging?  Mine was PSA 13, Gleeson 7 (3+4) and T2N0M0 but T3 staging could not be ruled out as at MRI Scan the tumour could be seen at the back of the prostate and bulging out so they could not rule out microscopic spread into the surrounding areas.  Thankfully that does not seem to have happened and it would seem the cancer was caught before this could happen.  I had 9 months of HT - prostap 3 and 20 rounds of radiotherapy back in 2016/17.

All the best to you and keep us informed of your progress and if you need support you know where to come.