Dad's recent diagnosis

Hello sky_saturn. Welcome to the Community, we aren't a bad bunch!

So sorry to find you here, however in answer to your questions:

* Radiotherapy is given in fractions of 5, 20 or sometimes more but 5 and 20 are the normal doses, given over different days.

* I assume the diagnosis of Stage 4 prostate Cancer has been found from a CT or MRI scan and not from a biopsy, however he will have had a blood test for PC so you should have his PSA reading somewhere - this would be handy.

* It takes a while to confirm RT is working as it make "a mess" of the Prostate and renders PSA reading unreliable for a period of time.

* HT is given and works almost right away. PC lives on testosterone (it's cancer food!!) the HT stops the production of the testosterone so the cancer stops growing.

I hope the above helps .All you can do at the moment is to be there for him. Just remember 98% of men with Prostate Cancer die with Prostate Cancer not of it.

Anything else you want to ask - however trivial - ask away.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello skye_saturn,

                               before your Dad started Radiotherapy he will have had a planning scan (and likely the 3 tattoo dots) and he should have been given a sheet indicating how many R. T. he will get and also advice on keeping the skin moist (I use Cetraben).

I have also had 3 sessions of R. T. for bone pain as mine had spread, (the symptoms were excrutiating back pain) which follows the same process, planning scan, etc.

Hope things go well for you Dad, your excellent support will help him and your Mam through this. I write down questions before Oncology appts. as it is easy to forget. 

There are some very helpful folk on the forum. 

With best wishes, Graham. 

Hi Brian,

Thank you very much for your kind and helpful message.

This clears up quite a few things that I wasn't sure about. My Dad is having 5 fractions of radiotherapy and then they will be reviewing to see what the next step is. I think we will have to see how it goes and how he responds to the HT and radiotherapy. He hasn't yet had a biopsy, so we don't have a Gleason score but PSA was 500+ which I understand is high. It's come as such a shock because we had no idea he was unwell - except for this back pain, he's been in normal old self! Which is something we should be very grateful for, really. 

Best wishes, Skye

Hi Skye

Well at present he's in the best place for treatment - and with a bit of luck the Radiotherapy (RT) should ease his back pain. The Hormone Therapy (HT) will be stopping the cancer growth and spread - so all good there.

Stage 4 with an initial diagnosis PSA of over 500 - and a spread (The cancer having gone walkabout leaving the capsule) would I think lead to treatment with Chemotherapy. No doubt once he's well enough to leave hospital there will be an MDT meeting to discuss his future treatment.(Don't forget I am not medically trained).

I think I would be making a list of questions for his consultant. Be sure to ask if he's able to have "triplet therapy". It's a fairly new combination treatment of HT/Chemo which hits the cancer hard. There are a few people on the forum who have embarked on this route.

I hope the above helps, Feel free to ask anything on here - you are sure of an answer.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello sky saturn

millibob has given you good info

my husband has had radiotherapy and will be on hormone therapy until 2025

he was  diagnosed in April 2022

he also had guilian  barré syndrome in 2019

we had to retire from work

ages 67and 68

As awful as diagnosis is we found the best way is to listen to the body tired sleep 

hungry eat 

feel like a walk or swim or visit to the gym go 

this applies to your mum also as caregiver 

challenges of life are hard, 

Love, giving love by supporting your parents is perfect.

keeping dad stress free as much as possible by comedy programmes, listening if he wants to talk or not talk as the case may be.

meditation lots on youtube

jon Kabat Zinn has lots 

Thich nhat hanh 

these are for you or all of you 

Sharon Salzburg and her loving kindness meditations

these have all helped me cope.

my husband isn’t interested in meditation but is keen to practice mindfulness, becoming the observer of yourself, lots of this on YouTube free

Tara Brach 

very beneficial thoughts that take away the fear and uncertainty and bring peace of mind.

Don’t live in fear, empower yourself and your family, keep positive.

I know it’s hard, we are all doing our best, it hurts, where there is love there is pain and joy.

my heart goes out to you all 

Blessings 

Rita

Also Jeff Chand free YouTube Qi Gong , this helps me in my daily routine, breathing and concentrating on the breath stops the chattering monkey mind 

meditating means concentrating on the in breath and the out breath 

Love the community champion idea

Hi Rita

Thanks for the post- it's helpful and informative.

The " Community Champion" - is a cracking idea - there are about 25 of us throughout the various cancer forums. I was asked if I was interested last month and after quite a bit of training here I am. I mainly look after the Prostate Cancer forum but I do dip in and out of other forums to help out the other "champs". It's a very rewarding job (unpaid of course). Apart from here my other main job is "signposting" new members to the correct forum.

You can of course read my own personal cancer journey by clicking on the icon of the beach.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Graham,

Thank you for taking the time to message and sorry that it has taking me a while to get back to you. My Dad has had 5 sessions of RT on his back and the effects are starting to kick in and he is slowly getting his mobility back thankfully. That's a good idea about writing down questions beforehand, I'm finding this forum (and other websites) very helpful in knowing what to ask. Thank you for your kind words and best wishes, Skye 

Hi Skye

That's great news that the RT has done it's job and dad's getting his mobility back.  Keep us posted as to future developments - as a Community we are all with you on this journey.

Best wishes - Brian.