Prostate Cancer diagnosis and treatment

Hello Ash319  A warm welcome to the Prostate Cancer forum - we are a decent bunch.

I am so sorry to find you here especially in view of the previous situation with your wife - how awful for you.

I know where you are coming from when you say 

Ash319 said:

I never really had any symptoms before,

Yes, that's just how I arrived here. It takes some getting used to, however you are in the right place for help and advice from people who have "been there done that".

When you have time can I ask you to put some details of your cancer journey to date on your profile. Not only does this help people trying to help you - it's a record of your journey to date. (You can read mine by clicking om my user name!).

I am on HT/RT (hormone therapy /radiotherapy) so can't give you any advice but I am sure other Community members who read your post will be dropping into this thread.

I wish you well - feel free to post any questions - you will get honest answers.

Best wishes - Brian

Thank you Millibob for your kind words.

keep actIve and stay positive , ask loads of questions about different options of treatments 

Ash319, sorry you have joined our club but I am sure you will get help from more people on this post.  Brian has suggested letting us know more info (PSA, biopsy and scan results etc)  this will help with targeting replies for you.

My immediate reaction is that this cancer journey isn’t easy at any time, so I hope you have friends and family to help and be there for you.

I had Docetaxel 6 years ago.  Most people seem to get through without too much trouble although almost any drug you will be given seems to impact your ability to do normal things and leave you with fatigue.  If you are reasonably fit, try and stay fit, but above all listen to your body and don’t push through the pain barrier.  We do all react with drugs in different ways and my experience isn’t normal,  but I got through enough to help lower my PSA. 

Are you on Daralutamide for a short time or is it long term treatment?  Have they mentioned Radiotherapy (RT)?  Again all things many of us have been through and not as scary as you imagine.

The diagnosis hits like a whirlwind and for weeks/months it dominates your thoughts.  I can only say that in my experience, many good things have happened since then.  You know and appreciate who your real friends are and for me life is back to normal (albeit a new normal).  But this disease isn’t to be feared as it was even just a few years ago.  Stay positive and if you have any worries or questions please post, however trivial they may appear.

Best wishes from one of your new virtual friends. Stay positive.

David

Hi David

Thank you for your reply and yes I am being positive and hoping my treatment works and I have more time with my family.

My timelime of events leading to my diagnosis -

07/10/23 - Diagnosed with  Metastasis Prostate Cancer after CT scan picked up the cancer and showed lesions in pelvis bones and also in lymph nodes.

PSA - 129

biopsy - Gleason score of 9

3 Treatments - hormone injections started 12/10/23, hormone Darolutamide tablets will start 19/12/23 and chemotherapy will start in January.

It is very upsetting as my family relies on me but still I am being very strong and fighting this cancer. I seen my wife pass away 11 years ago with Breast cancer she was 37. Life has dealt me with some bad cards but dealing with the diagnosis the best way I can and remain hopeful the treatment will work for me.

Ash319,

You have been dealt a bad hand but not too dissimilar to my own (nearly 7 years ago).   Staying positive is a large part of the treatment.  I am sure you will get great advice from the guys (and girls) on here.  Best wishes.  David

Thank you David.

Good morning Ash319.

I am so sorry that you have had your diagnosis at such a young age and have been through so much all ready. I have also lost two partners at a young age so can empathise with what you have been through. I admire your attitude and that is going to help you get through this next challenge. Our oncologist told us right at the start that he could do 50%, the other 50% was down to us in terms of a positive attitude and lifestyle changes in keeping as fit as possible and eating healthy.

This forum is great for advice but also I hope that you will soon feel part of the family. Yes we talk about treatment but about our fears, our successes, and life in general with a good smattering of humour in between.

I am not sure how many replies you are going to get on your particular drug combination because Darolutamide is one of the newest ones to be approved,  but from the literature it seems to be very effective. From that point of view we will all be interested in your journey as we all learn from each others experiences. In general terms the combination of hormone implant, 2nd generation antiandrogens such as Abiraterone, Darolutamide, Enzalutamide and Aptalutamide along with chemotherapy is proving to be an effective way of treating prostate cancer which has spread. David 2017 has given an excellent reply and I hope that by my opening up the brief you will get more responses from those on a similar journey albeit with a different antiandrogen.

Can I suggest you copy your  journey summary into your profile as this makes it easier for reference in the future and can you add your TNM score.

From a personal point of view my husband is T4 with spread to lymph nodes plus distant metastasis but has a rare aggressive form so is atypical, but even so he is doing well 40 months after initial diagnosis and has recently completed 6 rounds of Docetaxel which wasn't as bad as expected.

Please come back if you want any help on diet recommendations, what to expect from hormone treatment, care needed whilst having chemotherapy,,,,, anything and the great people here will share their experiences.

Hope to hear from you soon and keep fighting.

Hello Ash

for us, getting through from raised PSA to treatment plan was the hardest part mentally of the journey so far and you have achieved that bit! And…. you’ve now made contact here and talking to people who know, understand and have experienced this journey we are all on.

im so very sorry to hear about your wife and then to hear of your own diagnosis. I can see that you are getting supportive comments already. I won’t repeat what others have said but can I ask you to advise close family members to get checked for breast or prostate cancer?

my husband has a strong family history of every female on his mothers side of the family ( including his mother) dying before the age of 50 and every male we know of dying of prostate cancer. The hospital referred him for genetic screening. As a result our sons are to have annual PSA checks and our daughters are to have annual mammograms up to the age of 50. They did not detect any faulty genes but they told us there may be genes they still don’t know about. Both prostate cancer and breast cancer can ‘run through’ families .

I wish you all the ver y best in your journey.←

Hello and a very warm welcome. So sorry you have had to join this group but it is such a supportive place to be full of lovely people. Never be afraid to ask a question or say how you are feeling. My hubbie was diagnosed in April. Click on my rabbit picture to read our journey. In a nut shell husband is on daralutamide tablets plus 12 weekly hormone injections. He has just completed 6 sessions of docetaxel chemo and to be honest he sailed through it. Only slight side effects was a bit of brain fog that lasted a couple of days and a metallic taste that lasted about a week each time. Once your chemo starts just be careful with certain foods, we were told no Chinese takeaway but shop ones ok, no cheese like stilton or brie, preferably only veg or salad that you can peel or just wash well and no raw seafood. They don't recommend you drive after your chemo session as you can be over the drink drive limit. One final bit for me and then I will shut up is if you have a Maggie's centre at the hospital pop along and say hello they are so welcoming. Good luck