Decision to make

Hello trom57a  No - your team would determine the length of your HT treatment depending on your diagnosis.

I have an aggressive Gleason Score and a high initial PSA so I am on Hormone Therapy for 3 years - Personally I would think you will be half that time at the most. Your oncologist will confirm the details once you decide on treatment.

It's no problem - that's what we are here for - ask anything, nothing is too trivial. 2 years ago I knew nothing about Prostate Cancer and the good people of this Community put me right - and I am still here!!.

Kind regards - Brian.

Hi Trom.

A warm welcome and glad to 'meet' you. Just to add in to the information Brian has given you. You may be given antiandrogen tablets such as Bicalutamide to take for a few days prior to being given the hormone injection. The injections can produce what is called 'testosterone flare' when given for the first time which could make symptoms worse. The tablets stop this from happening.

Trom, I started on 30 days of hormone tablets, then one injection of Decapeptyl (to last 6 months).

My Radiotherapy started after 3 months on the hormones.

Don't be alarmed at the possibility of side effects, they are different for everyone.

You appear to have chosen the HT/RT route.  Good decision.  There are two types for T3 patients (oh no, I hear you say!).  I’m on the brachytherapy boost pathway.  You may wish to check my bio before you make a final choice- however, if you don’t have aggressive architecture, then the normal 20 factions should suffice. Check out Seamus47 bio - that’s textbook.   AW

Hi alpine wander and everyone else who have kindly responded to my initial message.

Well....it's done. I've made my decision to go down the HT/RT pathway and confirmed with the hospital today. A major leap but somehow I feel relieved that I'm finally on my way to getting my cancer treated. I anticipate that there will be many trials and tribulations to come over the coming months and years but hope that I can embrace it all with positivity.

I'm sure there will also be many questions to address going forward. I trust that the fantastic support given by you all so far will continue. I cannot thank you enough for your help.

I'd like to be able to navigate this site for topics related to prostate cancer, particularly treatment side effects and how people have dealt with them. So any advice would be gratefully appreciated 

Onwards and upwards, hopefully 

John

Hi John, well done with your choice of treatment, The one side effect which nearly everyone gets is fatigue, which is also the only one you can prepare for to lessen it's impact. get yourself as fit as you can and it will benefit you later, and if you can exercise your inner core/lower abdomen that may help should you get any urinary incontinence. All other side effects, including urinary incontinence are hit and miss, there is no way of knowing which if any you may get so will have to deal with any you might get, if and when you get them, though by then I'm sure the guys and girls will have shared their experiences. best of luck with your treatment, take care.

Eddie

Hello again John trom57a  Well choice made - let's hope it a good one. To start you on your journey here's a few links for some light reading:

* Here's a link to our information on the HT/RT Route:

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/treatments-and-drugs/hormonal-therapy-for-prostate-cancer

* Here's a link to the Prostate Cancer UK information for Hormone Therapy which you can download:

https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org/our-publications/all-publications/hormone-therapy

* And lo and behold the one for Radiotherapy

https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org/our-publications/all-publications/external-beam-radiotherapy

The bast way to tackle side effects is to see which ones (if any) you get and then see how to deal with them. Fatigue is on the cards so keep as fit as you can.

I hope the above helps. Anything else just ask.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thanks I am a new member and already I find the personal experiences very informative 

Hi John,

We have similar diagnosis/prognosis profiles and, like you, last week I made the final decision to go down the HT/RT route. I'm 100% confident, after discussing it in detail with the medical team, and gleaning invaluable information on this forum, that I've made the right decision. Took my first 'horse pill' on Saturday.

As you say, onwards and upwards.

All the best,

David

Hello Big Col  Welcome to "our" Community. So sorry to find you here but we are a great bunch.

Feel free to join in any conversations and make yourself "at home" here.

Best wishes - Brian.