Hello to the group

Not new to cancer but new to this group. I wish everyone the best in our fight against the beast of a disease. I've put my profile/bio below but being detailed oriented, I know it's a long read. I am just not very good at summarizing :) 

Prostate cancer Gleason 8 Stage 4 T3-N2-M1. Not sure I properly understand the metastasis situation. Nothing in the bones (until May 2024) or visible on the CT scans but considered low volume metastatic because there appears to be some microscopic ones in a lymph node in my abdomen or something like that.

November 2019 my first ever PSA was 79 just because I turned 51. Had no symptom whatsoever. Weighted 210 lbs at the time.
Another test a couple weeks later my PSA was 80.
Had a biopsy performed in January of 2020 and was diagnosed Gleason 8 (4+4) with all cores positive.
Had a CT Scan and Bone scan in either Dec 2019 or Jan 2020, none showing anything alarming.
January 2020 became keto pescatarian and joined a gym.
Had a T3-MRI in March of 2020. PSA was 108 (might be because of biopsy from January).
March 2020 did a 18-day water fast which ended in April. My PSA in April was of 116 (which I think might have been due to the fast). Weight was down to 190 before the fast and was 170 after my fast.
Had a Pet Scan in April of 2020 which showed some very tiny metastasis outside of the envelope that would be too small to show up on the previous scans. Told they are in abdomen and pelvic region. Nothing on bones, lungs or otherwise.
April 18 2002 Got a Lupron injection and accepted to get radiation by end of summer.
April 20 2020 My PSA was down to 78. Doctor says Lupron would not act this fast so it is probably a mix of what I am doing and Lupron. (I now believe that it is what the doctor says but also that my previous 116 was higher than it would have otherwise been to begin with because of the biopsy and of the long fast since I've later noticed that my PSA always rises after a water fast for whatever reason).
May 04 2020. PSA down to 20.74
May 21 2020. PSA down to 1.95
June 9 2020. PSA is 2.48. Weight is 165lbs and it appears to be my new normal weight going forward.
June 18 2020. PSA is 2.67
July 27 2020. PSA is 2.49. Refused to get another Lupron shot scheduled for August because I had felt horrible on Lupron, could barely hold on to my job with the clouded mind and lack of energy. Also refused to get radiation for fear of getting new cancers or of getting burns that will never heal.
August 17 2020. PSA is 3.17. Feeling better than I have in at least the past 15 years. Weight typically fluctuates between 160 and 165 which is is less than I used to weight even when I was 18 years old (I was 180 at 18).
September 8 2020. PSA is 4.26 Getting worried about the ever rising PSA so my oncologist says that we could try just doing ADT without radiation as some do for life. Since I had a horrible time on Lupron, the doctor wants me to try Casodex 150mg/day.
September 18. PSA rose anyway despite the Casodex 150mg.
September 20. Started the SQ1 program which is basically whole food plant based (WFPB) with lots of green and carrot juice. Stopped Casodex because I could not work due to it making depressed and so tired. Realized later on that in just 10ish days, Casodex had made me lose 5lbs and my weight was down to 160.
September 29 2020. Started a 7-day water fast to try to protect me from radiations from the Bone scan and CT scans that took place on Oct 2 and 6 respectively. Both scans are negatives just like they had been at the beginning of 2020.
October 20 2020. PSA is 27 which I now believe was due to the water fast but did not know at the time so this got me scared into giving Casodex another shot but with 50mg/day rather than 150mg. 50mg was much more tolerable and I was able to work.
October 23 2020. Began doing Casodex 50mg.
November 12 2020. PSA down to 19.76 which looked promising.
December 1 2020. PSA is up to 25.
December 2 2020. Upped my Casodex dosage to 100mg. Feeling a little worse from it but am managing to work if I take some coffee and if I take some Concerta/Ritalin for concentration. Failed to notice at the time that this new dose of Casodex 100mg was making me lose weight and did not link the occasional shortness of breath to it at the time.
December 10 2020. Feeling like crap, I started a water-fast hoping to clean up my system and feel better. Went from 157 to 148 which is kind of normal during the fast but I hadn't realized the Casodex was messing up my weight as well so I was not regaining any even after the fast was over I kept losing weight.
December 15 2020. PSA is up to 31.97. That is when I began to make a connection between fasting and PSA.
December 16 2020. Upped my Casodex dose to 150mg.
December 22 2020. Stopped taking Casodex completely as I felt just about ready to die. Had been sleeping 16+ hours a day and spent the hours awake to simply cry and stressed that I'll lose my job, house, everything and leaving my wife homeless from dying so rapidly.
December 25 2020. Weight is down to 146, I am not getting better at all despite having stopped the Casodex. However I am no longer artificially depressed from the Casodex but I am so out of breath that even making juice is an effort that leaves me panting.
December 27 2020. Went to the emergency room of the hospital where they confirmed that my issues are not Covid related and that all of my problems are indeed side-effects of Casodex (confusion, word switching, forgetful ness, weight changes, depression, weakness, etc...). All blood work looks good and the X-Rays of my lungs looks as healthy as those I had taken in 2014. So I just need to wait for 4-6 weeks in order for Casodex to be fully out of my system.

January 2021 started Lupron again.
April 2021 started Abiraterone
May 2021 began radiotherapy in what the doc hopes might be a possible cure based on the stampede study. Getting 38 treatments (87 Gray) to my prostate and lower abdomen/pelvic region which should end on July 13 2021.

March 2022: Began suffering from peripheral neuropathy in my feet.

December 02 2022: Received my last Lupron injection

April 25 2023: I have started to get swollen feet everyday from the afternoon until the following morning. Not sure whether this too is neuropathy from radiation or some pre-diabetes from prednisone

***
May 02 2023: Stopped taking Zytiga and began tapering off from prednisone. My treatment has reached its end for now. The waiting game now begins as to whether or not my testosterone will be coming back and once it is back, then waiting to see if the PSA remains at 0.01 or starts to climb.

June 14 2023: I am now completely off Prednisone. The withdrawals were painful so I had to adjust the protocol to taper off more slowly than the pace that my oncologist had recommended.

July 3 2023: Have begun the keto diet once more and did a 4 day fast (1 dry, 3 water only). That appears to have helped a lot with the swelling of my feet. It should also help me lose the 50lbs or so that I've gained since I began the hormonal treatment 2.5 years ago.

Aug 18 2023: PSA is 0.09, Testosterone is 3.3 nmol/l (95.2 ng/dL), Testosterone FREE is 52 pmol/l, Testosterone BIO is 1.26 nmol/l

Oct 6 2023: PSA is 0.14 (55.56% increase from previous result), Testosterone is 11.3 nmol/l (326.0 ng/dL), Testosterone FREE is 138 pmol/l, Testosterone BIO is 3.49 nmol/l

Dec 5 2023: PSA is 0.22 (57.14% increase from previous result), Testosterone is 10 nmol/l (288.5 ng/dL), Testosterone FREE is 129 pmol/l, Testosterone BIO is 3.34 nmol/l

Feb 6 2023: PSA is 0.39 (77.27% increase from previous result), Testosterone is 9.6 nmol/l (277.0 ng/dL), Testosterone FREE is 141 pmol/l, Testosterone BIO is 3.65 nmol/l

Apr 16 2024: PSA is 0.90 (130.77% increase from previous result), Testosterone is 10.2 nmol/l (294 ng/dL), Testosterone FREE is 110 pmol/l, Testosterone BIO is 2.85 nmol/l

PSA 2024-05-15 : 1.07 (18.89% * from previous result).