Hi I am new here

Hi Gemster I’m sure other members will be along shortly.  I’m busy in the Alpsat the moment, so no time for comprehensive answer, but you might try looking at brachytherapy boost - an effective combination therapy for T3a.  Check out my profile.  AW

Hi Gemster and welcome to the forum though sorry you have to be here, and you have prostate cancer. There are slightly different types of radiotherapy but the commonist is EBRT , external beam radio therapy RT over  20 conamsecutive weekdays. But as you have just started hormone therapy HT. You are likely to be waiting up to 6 months for RT to start, But don't worry as you have stated your HT pills today and very soon your HT injections this will cut off the Cancers food source "testosterone " and your cancer will not be going anywhere other than in reverse. Gemster HT and RT are a wonderful treatment for prostate cancer but  come with possible side effects, one of which is fatigue which can be draining but you can lessen its impact and speed up recovery by improving your fitness levels. PS your treatment will be done to cure m, best wishes. 

Eddie 

Hi Alpine Wanderer will check out your profile and any information is good to know

Hi eddiel

that is what I was told but it is always good to hear from someone that has gone through the treatment  and thank you for taking your time to reply

Good Evening Gemster 

Another warm welcome from me to Macmillan's online Prostate Cancer forum (otherwise know as "The club you didn't want to join"). - We are a decent bunch.

I am a Gleason 9 (5+4) Initial PSA 182 T3aN0M0 and I would think you may have a possible similar diagnosis although I am a Gleason 9!!    - however I am on a "Curative Pathway" so life is good.

What can you expect. Well to be honest as Eddie (eddiel) said above the HT will start now and reduce your testosterone - the cancer's food and it will stop growing and any potential spread will stop. HT does have side effects, but we don't all get every side effect and they take a while to kick in.

Once the HT has taken control of the cancer you will be heading for RT to kill off the Cancer cells for good. You have had the biopsy so there's no more pain, just waiting for appointments and things to happen. 

As Alpine Wanderer said he's "working away" at the moment but if you click on his avatar or name you can see where he's been with brachytherapy (it's not available in all Trusts so you may have to push for it if you are able to have it).

To help us help you can I ask you to fill in some details of your journey to date and your Initial PSA, Gleason score and TNM score on your profile. To do this on your home page click on the chair (top right) then "profile" the "edit". Once you have written something, don't forget to click on "save". (You can read my journey by clicking om my avatar or user name - I have been on HT/RT for 30 months - but I had issues at the start!!)

Feel free to ask any questions, however trivial they may be - we are all happy to answer questions.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Gemster,

I am so sorry to find you here but it is an excellent place for getting information and support as the members here are so knowledgeable and kind.

Just to add to eddieleddiel  excellent post. My husband diagnosed over 8 months ago and he is on HT and had RT. The side effects of the HT start around 2 months into the treatment, there are not nice but tolerable. His life is almost normal, at the moment he is swimming his daily one hour swim. The swim is more difficult than before the HT but is totally possible. What I am trying to say is that life carrying on almost as before. 

Lots of love

Dafna

Hello Gemster, welcome! If you have only just received your diagnosis, I imagine that you are experiencing , like most of us , lots of difficult emotions. can I reassure you that this seems to be the norm and that things do settle in time?

I would advise you to look up www.prostatecanceruk.org and read through their very comprehensive and easy to understand information leaflets? The more knowledge you have, the better you will understand what and why your medical team suggest treatments etc.

my husband is T3a ( breaking through the prostate wall)  N0 ( no evidence of spread to lymph nodes) M0 ( no evidence of secondaries). He commenced hormone therapy in Nov 2022 and had radiotherapy in Feb 2023. He completed 18 months of hormone therapy. We have both found the side effects of the hormone therapy harder to tolerate than the radiotherapy but others may have had different experiences. He was treated with the intention to cure but there are no guarantees for the route he took or for surgery. 

so, where are we now -2 years from that nasty PSA result? We are hopeful that he has been cured but also aware that if the cancer rears its ugly head again there are lots of treatments out there. The consultant told us that now he has been treated thus far my husbands life expectancy is the same as any man who has not had prostate cancer. As the hormone therapy affects slowly wane my husband is going from strength to strength mentally and physically! He is always on the go! We have drawn so very much closer over this last 2 years. I would say this is because we have fought this tough time together and learned so much! We also were forced to face our own eventual demise and realised that we must make the most of our time together and enjoy life - living for today and doing the things we want to do - tomorrow can ( mostly) take care of itself! ( my fear of losing him still lingers and comes back to haunt me from time to time)

I hope your own prostate cancer journey goes smoothly and that you are encouraged by the responses you receive here.

Hi,

I got diagnosed in 2021 , also a T3a you can look on my profile to see how things have been for me, however must remember we are all different and your journey may differ , hopefully it will give you some idea what to expect , 

all the best

Tony 

Hi Gemster.

Good afternoon it's great to meet you today sorry it's under these circumstances but "hey ho"

I have been on Hormone Therapy injections and tablets for the previous 12mnts and my PSA numbers have dropped from 1000+ to 1.79 currently.

At my original/first appointment with my cancer consultant he mentioned that I would go straight on to HT and that I would have chemo in reserve if and when required.

Twelve months ago everything was "doom and gloom"  

But I am am still as active and fit as ever so we need to keep "Strong"

Prostate Worrier.

Hi Prostate warrior and everyone else who has replied to this post  

I had a health review 5 weeks ago during my review the nurse decided to do a psa  test due to pains I was having ,I actually didn’t even know what a psa was .The next day my doctor phoned to tell me I had a psa of 12 and was arranging for a mri scan since then I have had a biopsy which all samples where positive for cancer a quick full body bone scan later and I am informed I have T3a prostate cancer started hormone therapy yesterday  everything been very quick haven’t really had time to think too much .I am a 68 year old really don’t let much bother me will take this like most things one step in front of the other, but it is always good to know that there are others that have been there and can help you through the process 

thank you all for your words and thoughts