My partner 47 diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

Good Morning Orvy 

A warm welcome to the Online Prostate Cancer community although I am so sorry to find you here.

That's some start to your partner's prostate cancer journey - the good thing is it's been found and he's being checked to find out just where the cancer is and has got to.

The start to a cancer journey is the hardest part because of the unknowns - however it looks like your partner's team are on the ball with the talk about "triplet therapy". This is a fairly new approach to treating the cancer and has a cracking track record to date. We have plenty of people on the forum who are undertaking this treatment and it is working bringing down the PSA, stopping the cancer in it's tracks and stopping any further spread.

Most folk who have advanced prostate cancer settle down to an "almost normal life" and once a full diagnosis and treatment plan is in place I am sure this will be the case for you and your family.

Stick with us, ask any questions you want, however trivial they may appear - you will get answers. It's OUR community and YOU are most welcome. We are all with you on this journey.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello Orvy .

What a blow for you and your family and we can all associate with the fears and shock at being given a cancer diagnosis. As Brian has said, the Triplet therapy is a pretty new treatment which is showing good results in controlling the cancer for a longer period of time. Some of the latest research is showing that the timing and order of delivery is important for giving the best results. The Degarelix is the first stage which will immediately stop the production of testosterone and deprive the cancer of its food no matter where it is in the body. The research shows that the chemotherapy (Docetaxel) should ideally be started at the same time as the tablets (probably Darolutamide) or at the latest the tablets should start within a week after starting the chemotherapy. Starting the tablets before chemotherapy does not seem to work so well. Also it is recommended to start the chemotherapy within 12 weeks of starting the hormone therapy injection/implant.

I have attached a link to Triplet therapy which you might find useful.

 Triplet therapy (chemo) starting in 2 weeks!! Please help us prepare x 

The hormone therapy comes with a range of possible side effects but the main one is fatigue and the best way to combat it is to get as fit as possible and exercise.

What I have also attached is a link to a very good book which you can download for free.

https://www.jyotishah.com/fighting-prostate-cancer-a-survival-guide/

The triplet therapy is not the end of the line. My husband also has advanced prostate cancer and is still going strong after 4 years and he is a lot older than your husband. On our journey we have learnt that there are a range of treatments available if necessary and with the amount of research going on more will be available in the future.

Please come back with any questions. There is plenty of help available for the whole family so don't be afraid to ask.

Hi Orvy , sorry to find you here, but I hope this forum will help with any issues as you progress on the journey.  When I started my treatment 7 years ago, triplet therapy wasn't available, but even so I am still here and most of that time life has been great.  Your OH is very young compared to most of us, but that is definitely in his favour.  I keep saying to my oncologist’just keep me going until they find a cure!’.   The HT will stop any PCa from growing, no matter where it is in his body.  Best wishes, David

Hello Orvy,

I'm very sorry to hear of your partner's diagnosis but, as others have already said, there are many treatments available. Despite this, it is a major shock to get over but time, experience and learning more about treatment possibilities should hopefully help to at least ease the fears you understandably have right now in these early days. 

I have just had the third chemotherapy treatment (out of six) on the triple therapy regime. Everyone experiences different side effects and issues when undergoing treatment but some are quite common and, for treatments like chemotherapy usually only temporary. Other long term effects associated with ADT etc. can also be managed by changes to lifestyle, exercise, diet and if absolutely necessary additional treatments to mitigate the problems. In my experience I have always been looked after by my consultant and the entire treatment teams exceptionally well.

If you look at the blogs section of this site you'll see there are currently two triple treatment blogs in progress, one that I am writing outlining my experience and another member who is one cycle in front of me. We're each having some common and some different experiences which demonstrates how each individual reacts - again, everyone is different.

My triple treatment was offered due to recurrence some 8 years after initial hormone and radiotherapy treatment and I am now incurable but treatable. The outlook is good and is currently measured in years, there's much more that can be done in future to successfully treat prostate cancer and, of course, always research being undertaken into new treatments which will be in use in future when they might be needed. 

I wish youe partner and you all the very best for a successful outcome.

Derek.

Hi Orvy so sorry to hear your storey, my husband had his prostate removed in February but unfortunately it had moved to his pelvis, we were both in shock as he had just come through a course of treatment for Non Hodgins Lymphoma, he is still in complete remission from his lymphoma, so we took stock after the initial shock and decided to take it one day at a time, he is on hormone treatment both injections and tablets, he is having lots of not flushed and a bit tired but otherwise in good form. We are off to Croatia next month and so looking forward to that.  This forum has been such a help to us, everyone has been so positive and you can ask any questions so good luck on your journey and be positive

Hibbie

Hi Orvy,   I'm sorry to here your husband has advanced prostate cancer,  my husband had a similar diagnosis in March he is having the triplet treatment and has just had his last chemo, he was luck and it didn't give him to much trouble  a few days of tiredness but not too bad. He has developed type 2 diabetes which made him feel pretty unwell but now under control, he is still  working pretty hard in our garden and daughters house, in the beginning I worried about it but it has helped him no end with his fitness. Please check on my name and read my information it my give you courage. This group is fantastic and will help you if you have questions and you will have loads no doubt.

Take care x

Thank you so much much for all the info and the links that's all very helpful. I wasn't aware that this triplet treatment is also a fairly new treatment. I am absolutely devastated with news and having no early symptoms has absolutely thrown me. I almost can't believe the results. This man hadn't been to a GP for nearly 20 years because he never had any reasons to go. I think 2005 was the last time he saw a GP. I just pray the treatments work and he can have many years with us. 

Thank you for the information and warm welcome

Hi David, thank you for replying and wow that's amazing and I'm soo pleased your doing really well and life is still great. This has given me some hope. I just hate this waiting around for the full diagnosis and treatment plan. I am glad the CNS gave us an idea of what we are likely looking at in terms of diagnosis and treatment plan. 

Hi Derek, thank you for the warm welcome and information. Reading this is giving me some hope and a different outlook on this. They did say even though the cancer has spread and looks like it's aggressive we are still looking at years. If treatments don't work or stop working then they have plenty more treatments to look at. 

Orvy