Any good androgen deprivation stories out there?

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Alan Meyer - 14 Apr 2005 06:49 GMT

A friend of mine went to the doctor recently for a routine
checkup. He had just retired and had a boatload of plans
for enjoying himself.

The PSA test in his checkup came back 245. He got
more tests, went to see various doctors, and was turned
down for both surgery and radiation. His PSA went
up to 300. He started Casodex nine days ago and will
soon get his first shot of Lupron.

The guy is a very upbeat person who does his best to
face life with a smile for everyone, but I can see that he's
really suffering inside and thinks he's not long for this
world.

I've tried to encourage him. I've told him that he should
plan for the worst, but hope for the best. Some people
do respond to hormone therapy even when they have
very high PSA numbers. Dr. Strum's book relates some
stories of this type of men with advanced metastatic
disease who get long remissions from HT.

Are there any stories like that in this group? Is there
anyone here who was first diagnosed when the disease
had already progressed pretty far, gotten HT, and lived
to tell about it?

I would love to relate such stories to my friend, and maybe
offer an email address or two of people who have been
in his shoes and are still standing.

Alan

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Steve Kramer - 14 Apr 2005 11:19 GMT

Johnleon was a 114 in October and is down to .008.
Chris (nospam@please.com) was 169 in June and is down to .86
John Preston was 640 in 2003 and was down into the teens and last I heard
was 38.
John Nickolls was 704 during 2002 and last I heard was a 6.
Curt, Lorelei's husband, was an 865 was down to the teens for awhile.
BobKat was 2540 in 2002 and last I heard was a 45
JP Rems was a 4000 and in2004 was as a 70
and the highest of all, William 243, was a 4900 and as of November a 4.3.

Hope this helps him.

Signature

PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46
Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c
RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins
PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75
EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47
PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32
Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05
PSA .07 .05 .06 .05
non Illegitimi carborundum

> A friend of mine went to the doctor recently for a routine
> checkup. He had just retired and had a boatload of plans
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Alan

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c palmer - 14 Apr 2005 12:14 GMT

hi alan - his psa numbers could be off some because of prostatitis. i'm
not saying ALL of the psa is off, but his psa could be reading as high
as 100 on infection alone. this happened to a friend of mine about 5
years ago. he did have pca, but they did do the RP surgery and the path
report showed that the prostate had a lot of prostatitis. his psa's
were zero the last time i talked with him.

but even if the numbers are right on. my dad had a psa of 288 when they
started him on lupron shots only with NO other meds. he was still
living independently for many years after that. it was hitting a tree
with his truck that caused him to need assisted living, not the pca.

my dad traveled and did what he wanted after the shots, and that is what
i would say to your friend. be sure to warn him about the emotional
roller coaster ride from the lupron though.

as far as remissions - it's a joker in the deck. he sounds like a very
lucky guy to have a positive outlook on life, because regardless of how
long he lives, whether it is very long or short, he will have lived his
life to the fullest. what more can you ask for?

give him my best.

~ curtis

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc

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Alan Meyer - 15 Apr 2005 17:20 GMT

Thanks guys.

I've clipped these stories and emailed them to my friend.

Regards,

Alan

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