Instead of hormone treatment, why not deal with your body metabolism? That
is really what was wrong in the first place before hospital treatment.
See OPTIONS for your options.
I had Casodex (another hormone treatment) for 6 weeks. Never again!
You may be interested in my diary on the web site, just as an example of one
person's pathway through this.

--
Martin Howard
Webbs Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
01371 850 423
martin@webbscottage.co.uk
http://www.webbscottage.co.uk
Updated 20th October 2003

Arnie,

I'm not a doctor, and I haven't had hormones yet (starting on
Lupron and Casodex tomorrow), but if I were you, I'd seriously
consider it.  There seems to be a lot of evidence, confirmed
by the personal experience of a lot of people in this newsgroup,
that hormone therapy can really knock back the cancer.  It
won't cure you, but it might hold off the life threatening
situation for years.

Some people on the newsgroup reported hating their
hormone therapy.  Others reported it as not being bad at
all.

The literature talks about possible symptoms such as weight gain,
development of some fatty breast tissue, "hot flashes", mood
swings, and bone thinning / osteporosis.  But not everybody
gets these and few people get all of them.

It might be worth a try for 3 months.  If the side effects are
bad, then re-evaluate.  If they're not bad at all, then maybe
it's worth putting up with them.

People talk a lot about "quality of life".  I understand that.
But for me it's a great kick to be alive at all.  I like being
with my family.  I like reading, writing, watching movies and
listening to music.  I want to stick around and see what
happens next.  I'll put up with some discomfort if it means
I get some more time to do all that.

Good luck,

   Alan

I'd welcome you to the club, but you're a veteran.  So, I'll welcome you to
the newsgroup.

Lloyd Eszlinger was similar to you (he may pipe in).  His RRP predated yours
by a year, but began to rise in 2003.  He ended up going with EBRT (external
beam radiation treatment).  I don't think we've heard from him since, but I
suspect they were successful in reducing the PCa considerably.  If it goes
up again, he'll have to look at HT (hormone treatment).

That seems to be the natural progression.  I, for instance, had RRP in 2000,
EBRT in 2002, and now Lupron.  But, I'm only 49 and it seems to progress
faster.

So, my answer is I think you should ask your uro or a second doc, perhaps a
radiation oncologist that specializes in prostate cancer, what he/she thinks
about EBRT.