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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / February 2007First PSA after seeding
Just had a phone call from my uro who tells me my PSA came in a 0.1. The seeding, 77 seeds with iodine 125, was just a tad over three months ago. I have an appointment with him next week to get more details and get a reading on dealing with some of the urinary side effects I have been having. I know there are lots more PSAs down the road and likely some bumps along the way, but at least the start appears good. And there isn't much I can do about it anyway. It either works, or it doesn't. Now back to trying to get Ubutu installed. Naaman Nickell > Just had a phone call from my uro who tells me my PSA came in a 0.1. The > seeding, 77 seeds with iodine 125, was just a tad over three months ago. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Naaman Nickell Oops, make that Palladium 103. nn > Just had a phone call from my uro who tells me my PSA came in a 0.1. That's great, Naaman. What was that? Nine months to treatment? I know your PSA was 4.5 a year ago. Do you know what it was when you had the seeding? >> Just had a phone call from my uro who tells me my PSA came in a 0.1. > > That's great, Naaman. What was that? Nine months to treatment? I know > your PSA was 4.5 a year ago. Do you know what it was when you had the > seeding? Thank, Steve. Actually, there was another jump to 5.8. At that point, my original urologist said, essentially, it's time to fish or cut bait. I met with two other urologists and two rad onc, all of whom said pretty much the same. I decided let's get it done. Both rad oncs came with good credentials. I chose the one with the longest record, who had trained at Northwest Tumor Institute and had performed two so-far successful seeding on acquaintances. Seeding was accomplished Oct. 30 in Sierra Vista, AZ. Primary side effects so far have some minor bowel problems and somewhat more significant--to me at least--urinary problems. But who knows what lies ahead. Naaman Naaman, Going to 0.1 in only 3 months is an excellent response. It took me two years to get to 0.2 - where I still am at three years post treatment. It looks like your seeding was a spectacular success. I assume your urinary problem is difficulty urinating leading to frequent trips to the bathroom. If your experience is like mine, you're in the worst of it right now. It took me five months to get completely off Flomax. I was told by my rad onc that urinary difficulty is always the last major side effect to clear up and it usually takes some months. I hope it's not too much of a burden for you. I used to keep a urinal by the bed so I could get up, urinate, and go right back to sleep without waking up too much. Every time you do that, tell yourself, "Hot diggity, I'm cancer free!". That way, waking up seven times a night will just be seven additional opportunities to feel great about your treatment outcome. ;^) Alan > Naaman, > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Alan My problem wasn't so much about frequency or urgency--although those SEs were there. It was more about trouble starting. A few times, it seemed as if I was at a dead stop despite the stong urge to void. Fortunately, it never reached an emergency status. I feel as if I have been very fortunate in the quality of care and attention I have received from both my uro and my rad onc. They are particularly responsive to phone messages when I tend to panic. Naaman ... > My problem wasn't so much about frequency or urgency--although those SEs were there. It > was more about trouble starting. A few times, it seemed as if I was at a dead stop > despite the stong urge to void. Fortunately, it never reached an emergency status. I had that too. They're all related. Radiation causes the prostate to swell. Swelling clamps the urethra, shutting off urine flow. Pressure builds up in the bladder but can't get through and you feel like you're ready to burst. People who haven't experienced that don't realize how nasty it is. The reason frequency and urgency are related to that is that, once you start to urinate, some of the urine comes out and reduces the pressure in the bladder. It may reduce it enough that it can no longer push through the swelling. So instead of completely emptying your bladder, you only partially empty it. Soon it's full again and you have to urinate again, and then again, and then again - never getting a complete emptying. You can tell if that's happening to you by measuring the quantity of urine. If it's small, 100 or 200 CCs, or maybe 300 if you're a big man, then you're probably not completely voiding the bladder. > I feel as if I have been very fortunate in the quality of care and attention I have > received from both my uro and my rad onc. They are particularly responsive to phone > messages when I tend to panic. > > Naaman Hello, Naaman: That's great news! And that's a pretty quick response to the seeds, isn't it? Off topic: Have you used Linux before? I just recently installed Debian on my home PC, and have been largely pleased with it. --charlie > Hello, Naaman: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > --charlie I did experiment with Linux for a while several years ago, but decided it wasn't quite ready for prime time on my computer--hardware conflicts. I thought Ubuntu might be worth taking a look at now, but I'm running into a conflict with my video card that I haven't resolved yet. Next step may be another distro, just something to play around with until I find the right one to succeed Windows. Maybe Debian is it. Naaman Have you used Linux before? I just recently installed >> Debian on my home PC, and have been largely pleased with it. >> >> --charlie >> > I did experiment with Linux for a while several years ago, but decided > it wasn't quite ready for prime time on my computer--hardware conflicts. Tip: I fought what I thought were hw/sw conflicts for many hundreds of hours (daily crashes, for example), to the point I just S-canned my F-ing new W-indows machine while it was still under warranty (neither D-ell nor M-icrosoft could fix it, and gave up) and bought a Mac. Then while rehosting my files, I told Norton AntiVirus to stop monitoring my e-mail on the PC. That was a year ago, and the PC hasn't as much as hiccupped since then. I.P. > ... > Then while rehosting my files, I told Norton AntiVirus to stop monitoring my e-mail on > the PC. That was a year ago, and the PC hasn't as much as hiccupped since then. > ... With virus checkers like these, we don't need viruses. Our machines can be corrupted without them. Alan Hold everything folks! Because of some miscommunication, I learn my PSA was 0.4, not 0.1, a result that seems more in line with the experiences of others. Guess I didn't have my hearing aids turned on. Should have double checked it. At any rate, I think this still bodes well, for the present. Naaman > Just had a phone call from my uro who tells me my PSA came in a 0.1. The > seeding, 77 seeds with iodine 125, was just a tad over three months ago. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Naaman Nickell > Hold everything folks! Because of some miscommunication, I learn my PSA was 0.4, not > 0.1, a result that seems more in line with the experiences of others. Guess I didn't > have my hearing aids turned on. Should have double checked it. At any rate, I think this > still bodes well, for the present. .4 is merely excellent instead of spectacular. Looks like you're doing fine. Alan |
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