 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / February 2008My story so far
Greetings gentlemen, my story to date: General checkup and routine blood test by GP 1 October 2006 PSA 4.9 Visit to urologist (antibiotics for suspected infection) Age 49 PSA increases to 5.03 January 2007 Consultation with urologist (DRE) who recommends biopsy. Biopsy 26 January 2007 Diagnosed positive for Prostate Cancer with Gleason rating of 6 (3+3) and a grading of T2C - had BARELY come out from under the anesthetic when the urologist suggests Radical Prostatectomy (and makes a booking for surgery). I was convinced I would not survive the surgery - irrational fear at the time = Procrastination - Stress - Anxiety - Depression - Consultation with Radiation Oncologist - very informative May 2007 Treatment Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) May 2007 5 1/2 weeks Minor immediate side effects (skin burning just below the coccyx) First blood works after treatment August 2007 - Age 50 PSA .9 Second blood works February 2008 PSA .1 Oncologist very happy - so am I. (will be 51 in July) I am LIVING with the disease rather than dying from it. Next blood works due in August 2008 I am confident it will have decreased again. Bodie South Africa -- "Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter. You will meet them doing various things with resolve, but their interest rarely holds because after the other thing ordinary life is as flat as the taste of wine when the taste buds have been burned off your tongue." Hemingway. > Greetings gentlemen, Greetings, Bodie. Welcome to our little club. > Treatment Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) > May 2007 5 1/2 weeks > First blood works after treatment August 2007 - Age 50 > PSA .9 > Second blood works February 2008 > PSA .1 That is, as I understand it, just about a perfect line for radiation therapy. Good to hear from South Africa.  SignaturePSA 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 PSAD 0.19 years EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 PSAD .056 years Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 and every 4 months there after PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 PSAD 1.4 years Casodex added daily 07/06 PSA <0.04, <0.05, <0.04, <0.04, <0.1 2/12/08 Non Illegitimi Carborundum > > Greetings gentlemen, > > Greetings, Bodie. Welcome to our little club. Thanks, Steve - just another weapon in the arsenal against PCa. Discussion amongst one's peers provides a better and more informed mindset. > > Treatment Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) > > May 2007 5 1/2 weeks [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > That is, as I understand it, just about a perfect line for radiation > therapy. Well, it's gone down and seems to still be going down so I'm happy. >Good to hear from South Africa. Thanks - a pity you had to. :-) We have a small support group here in the southen suburbs of Cape Town called the PSA (Prostate Support Action) Group. Not very original I know. We meet once a month, have a few drinks and snacks then listen to a short lecture/discussion by whichever speaker is arranged for the evening. This ranges from medical experts to complete laymen to other survivors. Lately we have been "advertising" in the offices of a few urologists in an attempt to "get to folks" as soon as they have been diagnosed. This was identified by our group as a very vulnerable time for PCa patients. (from experience we know what we felt like when we were diagnosed and the "perceived"complete lack of support at the time) Lets hope we can make a difference. Thanks for the welcome. Stay healthy and be blessed. Bodie. > Greetings gentlemen, > my story to date: [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > Bodie > South Africa Gteetings to Bodie in South Africa. Glad to read that the treatment went well. Your low numbers are encouraging. They may be rounding up to .1 Then there's no need to fret the minor fluctuations. Steve K keeps the data on newcomers in a database. I'm from other cancer newsgroups. I was supporting a man whose lady friend had uterine cancer. She was elderly and had radiation seeds inserted. She came through the treatment with flying colours. Tough people you are ! She had a long ways to go to get the treatments and rechecks. At last word, a year and half later, she was doing well and no recurrence. I wish you the same and my best for a long and happy, healthy life. J > > Greetings gentlemen, > > my story to date: [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > Gteetings to Bodie in South Africa. > Glad to read that the treatment went well. Hi J, thanks for that and yes, so was I. ;-) > Your low numbers are encouraging. > They may be rounding up to .1 > Then there's no need to fret the minor fluctuations. Well they seem to be following the "predicted" norm for the type of treatment so I'm optimistic. > Steve K keeps the data on newcomers in a database. > I'm from other cancer newsgroups. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > She had a long ways to go to get the treatments and rechecks. > At last word, a year and half later, she was doing well and no recurrence. That is great for her and yes, we are a hardy breed. :-) > I wish you the same and my best for a long and happy, healthy life. > J Thank you and may we all go from strength to strength. Stay well and be blessed. Bodie. Good news Bodie. I have read that men whose PSA reaches 0.2 or less after radiation very rarely get a recurrence. Your PSA may not drop to zero. You do still have a prostate. But it looks like all the cancer is gone. > "Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who > have [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > tongue." > Hemingway. Hmmm. An odd quote to be sure. Hemingway was a pretty extraordinary man. I read recently that he was a journalist with the U.S. army during the Battle of the Bulge. When Germans broke through in his sector and attacked the command post where he was visiting, he grabbed a Tommy gun and shot a couple of them, saving the battallion commander's life. Guess he practiced what he preached. Alan On February 18, Alan Meyer replied to Bodie: > I have read that men whose PSA reaches 0.2 or less after radiation > very rarely get a recurrence. > > Your PSA may not drop to zero. You do still have a prostate. But > it looks like all the cancer is gone. I hope so, but keep checking. I wonder whether Bodie is acquainted with Terry Herbert of YANA (You Are Not Alone) PCa website fame. Terry moved some months ago from South Africa to Oz (Australia). (snip "Papa" Hemingway quote) > Hmmm. An odd quote to be sure. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Guess he practiced what he preached. Yes, quite the man's man. 'Course there just might have been an element of self-preservation involved. Warning: Downer follows. One of my favorite quotes: "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry." Papa was himself a broken man; he committed suicide in 1961. Regards, Steve J > Good news Bodie. > > I have read that men whose PSA reaches 0.2 or less after radiation very rarely get a recurrence. Good news indeed and a notion I am particularly fond of using as a mantra. :-D > Your PSA may not drop to zero. You do still have a prostate. But > it looks like all the cancer is gone. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Hmmm. An odd quote to be sure. Hi Alan, spent a LARGE part of my life doing just that, hunting men (in the military) Now I do it part time (in the Police) It is part of my karma. Take care and be blessed. Bodie. > Hemingway was a pretty extraordinary man. I read recently that he > was a journalist with the U.S. army during the Battle of the Bulge. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Alan |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.