 |
 | 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 / August 20084 Yr. PSA
Hi Folks, Just got back from my 4 yr. post brachy. checkup. I'm thrilled to hear 0.2. I hope the others in this group who are scheduled for appointments this week have as good or better news. I don't post much these days, but I'm still here and read regularly. I'm involved in several school construction projects here and, August is the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded. Not too much off time right now, but as soon as we open the schools, Pam and I will be Chesapeake bound for about a month. Best wishes to all of you, Tom > Hi Folks, > > Just got back from my 4 yr. post brachy. checkup. I'm thrilled to hear > 0.2. Looks like it's just going to hange around 0.16 to 0.2 for the rest of your life. That's great, Tom! BTW, how is you wife?  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 Illegitimati non carborundum > Looks like it's just going to hange around 0.16 to 0.2 for the rest of > your life. That's great, Tom! > > BTW, how is you wife? Hi Steve, She's doing great, her 6 mo. check ups have all been good. Tom > Hi Steve, > > She's doing great, her 6 mo. check ups have all been good. > > Tom Glad to hear it. I still cannot imagine how you both must have felt that month back.... hmmmm.... almost exactly 5 years ago. 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 Illegitimati non carborundum > Hi Folks, > > Just got back from my 4 yr. post brachy. checkup. I'm thrilled to hear > 0.2. That's great news Tom. I have read (can't remember where) that men who get below 0.4 on radiation have very good prospects for a disease free future, and getting to or below 0.2 is better still. Alan >> Hi Folks, >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > radiation have very good prospects for a disease free future, and > getting to or below 0.2 is better still. Do you remember if that was with or without ADT in addition to radiation? thanks, sue > Do you remember if that was with or without ADT in addition to radiation? > > thanks, > sue I was on Lupron for a little over a year prior to getting the seeds and for a few months after. As I understood it, one of the reasons for Lupron was to shrink the prostate and create a better target for the radation. Tom >>> Hi Folks, >>> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > thanks, > sue I'm pretty sure that the numbers are without Lupron, since Lupron can make the PSA undetectable even without radiation. If a man has both Lupron and radiation, he won't be able to tell what his real post-radiation PSA is until the Lupron completely wears off - which can take 6 months or more after the last "3 month" Lupron injection. The use of Lupron as an adjuvant to radiation does however appear to improve the odds of long term success. Alan >>>> Hi Folks, >>>> [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > The use of Lupron as an adjuvant to radiation does however > appear to improve the odds of long term success. Thanks Alan, just about what I thought. Kevin's psa 5 weeks after IMRT was "0.1" and we are very happy. He saw his urologist yesterday and asked about the psa with the ADT he is taking. As we expected he was told that he can consider himself in remission, but won't know if he is disease free untill he is finished with the ADT. He will be taking ADT for another 2 1/2 years because his cancer was so aggressive, all 12 snips were gleason 9. sue - always learning something new here > ... > He saw his urologist yesterday and asked about the psa with the ADT he is [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > sue - always learning something new here It sounds like the doctor is doing the right thing. For aggressive cases, Lupron can supposedly make a significant difference in the outcome of radiation. Since he'll be on it for several years, I have some suggestions. The first is: exercise. It is my impression that the more exercise a man does, the less are the side effects of Lupron. It can make a big difference in his energy level, strength, and flexibility. I was on Lupron for a much shorter time but found myself getting arthritic like pains in my fingers. It got worse and worse until I discovered that hand exercises could resolve the problem. Another surprising thing I learned while on Lupron was that, at least for me, sex was not impossible. I had no interest in it whatsoever and had trouble remembering why I ever did. But once I got started and worked at it for a while, to my surprise, I became aroused and interested. It's something to try. Best of luck with the treatment. Alan Answered inline: >> ... >> He saw his urologist yesterday and asked about the psa with the ADT he is [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > cases, Lupron can supposedly make a significant difference > in the outcome of radiation. From the reading we have both done, we also feel that his doctors are doing the right things. His urologist's father had aggressive prostate cancer, very similar to Kevin's and he is still fine about 10 yrs later. Hearing this, makes me more confident that the urologist knows what he is doing since he did(or at least guided) his father along the same path. > Since he'll be on it for several years, I have some suggestions. > > The first is: exercise. It is my impression that the more > exercise a man does, the less are the side effects of Lupron. > It can make a big difference in his energy level, strength, > and flexibility. I have read the same thing in many places and his urologist said "YOU WILL EXERCISE".LOL He had horrible headaches before and at the beginning of his IMRT, from the ADT not the IMRT. By the time they were under controll, he was too tired between work and radiation to do any exercise. Now it is about 7 weeks that he is done with radiation and he has gotten most of his energy back and is ready to start exercising. He knows he has to do it and I will gently push a little. > I was on Lupron for a much shorter time but found myself > getting arthritic like pains in my fingers. It got worse and > worse until I discovered that hand exercises could resolve > the problem. He has had some minor arthritis problems in the past and I am watching this. If I hear any complaints, I will push him in the right direction. > Another surprising thing I learned while on Lupron was > that, at least for me, sex was not impossible. I had no > interest in it whatsoever and had trouble remembering > why I ever did. But once I got started and worked at > it for a while, to my surprise, I became aroused and > interested. It's something to try. He has had ED for a number of years because of diabetes. In the past he tried the little blue pill and even though it worked very well, he got very congested and developed a very bad headache. The urology appointment this week he had a ton of questions to talk about, so maybe when he goes in 3 months, he will discuss this issue, maybe a different pill will work. I have also been reading all the other options talked about here and put some info in his inbox.lol It sounds strange, but our already dealing with ED, made it a little easier dealing with prostate cancer and all the side effects of the treatments. > Best of luck with the treatment. Thanks and the best to you also!! sue > He saw his urologist yesterday and asked about the psa with the ADT he is > taking. As we expected he was told that he can consider himself in > remission, but won't know if he is disease free untill he is finished with > the ADT. He will be taking ADT for another 2 1/2 years because his cancer > was so aggressive, all 12 snips were gleason 9. I will not comment upon his current status as the periodic PSA is pretty much the whole story for you and your husband. But, you will not know in 2½ years if he is disease free; nor will you know in 5, or even 10. You might find he is NOT disease free, but one of the cruelest hoaxes this bastard plays is that we never know if we are free of it. 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 Illegitimati non carborundum >> He saw his urologist yesterday and asked about the psa with the ADT he is >> taking. As we expected he was told that he can consider himself in [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > find he is NOT disease free, but one of the cruelest hoaxes this bastard > plays is that we never know if we are free of it. Having been here awhile I am aware of that and so is he. If we didn't both have a positive attitude, it would be hard to continue enjoying life. sue > Having been here awhile I am aware of that and so is he. If we didn't both > have a positive attitude, it would be hard to continue enjoying life. You got no argument from me there. Attitude, good and bad, spills into everything else that occurs in life, good and bad. Steve, It's that positive attitude that helped us 5 yrs. ago. I think we both felt something along the lines of " Thanks for early detection" >> Having been here awhile I am aware of that and so is he. If we didn't >> both have a positive attitude, it would be hard to continue enjoying >> life. > > You got no argument from me there. Attitude, good and bad, spills into > everything else that occurs in life, good and bad. |
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
|
©2010 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.