You are 69, have a Gleason 6 and are being given 3 months to make a treatment decision, correct? I have no idea what your resources are or where you are being teated but you may want to get a second opinion. There are considerations such as where on the prostate was the cancer found that influence a decision to urgently treat. Obviously you just can't ignore it, but with a Gleason 6 a month deadline may put you under artificial time pressure. Here's something from Mayo that touches that topic.
My prostate cancer has metastasized about a year ago into 4 small lesions on my bones. I am taking Lupron as a hormone injection twice a year. That helps keep my PSA in the undetectable area. Hopefully it will for many years. I supplement the injection with exercise, eating well, and have a positive mindset. The problem I think could have been avoided. My prior doctor had me in radiation for numerous visits. However, I have since found out that contemporaneous with all I've been doing, a Lupron shot in tandem with the radiation therapy could have eliminated the the spread of the prostate cancer. Also, I did not initially have hematology/uncologist with the other two doctors. It wasnt recommended I think for obvious reasons. but that was then, and this is now. I hit the ground running at Mayo Clinic. They are doing their best to keep me going for many many years. I'm on the verge to ask my team of doctors about immunotherapy where a pill can kill cancer at existing source. It is unfortunate that useful drugs take so long to be approved by the FDA. When dealing with life and death, I would hope more funds are allocated to all phases of carcer cure, including the meds that may be the answer to curing many cancers.
My prostate cancer has metastasized about a year ago into 4 small lesions on my bones. I am taking Lupron as a hormone injection twice a year. That helps keep my PSA in the undetectable area. Hopefully it will for many years. I supplement the injection with exercise, eating well, and have a positive mindset. The problem I think could have been avoided. My prior doctor had me in radiation for numerous visits. However, I have since found out that contemporaneous with all I've been doing, a Lupron shot in tandem with the radiation therapy could have eliminated the the spread of the prostate cancer. Also, I did not initially have hematology/uncologist with the other two doctors. It wasnt recommended I think for obvious reasons. but that was then, and this is now. I hit the ground running at Mayo Clinic. They are doing their best to keep me going for many many years. I'm on the verge to ask my team of doctors about immunotherapy where a pill can kill cancer at existing source. It is unfortunate that useful drugs take so long to be approved by the FDA. When dealing with life and death, I would hope more funds are allocated to all phases of carcer cure, including the meds that may be the answer to curing many cancers.
Well you're in the right place now. What location are you being treated at?
Sorry but I don't have time for a long response now, but have a look at this video by Dr Eugene Kwon in Rochester about the treatment of oligometastatic disease, which sounds like where you are at.
I’m a 3 plus 4 with 6.5 psa. I’m 71 years. Does an6one have an idea of what treatment I might expect. I’m new to site and don’t have video conference till the 9th of December but am anxious about what to expect
Chris Trout, Volunteer Mentor | @artscaping | Nov 27, 2020
Greetings @rcs, welcome to Connect. I am the caregiver for my life partner. He had very similar stats...69 years old...PSA in the 8 range and trending up aggressively. The key to treatment choices always includes an answer to the question.....is the tumor contained in the prostate or has it spread somewhere outside. An MRI will show you those results.
He chose surgery for the following reason: aggressive tumor growth yet still contained. So he started with hormone therapy to reduce the amount of testosterone that was being generated to feed the tumor. Then he had the surgery. Two years later when a cell on the bladder margin dropped into the prostate bed...his PSA started to climb. Then he had the proton therapy chosen for him.....30 consecutive days while in residence in Rochester.
While chatting with other patients we found every treatment plan to be slightly different depending on results along the journey to cancer free.
I am sure others will join in and reveal their treatment sequence. For example, Jay’s hormone treatment was for 3 months. His friend’s was for 5 weeks. That depends on the type of injection used based on the job to be done inside.
Some folks have 5 days of “beam” radiation....and others have 30 days like Jay did. Every day while in treatment there are meetings with clinicians and providers on the medical team assigned to take amazingly good care to watch for any symptoms that might require attention.
Good luck to you. If you are at Mayo Clinic you are in very, good hands.
I’m a 3 plus 4 with 6.5 psa. I’m 71 years. Does an6one have an idea of what treatment I might expect. I’m new to site and don’t have video conference till the 9th of December but am anxious about what to expect
rcs @rcs I'm 72 and I was 4 + 3 with a PSA of 11.8. In September I had conferences with Radiation Oncology along with Surgery going over my options. After the meet I chose SBRT, Proton Therapy 5 treatments over 10 days. The major reason for my choice was I feared becoming incontinent. I know that's not a good reason, but that was what got me to choose radiation. Treatment was totally painless and you would be amazed and the building that houses the SBRT. 2 months prior to the radiation I had a shot of Eligard, hormone Therapy, to reduce the production of testosterone which the cancer grows on. A few side effects that suck, night sweats in particular. Best of luck.
Dave
rcs @rcs I'm 72 and I was 4 + 3 with a PSA of 11.8. In September I had conferences with Radiation Oncology along with Surgery going over my options. After the meet I chose SBRT, Proton Therapy 5 treatments over 10 days. The major reason for my choice was I feared becoming incontinent. I know that's not a good reason, but that was what got me to choose radiation. Treatment was totally painless and you would be amazed and the building that houses the SBRT. 2 months prior to the radiation I had a shot of Eligard, hormone Therapy, to reduce the production of testosterone which the cancer grows on. A few side effects that suck, night sweats in particular. Best of luck.
Dave
Greetings @rcs, welcome to Connect. I am the caregiver for my life partner. He had very similar stats...69 years old...PSA in the 8 range and trending up aggressively. The key to treatment choices always includes an answer to the question.....is the tumor contained in the prostate or has it spread somewhere outside. An MRI will show you those results.
He chose surgery for the following reason: aggressive tumor growth yet still contained. So he started with hormone therapy to reduce the amount of testosterone that was being generated to feed the tumor. Then he had the surgery. Two years later when a cell on the bladder margin dropped into the prostate bed...his PSA started to climb. Then he had the proton therapy chosen for him.....30 consecutive days while in residence in Rochester.
While chatting with other patients we found every treatment plan to be slightly different depending on results along the journey to cancer free.
I am sure others will join in and reveal their treatment sequence. For example, Jay’s hormone treatment was for 3 months. His friend’s was for 5 weeks. That depends on the type of injection used based on the job to be done inside.
Some folks have 5 days of “beam” radiation....and others have 30 days like Jay did. Every day while in treatment there are meetings with clinicians and providers on the medical team assigned to take amazingly good care to watch for any symptoms that might require attention.
Good luck to you. If you are at Mayo Clinic you are in very, good hands.
@rcs My prostate cancer was also contained within the prostate.. After my local urologist did a test that could only be read at a few larger facilities, I went to Mayo MN to their Radiation Oncologist (RO) .. That was about a year and a half ago.. They gave me a hormone shot.. Lupron (30 mg) .. that is to shrink the prostate. The Radiation could start 2 months after that shot. I chose to take the Radiation (Proton) in my Central Iowa hospital /clinic.. The Radiation Oncologist there had trained with the Mayo MN Doctor and the equipment was similar.. The RO Doctor in Iowa then injected a spacer material to move the bowel away from the prostate.. That spacer dissolves after the 20 radiation treatments are done in 4 weeks.. every week day for a month... They put you on a table in front of the machine and it revolves around you.. they made small tattoo marks on my body so they could put me in the same position each treatment.. The process is painless.. (sure the placing of the spacer and tattoo were uncomfortable but they did the trick.. the staff gave me a graduation diploma .. They want your bowels to be full during the radiation.. so bowel movement timing is everything.. I had to take Gas-X every night to eliminate as much intestinal gas as possible.. After treatment the RO calls you in each 3 months for a year to do a PSA test... mine were around 0.5 ... so he and I were pleased... Now I just go every 6 months for a check-up... The Radiation makes you fatigued... and I had some very loose stools for a while.. but all in all .. a great result.. There are side effects from that hormone shot.. Read up on those..
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I have had a DRE, ultrasound,and a biopsy.
You are 69, have a Gleason 6 and are being given 3 months to make a treatment decision, correct? I have no idea what your resources are or where you are being teated but you may want to get a second opinion. There are considerations such as where on the prostate was the cancer found that influence a decision to urgently treat. Obviously you just can't ignore it, but with a Gleason 6 a month deadline may put you under artificial time pressure. Here's something from Mayo that touches that topic.
http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/weekend-wellness-gleason-score-indicates-grade-of-prostate-cancer/Treatment selection can be very stressful so extra information can be very helpful. My 2 cents.
My prostate cancer has metastasized about a year ago into 4 small lesions on my bones. I am taking Lupron as a hormone injection twice a year. That helps keep my PSA in the undetectable area. Hopefully it will for many years. I supplement the injection with exercise, eating well, and have a positive mindset. The problem I think could have been avoided. My prior doctor had me in radiation for numerous visits. However, I have since found out that contemporaneous with all I've been doing, a Lupron shot in tandem with the radiation therapy could have eliminated the the spread of the prostate cancer. Also, I did not initially have hematology/uncologist with the other two doctors. It wasnt recommended I think for obvious reasons. but that was then, and this is now. I hit the ground running at Mayo Clinic. They are doing their best to keep me going for many many years. I'm on the verge to ask my team of doctors about immunotherapy where a pill can kill cancer at existing source. It is unfortunate that useful drugs take so long to be approved by the FDA. When dealing with life and death, I would hope more funds are allocated to all phases of carcer cure, including the meds that may be the answer to curing many cancers.
Well you're in the right place now. What location are you being treated at?
Sorry but I don't have time for a long response now, but have a look at this video by Dr Eugene Kwon in Rochester about the treatment of oligometastatic disease, which sounds like where you are at.
Let me know what you think.
I’m a 3 plus 4 with 6.5 psa. I’m 71 years. Does an6one have an idea of what treatment I might expect. I’m new to site and don’t have video conference till the 9th of December but am anxious about what to expect
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1 ReactionGreetings @rcs, welcome to Connect. I am the caregiver for my life partner. He had very similar stats...69 years old...PSA in the 8 range and trending up aggressively. The key to treatment choices always includes an answer to the question.....is the tumor contained in the prostate or has it spread somewhere outside. An MRI will show you those results.
He chose surgery for the following reason: aggressive tumor growth yet still contained. So he started with hormone therapy to reduce the amount of testosterone that was being generated to feed the tumor. Then he had the surgery. Two years later when a cell on the bladder margin dropped into the prostate bed...his PSA started to climb. Then he had the proton therapy chosen for him.....30 consecutive days while in residence in Rochester.
While chatting with other patients we found every treatment plan to be slightly different depending on results along the journey to cancer free.
I am sure others will join in and reveal their treatment sequence. For example, Jay’s hormone treatment was for 3 months. His friend’s was for 5 weeks. That depends on the type of injection used based on the job to be done inside.
Some folks have 5 days of “beam” radiation....and others have 30 days like Jay did. Every day while in treatment there are meetings with clinicians and providers on the medical team assigned to take amazingly good care to watch for any symptoms that might require attention.
Good luck to you. If you are at Mayo Clinic you are in very, good hands.
Chris
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1 Reactionrcs @rcs I'm 72 and I was 4 + 3 with a PSA of 11.8. In September I had conferences with Radiation Oncology along with Surgery going over my options. After the meet I chose SBRT, Proton Therapy 5 treatments over 10 days. The major reason for my choice was I feared becoming incontinent. I know that's not a good reason, but that was what got me to choose radiation. Treatment was totally painless and you would be amazed and the building that houses the SBRT. 2 months prior to the radiation I had a shot of Eligard, hormone Therapy, to reduce the production of testosterone which the cancer grows on. A few side effects that suck, night sweats in particular. Best of luck.
Dave
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2 ReactionsThanks so much
Thanks much
@rcs My prostate cancer was also contained within the prostate.. After my local urologist did a test that could only be read at a few larger facilities, I went to Mayo MN to their Radiation Oncologist (RO) .. That was about a year and a half ago.. They gave me a hormone shot.. Lupron (30 mg) .. that is to shrink the prostate. The Radiation could start 2 months after that shot. I chose to take the Radiation (Proton) in my Central Iowa hospital /clinic.. The Radiation Oncologist there had trained with the Mayo MN Doctor and the equipment was similar.. The RO Doctor in Iowa then injected a spacer material to move the bowel away from the prostate.. That spacer dissolves after the 20 radiation treatments are done in 4 weeks.. every week day for a month... They put you on a table in front of the machine and it revolves around you.. they made small tattoo marks on my body so they could put me in the same position each treatment.. The process is painless.. (sure the placing of the spacer and tattoo were uncomfortable but they did the trick.. the staff gave me a graduation diploma .. They want your bowels to be full during the radiation.. so bowel movement timing is everything.. I had to take Gas-X every night to eliminate as much intestinal gas as possible.. After treatment the RO calls you in each 3 months for a year to do a PSA test... mine were around 0.5 ... so he and I were pleased... Now I just go every 6 months for a check-up... The Radiation makes you fatigued... and I had some very loose stools for a while.. but all in all .. a great result.. There are side effects from that hormone shot.. Read up on those..
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Helpful -
Hug
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