Hello everyone who has experienced and or is continuing to experience Prostate Cancer.
I just had my 70th Birthday.
I became severely debilitated at age 37 with extreme cases of CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME, FIBROMYALGIA and CHIARI MALFORMATION.
I have not been able to return to any kind of employment since then and have had to give up all of my sports activities, playing musical instruments and most everything associated with a normal lifestyle.
Extreme exhaustion along with a plethora of other debilitating symptoms made me bed ridden and home confined for over 20 years.
I turned out to have HYPOGONADISM so about 15 years ago, I started TRT. This became a huge game changer for me and helped me regain some kind of lifestyle and start to feel like a human being again. It didn’t do anything to heal my various disease states but it did make me measurably more functional overall.
If I am not on TRT my TOTAL TESTOSTERONE is between 20-90. Pretty much medically castrated. When on TRT, I try to maintain a level of Total T of about 700. I have a life while on it. I have no life without it. Therefore, the decision to keep taking it is an easy one for me.
I know there’s a lot of unknowns, misunderstandings and severe lack of enough credible information about returning to TRT after a successful RALP. Not as sure about radiation!
However, I was diagnosed with PC in August of 2022. I carefully and methodically researched my options and had a number of physician consultations. My RALP removed 100% of any detectable cancer. All of my cancer was limited to my PROSTATE, (thankfully). I had to quit my TRT a month before my surgery on 10/25/22. I felt absolutely horrible for the 6 months I was off of TRT. My various doctors would ask me how I was feeling and doing after my surgery and recovery period. I told them quite honestly that I wouldn’t be able to answer that question without any uncertainty until I was able to return to my TRT. Which I did in March of 2022. Within one week I feeling almost identical to my state of health just prior to my surgery. Of course, I was still recovering from all of the after effects from the removal of my Prostate. Getting better but still not back to my pre surgical, “living with a Prostate State” of things.
My PSA was < 0.014 following the surgery and has remained exactly the same with absolutely no changes through today where it’s still at < 0.014.
Without TRT I don’t have a level or quality of life that is worth living. It’s merely a daily survival mission. I was in that state of affairs for far too many years since the age of 37 and I refuse to live and or exist that way.
The FACT is……..there isn’t enough evidence yet due to a sufficient number of quality studies to fairly snd more accurately access the results of patients who return to TRT following the successful removal of their PROSTATE. Of course, the vast majority of men who get PC are not on TRT nor have they ever been.
FACT. Every man needs a sufficient amount of TESTOSTERONE to maintain a normal level of good health. Those who are interested can read up on everything “T” does and how it supports the overall health in your body.
Statistically, something like 30%-40% of PC patients experience the return of their PC within 5 years after their initial recovery. None of which has anything to do with TESTOSTERONE!
My particular risk attitude is that I certainly hope that I am in the 60%-70% of patients who remain cancer free for the rest of their life.
If not, I will probably seek some kind of combination of radiation treatment. However, I will continue with my TRT after recovery. Until anything medically or scientifically changes, there is no proof that my TRT would have caused the return of my PC to come back if it does.
I choose to live my life with a certain quality that TRT provides me with to date, ( over 34 years) nothing else can or has come anywhere close.
There are states of life worse than death, it called “LIVING DEATH!” There is absolutely NO value to me in my life when I am in that state.
Suffice to say, read and research as much as you can about TRT and decide what you think is the best course of action for YOU to take. There are NO GUARANTEES about any of it!!!
One must remain true to their own convictions and live the life they choose to live utilizing as much control and management as they can!
Best wishes to you all.
GODSPEED
Phil