What happend after Chemotherapy

Just my two cents. I finished 10 rounds of chemo about 18 months ago. For me I would say it worked, my psa was 932 before and around .4 when I finished treatment. I had alot of pain in my leg before starting and that went away. My believe is it stops it from spreading which scans confirm. I still get treatment, Lupron and Xgeva quarterly, daily take Abiraterone and Prednisone. I'm 27 months into my journey, I'm 70 now. My "normal" changed when I was first diagnosed. I believe there is a reason people on here say you have to fight on, if we don't we are in a bad spot. I've accepted the diagnosis, accepting the new normal is a bit harder. For me, everything has slowed down, I just try to keep moving ahead. At the beginning my Dr. said I have stage 4 metastasized to the bones and is aggressive. He never gave me a time line, thank goodness. For me, it's all about keeping my head in the game, the body stays the same but if I convince myself I'm having a good day, its awesome. That chair may feel great but I need to do something, anything, and then I feel better. Forget that "end" time, just try to enjoy as best you can. I wish you the best on your journey. Best to all.

I had 10 cycles of chemotherapy, the norm is 4 to 6 cycles. I voluntarily asked for the additional cycles. Everyone's body is different and will react differently to chemo treatment. For me, I feel it has taken over two years to start feeling better. It is the ADT and ARSI's that cause the fatigue. You have to have a strong will to fight. There is a cancer personality. Some people are tough and fight through cancer with a will to beat it. Others are more docile and just struggle. I wanted more chemo cycles because I could handle it and I wanted to carpet bomb the cancer. Prostate cancer cells in the body are all different. You have adenocarcinoma, but each person adenocarcinoma cells are different. Some have aggressive cancer cells and no matter what the cancer fights back. Some cancer cells are tough up front but if you fight back hard enough it gives up. Some cells hang back and wait to mutate into something else allowing it to survive your treatment. That is why I choose 10 cycles. I wanted to kill as many cells as possible leaving nothing to chance. I killed a lot of healthy cells along the way but for me it was worth it to win this battle. I was diagnosed denovo high volume to the bone (spine, ribs, hips, shoulders femurs etc.). I lit up like a Christmas tree. I am now 3 years into my treatment and I am still undetectable and my latest bone scan showed that the metastases have shrunk and disappeared for the most part. I call it a miracle. I work every day sometime 12-13 hours a day. It is your choice but ask your doctor what are the standard number of chemo cycles and they will tells you 6 was chosen randomly. Studies have shown 10 or more chemo cycles results in greater overall survival. It is a matter of can you handle it. Remember, we are getting palliative treatment not curative. So, it is up to us to push the doctors to get the most treatment as possible for our overall survival.

I did six cycles of taxotere as part of triplet therapy starting in January 2017.

A year later, life was "normal." I went the gym, rode my bike, did the yard work, walked my dog, took vacations, went to concerts...

I did not incur neuropathy so that helped.

While I was on chemotherapy I worked, went to they gym, rode my bike...heck even went to Las Vegas to watch my daughter play in her college basketball team's post season conference tournament.

Recovery may likely return "naturally" as your body does it thing. You can assist through the things that generally contribute to our health, diet, exercise, managing stress.

I was "low volume." Some doctors I consulted said not to as the data at that time did not seem to indicate a benefit.

I can't speak to the 10 vs 6.

My experience...

Kevin

I am sure you are aware that chemotherapy is no longer a requirement to obtain PLUVICTO. It is a systemic radiation treatment which until this Spring was reserved for those having first received chemo.

Good for you, buddy, that’s how you fight back! As hard as you can for as long as you can.
No one could ask for more…
Phil

Thanks for all this information. You are inspiring and give me hope. Thank you.

Good news that you didn't get neuropathy...Not sure why some get it and some don't. Did you use ice packs during chemo? I think my Oncologist is talking about 10 treatments...we'll see..

I did not use ice packs

I used ice packs on my hands and feet every time. No my head because I am bold and it hurt way too much. Please ice your hands and feet. I did not neuropathy, but if I sit too long it feels like I am 80 years old and stiff. After I take about 6-8 steps I'm better.

I want to be clear that the radiation to be spin and ribs were far worse than chemo. I lost more than 30 lbs. on radiation. It was terrible. I felt burnt inside everywhere and it was hard to eat. Chemo was different, I just went down around 12 noon by Friday with tremendous fatigue. I usually slept most of the day Saturday and Started feeling better Sunday night. Do what you can handle.