Rising PSA years after radical prostatectomy

I know this was for someone else but...my PSA was .091 (without a prostate) when I was referred for salvage radiation (SRT) treatment. 3/4s finished at this point

Hi, thank you for your response. A PSMA Pet scan is going to be ordered once insurance approves. PSA now 0.24 and Radiation Oncologist (met today) suggested 39 Radiation Treatments. Once the PSMA results in, would like to go to the Mayo for second opinion. How did you do with Radiation Treatments? Thank you!

Hi, you only needed 4 SRT's?

Sorry about that, no, that was supposed to mean three quarters finished. I had 40 treatments, now finished.
Mike

Bettwils, getting a second opinion is often a good idea to discuss treatment and specifically radiation options. Hhere's more information about getting a second opinion at Mayo Clinic. http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

I’ve had two rounds of RT: two years after prostatectomy-35 treatments and SBRT-5 rounds for pelvic lymph node metastasis, 4 nodes. My first go may have affected my bladder some but no other side effects. My second go was less than a year ago. So far so good. I once joked with the radiologist about whether the machine was turned on. I felt nothing but my PSA went from 1.0 to <0.008. The tumors sure felt it. I’m also taking Nubeqa.

Hi again, how bad was the treatment?

Where were you treated? We're in Ct at Hartford Hospital. Thinking of going to Mayo although we do have Yale few towns over

It's obviously an annoyance with regard to the way it's done, every weekday at the same time for 40 days (weekends and holidays off at my treatment center). Once you get fitted (tattooed, markers inserted if necessary) it only takes about 5-7 minutes to get the treatment. The issue here is they wan't your bladder "as full as you can stand it while still being able to stay still on the treatment table." It can take a little trial and error to figure out how much water to drink and how long before treatment. Mine was 24-28 ounces one hour before.

Side effects... different for everyone, mine were VERY minor I'm told...
At first it was actually hard to notice anything different, then by about #13/15 I started to get digestive changes/symptoms. I'm a "one a day guy" normally. Then the treatments seemed to aggravate my bowels somewhat to a point where it often took a couple bowel movements before I felt emptied. My anus seemed to be sore as well. There were maybe 3 or 4 bouts of diarrhea that I couldn't otherwise explain too. By about treatment 3O I experienced some fatigue issues, particularly a few hours after treatment (mine was at 9:20 AM). I found it took a herculean effort to get through workouts too. My normal 2 mile run was really tough to get through.

Now at one and a half weeks after ending, I can already feel the difference in energy levels, soar through the runs again and don't have to struggle to end the workout. Getting through the days with no naps again as well.

Really, the only reminder at this point, is the occasional hot flash from the orgovyx. It feels like those are becoming less frequent as well. It seemed daunting when getting ready to start of course, but, now it feels like it all went pretty quickly.

Good Luck to You!

I had my treatments locally in Charleston, WV. For me, the second time, was the importance of the PSMA PET scan using Gallium 68. The better the pictures the easier to zap metastasis. I don’t know about good radiology departments. I’ve heard about Sloan Kettering in NYC and Cornell. Find someone with a track record and with whom you’re comfortable.