Bone marrow metastasis from prostate cancer

I'm sorry to hear that. I think all bone metastasis starts as bone-marrow metastasis until it forms osteoblasts and starts colonising the bone somewhere (as happened with my spine at T3), but we don't all face the symptoms your father's experiencing from the bone marrow invasion. I think for most of us with bone metastases, the cancer is "just passing through" the marrow.

It’s so frustrating that they are not giving men PSA tests, and so many are showing up with advanced prostate cancer cases. I don’t have an answer for this specific situation, but I know a place where you can get A lot of information.

To get more information, you should sign up with Ancan.org and attend their advanced prostate cancer weekly meetings. They have weekly two hour online meetings. The people there have 15 years experience handling prostate cancer treatment. There’s always at least three doctors at the meetings. You need some expert advice and they can give that to you. It is best if he can attend along with you, These meetings include video and you can both be in the video but if you choose not to do that, you can turn off the video.

The next meeting is January 5 at 5pm pacific time. You need to install GoTo Meeting on the device, you’re going to attend the meeting with. It’s a free download you just have to search for it. You join the meeting by putting answercancer For the meeting session name. Get to the meeting 10 minutes early and they will work with you first.

You should have all the medical information you can collect to discuss this with the moderators.

You do seem to have a lot of that information here already.

They will want to know where he is being treated and by whom.

I am 78 and have been dealing with prostate cancer for 16 years. I learned much of what I know going to the weekly ancan.org meetings.

If there is even one 4+5 that is the only number that counts.

You probably already heard about this, but I figured I’d at least add this

Along was high protein diets Colony-Stimulating Factors (CSFs) medications, given as injections, tell your bone marrow to make more white blood cells (neutrophils).
Examples: Filgrastim (Neupogen), Pegfilgrastim (Neulasta), Tbo-filgrastim (Granix).

I am very sorry to read of this. It is so unfortunate that so many men are walking around - like I was - with no overt symptoms of prostate cancer, of which there are exceedingly few. It sounds like he likely did not have an enlarged enough prostate that he was having troubles urinating. Sounds too, like he might have had too-few annual physical exams, or at least that included digital rectal exam and simple PSA test. This could have, and should have, been caught so much earlier.
No matter the degree and strength of your relationship with your dad, I would recommend spending as much time with him as you can. My dad lived to 99 years 10 months "with" a large cancerous prostate inside him (PSA over 200). By the time he was diagnosed, it was too late to do surgery at age 95. His doctor reasoned that he likely had prostate cancer for 15-20 years. He suffered perpetual UTI's the last five years of his life, but...I moved him from his assisted care living residence 45 miles away to a high quality similar residence 2 miles from me. I spent 5-days per week with him for 2-3 hours per day. I exercised him, ate meals with him, and we just talked about everything: life, current events, and plans for the future (he was always an optimist). I grew infinitely closer to him in those daily visits the last five years of his life, and will value those days forever. I think you will as well if you are able to arrange that...even if it might mean that he moves into your home, which I almost did with my dad.
Blessings to you and your dad...I hope God gives him longer than your description suggests that he has, but be thankful every day for what God gives him and you.

@jeffmarc thank you so much for the information. I will definitely register for the meeting!
Yes, he is getting Neupogen. I didn't know high protein diet will help as well, so thank you again!

@rlpostrp thank you for sharing. That's exactly what I would like to do -- spend more time with him. My dad is pretty optimistic for the most part, but my mom is in denial and is angry with the world. She couldn't believe someone lives as healthy as my Dad would get cancer and spread this widely. Every testing was a blow to her and us. But we are still actively seeking as much information as we can to make the most informed medical decisions.

Hello ciao,
I am sorry that your mom is having these reactions. It is completely to be expected: she is facing the loss of her husband, her life-partner...the man she spent her life with...the man she leaned on for support in all aspects of life, as he did her. She knows she is facing an uncertain future, and despite knowing you and your siblings will be there for her and each other, she will use that close, familial trust and support to express her most heartfelt emotions - good and bad. I would encourage you to remain strong...resolute...and consciously make effort not to take what your mom says "personally", as she may lash out at times. She needs sympathy, empathy, and unqualified acceptance and support for whatever she is feeling and expressing.
I don't know what faith you may have - what faith your mother may have - but I would encourage her to seek counseling of some sort, both alone, but also with you and your siblings, and most importantly with your dad present. It will be a very "grounding", "centric" experience for your dad to be able to express what "HE" feels, and what "HE" wants for your mother and for you and your siblings when he is gone. It will be a chance for him to set expectations in your mom, you and your siblings. It gives your dad a sense of control in a situation where he otherwise will have no control. It also gives your mom and you a new goal to try to meet his desires for what happens after he is gone. And...as always happens, each of you will go through the five steps of grief as outlined by author Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in her famous book "On Death and Dying": Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance ("resolution"). I wish you well in your support of your mom AND your dad. If he is able to physically, I would encourage your mom and dad to take a wonderful vacation together for a week or two...something to offer them both a wonderful memory, and chances each day and night for important, meaningful conversation and closure. Good luck to you.

@rlpostrp thank you very much for the kind words and recommendations. It is going to be a tough journey ahead, but me and my siblings are hopefully or at least still trying to look for treatments to slow or stop the disease progression, but not too overt that destroy his quality of life. I know that are cases where people in my dad's stage got to complete remission, so we want to do everything we can to give it a shot. My mom is doing her best to stay strong. We are Asian family, so expressing emotion is not the strongest strength especially for my parents generation. I would love to know what my dad's thinking, but I yet to find a way to have a heart to heart conversation with him. My mom, however, has opened her heart and shared her fear with me, so I could comfort her and pray with her together.

@mciao wrote ❝She couldn't believe someone lives as healthy as my Dad would get cancer and spread this widely.,,❞

I'm so sorry to hear that. Perhaps counselling or a support group could help her with her anger and denial.

There are trillions of cells in the human body. Sometimes one has a short-circuit and starts reproducing out of control. Most of the time the immune system catches it in time. Sometimes it doesn't. Then you have cancer.

You can tilt the odds slightly in your favour with a healthy lifestyle, but only slightly. It's not the person's fault. They didn't do anything wrong. It just happens.