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Diagnosis with prostate cancer, where to go now in this moment?

Posted by ap31126 @ap31126, Oct 12 7:52pm

Hello , All new to this I was diagnosed prostate cancer a few months ago after having a PSA test at 20.1 3 yrs before that PSA 4.5 in 2023. what a shock was that never in my family's history was no prostate cancer. I went through an MRI which didn't show much then came outpatient surgery for biopsy that came back 6 spots on my prostate. Gleason score 3+4=7 . Had to get after that an PET test to see if the cancer spread outside my prostate but no it didn't. My Urologist had two options for me Radiation or Surgery and at this time I find myself in a bind. Any advice ?

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suzdog | @suzdog | 8 hours ago
In reply to @tbgb50 "I chose radiation and ADT since at my age, full recovery for incontinence after surgery is..." + (show)
Profile picture for tbgb50 @tbgb50

I chose radiation and ADT since at my age, full recovery for incontinence after surgery is not as certain for someone younger.

I had 5 weeks of IMRT (photon) and just finished on Tuesday. There is no free lunch in the sense that side effects started in week 2 which made going for treatments a bit of a challenge. I lost the ability to tell if I had to urinate or not. It felt urgent 24 hours a day.

I had BPH issues before starting treatments getting up 3-4 times a night. for over 10 years. Now it is every 15 minutes most of the night. Daytime is not much better. Was told RT can increase your prostate size which is why the volume is so low - sometimes a tablespoon.

Lucky if I get one 45 minute period of sleep. No fatigue but this has completely disrupted my sleep schedule. Many days I'm in bed by 6:30 but get up at 1:00am.

Also had horrific diarrhea - probably 5 days but 6+ times in 90 minutes each day. I lost 8 pounds the first two times in the same week..

You are kind of led to think you can go about your life as normal including going to work. Luckily I'm retired. No way I could go to a job.

Doctor said at least two weeks before I will likely see improvement. At least I don't have to drive 25 minutes everyday feeling uncomfortable.

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@tbgb50 I had 28 IMRT sessions with gold seeds that were supposedly making the radiation more precise in it's delivery to the prostate. I had HORRIBLE side effects but nothing like you. You had issues for 10 years so this just made it worse. You might consider something like this so you can get some sleep. When a patient experiences side effects this severe, oncology teams typically intervene medically rather than stopping the curative cancer treatment:
• For the Bladder: Short-term use of alpha-blockers (like tamsulosin/Flomax) to relax the prostate, or anti-spasmodics (like oxybutynin) to calm the 24-hour urgency. In cases of near-total urinary retention, a temporary catheter may be placed to allow the bladder to rest and the patient to sleep.
• For the Bowels: Aggressive hydration, strict low-residue diets, and prescription anti-diarrheal medications to prevent dangerous dehydration and electrolyte loss.
It is a stark reminder that while radiation is often marketed as a "gentle" or "convenient" alternative to major surgery, the microscopic tissue inflammation it leaves behind can be profoundly disruptive to daily life.

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mjm8491 | @mjm8491 | 5 hours ago

I just finished 28 radiation treatments at Mayo in Jacksonville Florida. Fifty percent of the men in my group had already had surgery and were now back for salvage radiation. All it takes is for the surgeon miss one microscope cell and the whole thing starts over again.

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