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is there an end to this train ride? and how will they know?

Posted by lacraig1 @lacraig1, 19 hours ago

I had my prostate removed in April. My PSA wasn't zero but rapidly rising.
So I am on ADT (Lupron and Zytiga) and will start radiation tomorrow.
But then what?
What will it take for doctors to say that you are cured? Or even in remission?
Will I be seeing oncologists and having PSAs the rest of my life?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

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lacraig1 | @lacraig1 | 2 hours ago
In reply to @northoftheborder "@lacraig1 In 2021 they told me 3-5 years life expectancy (maybe 6 or a faint hope..." + (show)
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@lacraig1 In 2021 they told me 3-5 years life expectancy (maybe 6 or a faint hope of 7 since I was young and healthy) when they found the big lesion on my spine, with serious progression starting in 18–24 months.

But that was based on old SEER data, from before new practices (like treating oligometastatic cancer aggressively) and new treatments (like the -lutamides).

I'm over 4 years now NED — no evidence of disease — and the oncologists no longer give me a specific life expectancy. My family doctor told me to plan for old age.

Things have changed that fast with advanced prostate cancer treatment. We're not sure if it's fully there yet, but it's rapidly becoming a medically-manageable chronic disease, like HIV, disbetes, or Parkinson's, rather than a terminal one. More here:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/treating-prostate-cancer-at-any-stage/
We live in exciting (and hopeful) times.

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@northoftheborder Thank you

It'ts 2:00 in the morning

couldn't sleep feeling jumpy

OH, just like during the day when i get the hot flashes

I bet it's this Zytiga

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