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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: My husband's story cn anyone give their opion

Joyce and Martha,
I am of a similar experience. Initial PSA was 7.1, diagnosed as T2 with Gleason 4+3 then the pathology report said T3a, still 4+3 Gleason. Surgery was good but my PSA after was 0.1. Second month after still at 0.1. Both the hospital of my surgery (Wisconsin) and my local urologist (Hawaii) suggested adjuvant radiation as soon as continent. So 3 months after surgery, late October 2007, I started 30 radiation treatments. First 23 to a somewhat larger area in the pelvis and the final 7 just to the prostate bed. Six weeks after radiation, Jan 2008, I got my PSA tested and it is zero. Will test again in April. So early radiation is good, I think, but my surgeon did tell me to wait for radiation till continence was restored. Fortunately that came in good time for me. I am personally on a careful eating regimen ever since my first diagnosis. Lots of greens, broccoli or kale or cauliflower most every day. Cooked tomatoes and also Flaxseed oil (every 2nd day). Also a bit of pomegranate juice in my first water of the day. Maybe all that is not necessary, but it's easy for me and perhaps helpful. No red meat or animal fats. All in all I sure do feel good. And my sense is that the diet is perhaps not curative but surely will delay any progression that may be in store for me. I hope there is something of help in these thoughts.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: My husband's story cn anyone give their opion

Hi Bill-
Our stories are very similar. We are in Wisconsin too but wish we could be in Hawaii now with all this snow.

I just wanted to udpate a little. We did get back the second PSA results and they still read .3 so unfortunately it is not a lab error as we had hoped. But the good news is that it did not rise in the 3 weeks between tests. Dr wants to wait another 3 months to see if there is a rise in his PSA before starting any other treatment. He says sometimes mens PSA's can remain low for some period after surgery so we will wait and see. This will give us more time for my husband to work on his incontinence.

I am still unnerved with the short duration (6 mo)of a recurrence after his surgery. By what I read this is not good. Also in Dr Walsh's book he states that a rapid recurrence of under year most men would likely not benefit from radiation. I know we will need further tests to try and locate where the cancer is lurking since pathology report was clean except for the extra capsular extension. I read and read and read trying to understand all this since I know we will have some big decisions up ahead. Since you were treated with radiation and your situation is similar to ours your doctor must not agree with what Dr Walsh is stating. I also understand adjuvant radiation would be the last chance for a cure. And boy that is what we all want - A CURE!

Hope you are feeling well and I wish you the best.
Martha
Milwaukee

Re: My husband's story can anyone give their opinion

Martha,
Good to hear from you, and I find I do have some thoughts that I would like to share. Also, I suggest that you use google on Predominant treatment failure.
This study shows how unlikely that metastasis has occurred already in cases like ours. As well as other things. And I also want to point out that bone scans and such generally are revelatory of cancer only when the PSA is much higher than that of your husband. So why chase after that reassurance.
From my experience and my surgeon's (Butler at Waukesha Memorial) comments it is very valuable to get continence back before radiation. So work on that and I think you will want radiation thereafter, and I think you are quite likely to get good help from it. But I don't think you should wait any longer than you need for continence. At your time stage this is typically called salvage radiation instead of adjuvant radiation, terminology wise. It is the last chance for a cure, but best to use that chance when the cancer is as small as possible. The only negative that I have read is that one analysis of study data like the one I cite has shown that radiation efficacy is best when there was a positive margin at surgery.
Feel free to dialogue directly with me if I can be of any help. I understand the emotional burden as well as the information I learned from my reading. My wife was a huge help when I was new to this cancer.

Re: Re: My husband's story can anyone give their opinion

Don't rule out proton therapy, which my husband successfully completed at Loma Linda University Medical Center last Oct., more than two years after his radical prostatectomy with "negative margins." A body scan showed microscopic cells in the prostate bed and he was a candidate for proton therapy at Loma Linda. There are at least 6 other places in the states who offer this wonderful treatment.
NO SIDE EFFECTS. The protons are precisely targeted to the cancer cells and the healthy tissue is spared.
Please e-mail me if you wish to know more about this, or go to Loma Linda University Website or its support groups website (just Google "Brotherhood of the Balloon."
Brenda

Re: My husband's story cn anyone give their opion

If you want information on Proton Beam, click the link - you might find it worthwhile checking the all the links on this section of the Yana site, including the stories of men who have had the treatment.

Terry in Australia

Re: My husband's story cn anyone give their opion

Since this thread has popped up again I thought I'd share with you all our lastest situation. At 6 months post op my husband's PSA came back at .3. Urologist suggested to wait another 3 months and if it went up to see a radiation oncologist. This bought us some time with his incontinence. He is down to one pad a day so that is better. Well it doubled to .7 in those 3 months. Yuck! We met this week with the Rad Onc and he feels we still have a window for a cure. We did have a bone scan prior to the visit but the hospital messed up the report so it was not available at our 1st visit. Very frustrating. We did decide to have further testing and he will have another CT scan and also a proctoscint. Also will proceed with radiation plans while these tests are being done. He feels a sense of urgency to begin the process because of the PSADT. I'm sure if the scans come back for mets we'll stop the radiation plans. His cancer does seem to be aggressive doesn't it? I have read alot lately on how important that doubling time is to ones prognosis. We're pretty scared as you can imagine.
It is not what we had hoped for but need to focus on something positive somehow. Summer is around the corner. That's good news right!
Take care everyone.
Martha

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