This forum is for the discussion of anything to do with Prostate Cancer. There are only four rules:
No fundraisers, no commercials (although it is OK to recommend choices of treatment or medical people based on your personal research; invitations to participate in third-party surveys are also acceptable, provided there is no compensation to YANA);
No harvesting e-mail addresses for Spam;
No insults or flaming - be polite and respectful at all times and understand that there may be a variety of points of view, all of which may have some validity;
Opinions are OK, but please provide as much factual evidence as possible for any assertions that you are making
Failure to abide by these simple rules will result in the immediate and permanent suspension of your posting privileges.
Since this is an International Forum, please specify your location in your post.
Thanks Joe
Well I can clear up the Apnea point straight away, I've been on a CPAP machine for going on 9 years, so thats not it. I think that my CFS has come from poor breathing. Its amazing how many people suffer all kinds of problems from poor breathing and not many people seems to know about this. I started to work on it recently and I'm making just a little progress.
Thanks for your views on radiation, can't say I like the idea either.
Ken
Aloha Ken,
You did not mention anything about exercise. Fessup, are you or are you not exercising? Programs of free weights for people 70 to 90 have proven that you can regain some of that motion and stamina.
I can't do reps of lifting more than 5 lb weights above my head because of weak elbow joints. I do use 10 lb weights below the shoulders.
Joe
Hi Joe - yes I have always tried to keep up some exercise. In the past I've had to be incredibly careful because only a small amount to much would cause me to seriously relapse. However since beginning these breathing exercises I'm now doing I have been able to slowly increase the amount of exercise I'm doing. Hopefully I will get a lot better with time.
Ken
Ken,
I think your basic question here is good and very appropriate for your situation. But I think you have framed it too narrowly.
My experience with radiation is that it has not resulted in any significant loss of quality of life. Neither when I was undergoing treatment or since. And my preconception, from reading the responses of others here, is that ADT would have been a substantial loss of the quality of life that I value. Loss of strength, bone weakening, hot flashes, diminished sexual interest, etc. But I don't know first hand about that.
Getting back to my initial words here, I bet that the devil is in the details, as they say. There are surely different ADT approaches you can take, some may be much less problematic than others. And with radiation, there is a dosage to be determined, and a heavy dose will probably lead to some real issues. So a lesser dose might do a lot of good without nasty side effects.
So, rather than looking at a specific decision, like whether to undergo radiation or not, talk to your oncologist(s) about the full range of treatments available, and I bet you come up with a good consensus approach, considering your concerns.
BillG
