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.
I just met with my Radiation Oncologist, and he said I could opt for radiation treatment without hormone therapy. The hormone therapy would last 2 years; the radiation 5 to 7 weeks. For now, I am leaning towards getting the radiation treatment ONLY. My fear is the possible side effects of Lupron and Casodex, given that my commute is 80 miles round trip. Has anyone has chose this option? If so, how are you doing? Thanks.
Rick:
Lots of folks have selected radiation treatment and reported their results on this website.
Go to the Survivors Stories component and follow the prompts. The information you asked about is available to you there in great detail.
Best wishes Don O.
Tell your oncologist that you will try the hormone treatments for 6 months and try to make it for 18 months. I was on it for 6 months and my main problem was the hot flashes made it difficult to get a good nights sleep. One also has to exercise and watch their weight but we should be doing that anyways.
The studies all seem to show that it well worthwhile to get the hormone treatment with the radiation and the only debate is what is the optimal time; somewhere between six months and 18 months.
Frank's advice based on his personal experience and research sounds reasonable to me.
At the very least you should discuss the pros and cons of both approaches with your oncologist.
Based on your Nov. 24 2015 entry makes me wonder what if anything you have been doing for the past three years!