Prostate cancer

[Geoff-agmsd]

Good morning all , my first post on here but have been reading since Nov when my Prostate journey started , back ground if 71years old don`t drink much perhaps 4units/week reasonably fit , My first PSA result was 8.5 followed a week later by 8.7 , Then i started at Urology at the Countess/Chester then onto Oncology/Radiology at Clatterbridge/Wirral , today is my 20th and final dose and will be able to ring the bell in the waiting room to signify end of treatment . I have very minimal side-effects which is good . I know other people have mentioned this but i found the Biopsy Traumatic . Will be on 3mthly Hormone injections for some time and i have a telephone appointment with the consultant in June , finally a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post on here it has been very useful , all the best , Geoff .

[westberks]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Managed to get a f2f appointment with my NHS GP at 8.00am this morning. She's referred me for an MRI scan. BUPA emailing over a list of consultant urologists now. Might be next week before I actually see anybody as I am under the knife this afternoon for an inguinal hernia repair. If I were a horse, they'd shoot me.....

we could be twins ..... had the inguinal hernia done last year too; welcome to your mid 50s

good luck with that and the MRi; nice to be getting it investigated quickly

[westberks]

Geoff-agmsd said:

Good morning all , my first post on here but have been reading since Nov when my Prostate journey started , back ground if 71years old don`t drink much perhaps 4units/week reasonably fit , My first PSA result was 8.5 followed a week later by 8.7 , Then i started at Urology at the Countess/Chester then onto Oncology/Radiology at Clatterbridge/Wirral , today is my 20th and final dose and will be able to ring the bell in the waiting room to signify end of treatment . I have very minimal side-effects which is good . I know other people have mentioned this but i found the Biopsy Traumatic . Will be on 3mthly Hormone injections for some time and i have a telephone appointment with the consultant in June , finally a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post on here it has been very useful , all the best , Geoff .

well done on getting through it and best wishes for ongoing good health

[westberks]

BoomerPride said:

I have my planning scan next week and have started taking laxatives and Windeze every day as instructed.

Two to three weeks after the planning scan radiotherapy will commence. I agreed to 37 sessions over 7.5 weeks with a total dose of 74gy. This will cover the pelvic or leg nodes as well as the prostate to be sure of blasting the area comprehensively.

I am mostly not looking forward to reclining in the LINAC with a full bladder!

all the very best for that; anything involving a full bladder fills me with dread; you'll deal with the rest like a walk in the park.

[Viper201]

westberks said:

BoomerPride said:

I have my planning scan next week and have started taking laxatives and Windeze every day as instructed.

Two to three weeks after the planning scan radiotherapy will commence. I agreed to 37 sessions over 7.5 weeks with a total dose of 74gy. This will cover the pelvic or leg nodes as well as the prostate to be sure of blasting the area comprehensively.

I am mostly not looking forward to reclining in the LINAC with a full bladder!

all the very best for that; anything involving a full bladder fills me with dread; you'll deal with the rest like a walk in the park.

Just pray that the person in front of you does not hold you up...

[Viper201]

westberks said:

Geoff-agmsd said:

Good morning all , my first post on here but have been reading since Nov when my Prostate journey started , back ground if 71years old don`t drink much perhaps 4units/week reasonably fit , My first PSA result was 8.5 followed a week later by 8.7 , Then i started at Urology at the Countess/Chester then onto Oncology/Radiology at Clatterbridge/Wirral , today is my 20th and final dose and will be able to ring the bell in the waiting room to signify end of treatment . I have very minimal side-effects which is good . I know other people have mentioned this but i found the Biopsy Traumatic . Will be on 3mthly Hormone injections for some time and i have a telephone appointment with the consultant in June , finally a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post on here it has been very useful , all the best , Geoff .

well done on getting through it and best wishes for ongoing good health

Seconded!

[Geoff-agmsd]

Thank you , Geoff .

[The Gauge]

I had PSA tests last summer, then to Urology Dept who said I have an enlarged prostate, followed by MRI, then biopsy which thankfully was all clear. Was told to get PSA done annually.

I have bladder issues in that I need to pee more often through the day, when I pee it's sometime slow to get started, and don't always get that feeling that I've definitely finished, often having to wait a while before a bit more comes out, as if the 'shut off valve' has failed

When going to bed around midnight my bladder wakes me about 6am for a pee, so I can't ever have a lay in at all.

I assume that my prostate is putting pressure on my bladder, and maybe on my urethra (tube that urine passes through)?

So what the potential treatment for this, is it medicated with Finasteride and dutasteride?

[westberks]

The Gauge said:

I had PSA tests last summer, then to Urology Dept who said I have an enlarged prostate, followed by MRI, then biopsy which thankfully was all clear. Was told to get PSA done annually.

I have bladder issues in that I need to pee more often through the day, when I pee it's sometime slow to get started, and don't always get that feeling that I've definitely finished, often having to wait a while before a bit more comes out, as if the 'shut off valve' has failed

When going to bed around midnight my bladder wakes me about 6am for a pee, so I can't ever have a lay in at all.

I assume that my prostate is putting pressure on my bladder, and maybe on my urethra (tube that urine passes through)?

So what the potential treatment for this, is it medicated with Finasteride and dutasteride?

the 2 main meds are finasteride and tamsulosin

depending on your age and lifestyle you might want to give finasteride a swerve. It's main side effects are ED and potentially growing moobs....... my understanding is that it is a hormone adjuster to help reduce the size of the prostate and loss of sex drive is one of the main side effects. I took it for about a week in my late 40s and Little Westberks lost his mojo. Now i may have adjusted to it and recovered my will to live, but i wasn't taking the chance and flushed them.

Tamsulosin helps to relax the prostate and hopefully ease the ability to pee and empty the bladder. Main potential side effects are light headedness and potentially retrograde ejaculation (dry cum). i eventually started taking this a few months ago whilst waiting for surgery and have suffered neither of these effects so far

6 hours sleep is the stuff of dreams

[The Gauge]

westberks said:

the 2 main meds are finasteride and tamsulosin

depending on your age and lifestyle you might want to give finasteride a swerve. It's main side effects are ED and potentially growing moobs....... my understanding is that it is a hormone adjuster to help reduce the size of the prostate and loss of sex drive is one of the main side effects. I took it for about a week in my late 40s and Little Westberks lost his mojo. Now i may have adjusted to it and recovered my will to live, but i wasn't taking the chance and flushed them.

Tamsulosin helps to relax the prostate and hopefully ease the ability to pee and empty the bladder. Main potential side effects are light headedness and potentially retrograde ejaculation (dry cum). i eventually started taking this a few months ago whilst waiting for surgery and have suffered neither of these effects so far

6 hours sleep is the stuff of dreams

Thanks for the info. As for me getting 6hrs, I anticipate this to reduce over time. I'm 52.

[Geoff-agmsd]

Just back from Hospital , bell rang photos taken , need to wait to mid-june for a PSA test then appointment with Consultant 25th June .

[The Gauge]

Geoff-agmsd said:

Just back from Hospital , bell rang photos taken , need to wait to mid-june for a PSA test then appointment with Consultant 25th June .

Great news, all the best.

[AstonZagato]

BoomerPride said:

I have my planning scan next week and have started taking laxatives and Windeze every day as instructed.

Two to three weeks after the planning scan radiotherapy will commence. I agreed to 37 sessions over 7.5 weeks with a total dose of 74gy. This will cover the pelvic or leg nodes as well as the prostate to be sure of blasting the area comprehensively.

I am mostly not looking forward to reclining in the LINAC with a full bladder!

I’ve just been through radiotherapy. I had 20 sessions over 28 days.

Getting your bladder and bowels right is a bit of an art but you do get it down to a tee quite quickly. They worked out that I filled very quickly when very hydrated so I could empty my bladder 15 minutes before and be right. However, if they were running late, then my timing be thrown off. Usually they’d just put another patient in ahead of me and it would be ok.

Things to be aware of during radiotherapy:

• It is utterly painless
• The effects creep up on you. The first week is a doddle. The second you get a bit tired. Then you get more side effects - getting up more in the night; restricted flow; and you won’t need those laxatives…
• You will need to reduce fibre in your diet as the process goes on. I was also told to cut out alcohol and caffeine. These helped.
• I found the frequency of wees went up when very hydrated. I went from once every 30 mins to once every 15. I knew the best bushes to wee behind on my drive home.
• When you wake up you often have restricted flow.
• Taking paracetamol helps alleviate all the side effects, so lean into that from week 2. Basically everything is inflamed, so take anti inflammatories.
• The side effects don’t abate when the treatment stops - they get worse! I think my nadir was about 10 days after the treatment stopped.
• Recovery takes a good month to six weeks.
• Recovery is not linear (or wasn’t for me). I had up days and down days. Slowly but surely I had more ups than downs.
• Take care of yourself. If you push yourself too hard, there will be repercussions. If you feel like you need a nap, take one.

However, whilst all of that sounds a bit off-putting, it really is not bad. It is annoying and dull rather than calamitous. I’m pretty much back to where I was before radiotherapy now (a month on). I am now feeling better every day.

Take it slow, chat to the other chaps (I had my ‘radiotherapy buddies’ who were waiting at the same time), chat to the radiographers (mine were lovely), take them treats, tick off the days, treat yourself before and after.

Good luck.

Edited by AstonZagato on Friday 3rd May 23:32

[westberks]

Geoff-agmsd said:

Just back from Hospital , bell rang photos taken , need to wait to mid-june for a PSA test then appointment with Consultant 25th June .

congrats Geoff

[BoomerPride]

AstonZagato said:

I’ve just been through radiotherapy. I had 20 sessions over 28 days.

Lots of useful information.

Thank you very much Aston. That is most helpful. I will take note of your recommendations.

[BoomerPride]

BoomerPride said:

I visited a registrar oncologist for the first time yesterday having been diagnosed last September. I've been on three monthly Zoladex injections which has "put it to sleep" to use his terminology.

He was very thorough and spent a good 40 minutes running through everything. We discussed the choice of having just the prostate targeted by radiotherapy or taking in the pelvic lymph nodes also. That is 4 weeks of treatment vs. 7.5 weeks - all Monday to Friday of course with time off for good behaviour at the weekend. I opted for the lymph nodes too. Nuke it from orbit - it's the only way to be sure.

So they will carry out a targeting CT scan very shortly with treatment starting early in May.

Some good news for me. The national guidelines have changed so they will dose me over 20 sessions instead of 37. That's quite a relief.

[westberks]

BoomerPride said:

BoomerPride said:

I visited a registrar oncologist for the first time yesterday having been diagnosed last September. I've been on three monthly Zoladex injections which has "put it to sleep" to use his terminology.

He was very thorough and spent a good 40 minutes running through everything. We discussed the choice of having just the prostate targeted by radiotherapy or taking in the pelvic lymph nodes also. That is 4 weeks of treatment vs. 7.5 weeks - all Monday to Friday of course with time off for good behaviour at the weekend. I opted for the lymph nodes too. Nuke it from orbit - it's the only way to be sure.

So they will carry out a targeting CT scan very shortly with treatment starting early in May.

Some good news for me. The national guidelines have changed so they will dose me over 20 sessions instead of 37. That's quite a relief.

are they increasing the blast over the 20 or just found that 37 is excessive?

[BoomerPride]

They are increasing the blast. The total dose is the same, 74Gy.

[westberks]

BoomerPride said:

They are increasing the blast. The total dose is the same, 74Gy.

fair enough; good luck with that and speedy recovery

[ClaphamGT3]

Now under a urologist via my BUPA membership.

Redone my PSA after 5 days of abstinence (reading of 5.02 with my GP was within 24 hours of sex) which came back at 4.1

Examined the prostate. No obvious lumps, bumps or abnormalities but minimally enlarged consistent with age.

Urologist very confident it's not cancer and offered me either another PSA test in 3 months or, for an abundance of caution, an MRI. I've opted for an MRI which should happen next week.