time for decisions; just finished 6 rounds of chemo (docetaxel)We had loupron ,casodex along with prednisone. we were on xgeva for the bone

[benninger]

only ordered 4 shots of xgeva {1} every 4 weeks.Received last one. He said we could stop the casodex or to keep taking it. we see the dr. at Hillman middle of May. His PSA dropped from 11 on Nov 23 to 0.02 . They are planning on putting him on zytiga so it is up to us weather to take {casodex} or stop it before our appointment at we thought with the bone mets he would be on the xgeva longer. stage 4 gleason 10..with mets in both hips, shoulder, femour, and pelvic area. surgery was the 24 of Julyour

[Tall_Allen]

That is an excellent response! I suggest you try it without the Casodex and see what happens. Why have the extra breast side effects if you don't need it? The Xgeva prevents bone loss and subsequent fractures due to long-term Lupron therapy. It's probably a good idea to combine it with Celebrex.

[benninger in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks for information. He has been on Celebrex for over 10 years

[Canoehead]

That’s very similar to my situation. I just finished Docetaxel #6 this week. I switched oncologists last month, and new guy stopped my Casodex saying it is only really necessary to stop T spikes at start of ADT. He also said he will reduce my Xgeva to once every six months, and he took my prednisone down from 10mg to 5mg. My PSA dropped from 36 to 0.01.

Plan is to start Zytiga, do new scans now, and discuss additional options based on results. Those may include genetic testing.

My new oncologist is Russell Szmulewitz from U of Chicago.

[benninger in reply to Canoehead]

seems we are on the same path ...good luck, our prayers are with you

[Canoehead in reply to benninger]

Wanted you to get my perspective, but I also think you should push for an appointment before mid May. The first phase of treatment that you just had is fairly standard, although there are some MOs who would skip the Chemo and go straight to Lupron and Zytiga. Reading this site will give you all the current treatment perspectives, and what I’ve been doing is writing down questions for my next visit.

We are here for ourselves and each other.

[benninger in reply to Canoehead]

I guess I left out a lot. Surgery was July 26,2017. First psa after surgery on 9/1/17 was3.4 ,second on 10/23 was 8.49, third on 11/15/17 was11.00. Started casodex on 11/15/17 and first loupron shot on 11/22/17. PSA dropped to 1.01 by 12/05/17 this was the day of his first chemo. He has stayed on the casodex and prednisone ever since 11/15/17. His Dr. locally said we could stop the casodex now and go on the zytiga after we see the Dr at Hillman. I was very happy to see a 10pt. drop in little over 2 weeks. His psa dropped to .02 on Feb 2 and has stayed right there. Just afraid it will go right back up just as quick as it dropped. He is a Greason 10 with a rare ductal type. Third loupron scheduled for May 9,2017 Thanks for the feed back

[pcfred]

Same road I travel. God Bless