Hello all. I haven’t posted for awhile. My Dad completed 5 rounds of taxotere and tolerated it well. Now he’s hospitalized for esophageal ulcers and is on acyclovir IV. The onc is stopping the Chemo & prednisone. He’s comparing the new CT of his chest, abdomen and pelvis. The hospitalist showed me the report and the Mets areas have increased in size. The PSA has been going up and down, the last one is 8.8. It was 7 +when he started went as high as 11+. I don’t know yet how much it has increased or if there is organ involvement. The oncologist is studying the prior scans & then states he’ll decide a plan of care.
There are some Phase 1 trials available at the University Hospital who say they would like his records to determine if he would be a candidate. Not sure about this.
Any thoughts about what the next plan could be are appreciated.
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ann1919
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A problem with taxotere and mabye other chemo is that the chemo tends to kill cells which divide quickly, and theory is that the cancer divides a lot so the taxotere kills these cells. I find that hard to believe because my Pca has been very slow growing so i won't be at all surprised if taxotere hardly works at all. I had my first taxotere ( Docetaxel ) last Tuesday, 6 days ago, and I found I got indigestion and my teeth bled when I cleaned them
with regular brush and in digestive tract, the cells are affected badly. I also had slight nose bleeds, and I got some stuff to stop the indigestion pain better than taking a spoonful of baking soda in a small amount of water. I'm 71, and was very fit before chemo, I cycled 250km regularly a week. But now wondering WTF will happen........ chemo is no walk in the park.
It has been 4 weeks since his last dose of taxotere. His PSA is 6 now. He’s getting stronger. He’s 89 years old and is frail. He now has developed cellulitis in his legs/feet. The oncologist plan is to try Xtandia.
I hope he gets stronger. We all like to feel we are invincible, but as time goes by we realise we are just humans with fraility. I hope Xtandi works, but this and Zytiga just hold it back, they don't give a cure.
I have been a keen cyclist up to 71 so far, but the chemo will reduce how far and how fast I go, and its impossible to be young for as long as we wish.
I look forard to springtime soon, because being cold while having chemo makes it seem worse.
I quite enjoy fine classical music, its good company on my many days alone, and I do not need to be much involved in the clatter and rush of modern life filled with more fake news and fake information than I can poke a stick at.
I still find wonderment being alive, and I like the nurses at the hospital.
I might spend some big money on Lu177 if the chemo don't work very well.
I'd like to live to 89, but that seems to be a very naughty ambition.
You can live to 89. My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 in 11/1996 , age 66, with Mets to a pelvic lymph node. He was treated aggressively. His PSA went up in 2015 & mets to shoulder. Treated with trelstar, radiation. 1/2018 PSA started rising, mets to multiple bones. Taxotere treatment. His shoulder is his main pain. I hope with the new treatment his pain/ quality of life improve or do not get worse.
I wish you might be right, But I had gleason 9+9, Psa 6, and inoperable, so the large volume of local cancer at PG made a tiny amount of Psa, and if the the PG had been examined in 2004, I bet they would have found Pca when Psa was about 3.5. The docs don't recommend PG examination where Psa is less than 5.0. So my ongoing treats and cares have cost Medicare and myself about $200,000, and it all could have been avoided if I'd been diagnosed earlier, but not one doctor I ever met seemed to worry at all about me.
I think the countless bone mets they have found using PsMa scan show that they probably began before 2009.
From the time bone mets are first seen in CT scans, the most common statitistic I have seen says 95% of men are dead within 5 years.
Xofigo might give 10 months, Lu177 might give 14mths, and all chemo seems to fail before you can have the maximum of 10 infusions over 30 weeks. My doctor says the next level up for chemo, might be carboplatin gives "better results", but is harder to take, but just what he really meant is entirely obscure. Its best I learn to die early, not expect miracles, get my affairs in order early not late, and if I do last to 89, then I'll invite you to my party. In the meantime, one day at a time.
I am busy with some home crafting work, and I may have to cut back on my cycling and put up with lots more aches and pains while In fade into utter obscurity without having any meanful connection to anyone else other than the doctors anf hospital staff. Have you not noticed how many ppl avoid anyone with cancer? they might catch it. But they really like only healthy ppl, and they don't know what to do with ppl who are on the way out. Its how I find it to be. Its useless trying to fight forever to remain a wanted person within society; after a certain age, the world rejects you, you are not a rooster any more, and you become an unused feather duster. Despite my consise knowledge of the storm clouds gathered, and of being alone, I still find wonderment in being alive, and I hope that continues until I cease to be.
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