The Battle Begins!

[BonoVox1]

Hi my friends, I am a Professional Singer living in Australia married to a gorgeous Filipino Angel, looking to get information and share my journey with any who are interested. I have stage four resistant prostate cancer and really determined to beat what a lot of people say is a life ending illness. With Gods help great support from my Wife and Family, WE WILL!!!

[Schwah]

Please provide your health details and history in any specific questions. Lots of potential help here.

Schwah

[LearnAll]

Great picture of a lovely couple. Sorry to hear about the diagnosis. The first step when you go to any battle is to arm yourself with weapons....In this battle with a mean disease, the most powerful weapon is KNOWLEDGE about this disease and the treatments.

On this forum, we have tons of knowledge contributed by fellow sufferers. You are welcome to be part of this caring community.

[Magnus1964]

Need more information, age, treatments, PSA progression or regression. You can get lots help from the guys on this forum.

[Dachshundlove]

Good Morning BonoVox1:

I personally would call it a Life Changing type of adversity. Others here might call it a Life Beginning situation. Whatever one refers to it as, there are available treatments. And, PC becomes a daily reminder of the limited nature of ones time. The awareness it brings to ones life can be useful in that it allows one to prioritize time and energy to things that are actually valuable.

I am a wife of a wonderful, diagnosed 4 months ago, man. Its evident to me that things will never be the same for us, and some days dealing with the loss PC brings is difficult, but most days, I appreciate the enlightenment that this trial has generated for us.

We are all here for both of you. Reach out, ask questions, and connect. You may want to suggest that your wife start a profile too. She will be on this path with you and she may be comforted by reaching out to other wives.

[j-o-h-n]

Greeting Good Voice uno,

Please tell us more info about yourself: i.e., age, psa/gleason scores, treatments to date, treatment center(s), doctor's name(s)? All info is voluntary but helps us help you and helps us too. Thank you...

Note correction: FilipinA (PhilippinA).

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 09/23/2019 4:35 PM DST

[Patrick-Turner]

Hi BonoVox1,

I was born here in Australia and have lived in Canberra since 1973. Most of The Best possible Pca treatments are available in Australia. I was diagnosed at 62yo with Pca in 2009, Gleason 9. But it must have begun about 4 years before that, so I have survived about 14 years. I have known those who thought they would survive just as long, but found they lasted only 3 years.

Pca usually is a slow growing cancer that allows a man to learn a lot about it and how to live with it, and I'd say you are way ahead of me because you have an angel to assist your survival.

While many will try to commit their time to seeking a cure, very few get a cure, so Pca becomes a problem that has to be controlled so that you get the maximum time alive and the best QOL at the least expense.

The treatments used against Pca can have very different outcomes for different men and much of the time is spent on having one treatment after the other that seems to work for awhile, then it stops working, so another treatment is used.

If you are at stage 4, I guess that means many mets are in soft tissues and bones, and if that's how it was diagnosed, and Psa is high, say over 100, then most doctors would suggest ADT, maybe chemo. maybe with added Zytiga, or added Xtandi. With stage 4, the chemo might not work well, but then you could have PsMa Ga68 PET / CT scan and see if you might benefit from Lu177 which is available in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, from Theranostics Australia.

Very often, PsMa scan will show where most if not all mets are, and clearly defined. It may be useless to have prostate gland removed if you have many mets because you may need treatment that works all over your body.

Last year, chemo did not work for me, but I had 4 x Lu177 shots from TA and while taking Xtandi, and Psa went from 25 before Lu177 to 0.4 now, but over time, it is probable Psa will rise and be a threat again, and docs will tell me best options when that time comes.

Chemo gives a pile of long term side effects, Lu177 has very few side effects except maybe a dry mouth because saliva glands are damaged.

I don't know if you have had a large amount of treatment already, but ADT also has serious side effects that cause sexual desire and ability to have sex and pleasure to all go to zero. Really mature minded men and their partners learn to live with the absence of normal sex. I have not had a partner from the time well before I was diagnosed, so the fact I could not have sex did not upset a partner.

The ADT is a form of chemical castration that does the same thing as an orchiectomy. This starves the Pca from having testosterone, so the Pca growth is slowed right down, but not forever, because the cancer mutates to grow with testosterone that it makes itself.

I was very fit and healthy when diagnosed, and an RP failed because too much cancer at PG was found. So I had ADT plus EBRT, and 2 years later, ADT was stopped, to see if treatment worked but Psa went from 0.08 up to 8.8 in 6 months, so the initial treatment failed badly, so I have had ADT ever since 2010.

I'm 72 now, but between 2006 and this year, I have cycled 140,000 km to stay fit, and this fitness minimised the side effects of the treatments.

I don't need a partner; it would be nice to have one, but I never ever meet any who could be a partner, so I am doing whatever it takes to stay alive all by myself.

I have written a lot here if you search my posts, and Tall Allen seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge about all things about Pca.

Welcome to the group. This group thrives because the one thing we all have in common is this darn cancer. I have never encountered anyone here who got angry with anyone else, and yet we seem to accommodate each others' different point of view and opinions. Most posters are men, but some are the wives and daughters, and I have to say its a humanly warm place to hang out. None of us can live forever, but I think we all love life.

Patrick Turner.

[larry_dammit]

Welcome to the club that no one wants to be in. Good luck with you fight against the monster. 🙏🙏🙏

[Sillymary73]

Welcome 😀🙏🏼🎈

[Hidden]

Live well . You have great love and reasons to survive this . I also have such wonderful love .. my reason to endure and live with APC . Welcome brother . Scott in Az🌵

[Hidden]

Greetings from Charleston, SC. I definitely cannot sing, but I can dance (sort of). Anyway, welcome to the club. We’re all here to support each other. I’ve only been fighting PC for a few years, but there are others that have been fighting this problem for many many years. Their experience is both invaluable and inspirational. It can be scary, but we’re here for you

[tallguy2]

Welcome to the forum. We just returned from our 5th holiday in Australia. Bet you've never driven the Nullarbor. We drove with friends from Melbourne to Perth, stopping of course at those wonderful Margaret River wineries in Western Australia.

Best wishes!

[marnieg46]

Welcome. Very unfortunate that you've had to seek out this group but great to have another ozzie on board. We're in Sydney and my husband is a long way down this journey. You most certainly will get the absolute best advice from the men on this site who are so knowledgeable. I wish you the very best and know you will get great support and comfort from those who post here.

[Kaliber]

Welcome to the crazy train brother ... lots of like company here..... and probably a cadre of the most knowledgeable PCa brothers you could hope to discover.

Best wishes

[monte1111]

Always love the pictures. Enjoy.

[Sillymary73]

We are all here to support one another and hold each other up during this difficult time please share with your wife and yourself that we are willing to talk with anybody who needs support during this difficult time