WELL ITS ON NOW

[Howard53545]

Received call from oncologist for first Lupron shot next Tuesday and measurement for radiation. I took first Casodex last night before watching end of Homeland. I fell for Claire Dane. With Lupron this feeling will undoubtedly pass.

[Rich_Rad]

Hi Howard.

Just had my second Lupron shot last week. First one was 4 month shot, and last week was a 6 mo shot. I’ll be finishing radiation treatments in 2 weeks and then will be starting Zytiga.

My experience with the Lupron (which I started after 2 weeks of Bicalutamide) has been relatively mild. For me,

hot flashes are annoying,

ball shrinkage a bit of a blow to the ego,

a small raise in blood pressure

And growing boobs again an ego thing

Yes, my libido has gone way down, but amazingly I have maintained my ability to get strong enough erections for anal sex with my husband. I have been on a vigorous rehab program through the RESTORE study, which includes daily low dose sildenifil, daily masturbatikn, vacuum pumping and keigel excersizes. I believe in the protocol, and even though the desire to have sex has been very low, my husband and I have a routine of at least twice a week engaging in some form of physical/sexual interaction. Hell, I don’t feel like working out most days and I do that... so why not sex?

I hope some day my desire will return... for now knowing that the activity I engage in is satisfying my husband, and may help me physically hold on to more functioning, I see it as an experiment. We’ll see how far it goes, and if Zytiga makes things even more difficult.

Hope to hear more about how things are going for you.

Rich

[Don_1213]

Howard - indeed - with Lupron that feeling shall pass.

Not knowing your disease specifics - I can only say radiation wasn't a big deal for me. There were a few days where gastro urgency was an issue - along with loose stools (so I didn't wander far from the bathroom) - but other than that, nothing major. My radiation was 45 treatments (81Gy) - near the end I was starting to feel some fatigue, uncertain if this was due to the radiation, or a combo of the radiation and Lupron. At the end of your radiation treatments - hopefully you'll start getting undetectable PSA reads.

Good luck to you - and I'm sure you'll be looking forward to ringing the bell.

[Howard53545 in reply to Don_1213]

i am going to bang the hell out of that bell for the second time!

[j-o-h-n in reply to Howard53545]

Radiation for me was a NOTHING sandwich..... (39 session of the bed)... time to order a blow up doll to replace Claire Dane.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Tuesday 04/28/2020 1:25 PM DST