Hi, I'm dixiedad: Air force pilot for... - Advanced Prostate...

Advanced Prostate Cancer

21,056 members26,262 posts

Hi, I'm dixiedad

dixiedad profile image
33 Replies

Air force pilot for 7 years and commercial pilot (TWA and Nippon Cargo) for over 30 years. I've been happily married for 51 years. I'm 79 and was diagnosed just a couple of weeks ago. I'm on Wolf Bay on the Alabama gulf coast.

Gleason is 4-4 for an 8.

PSA was 7.4 12/13/18, 7.4 9/13/19. 10 6/22/20, and 11.4 8/20/24. Biopsy was 10/07/20. I had an abdominal ultrasound followed by an abdominal MRI in Sept.2020 for an unrelated suspected condition. All indications negative. I'm hoping that any tumors might have shown up.

I'm having a bone scan Tuesday and a pelvic MRI Thursday. Initial recommended treatment is radiation and hormone therapy.

This place was recommended by a friend on another forum.

Good to be here (I guess?)

Written by
dixiedad profile image
dixiedad
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
33 Replies
Tall_Allen profile image
Tall_Allen

Hi dixiedad! You are welcome to the advanced prostate cancer forum, but since you don't have advanced prostate cancer (pending results of your bone scan/CT) you may find more men in your situation at the following forum:

healthunlocked.com/prostate...

It's a good idea to get a second opinion on your biopsy slides from Epstein at Johns Hopkins. He is the Gold Standard. Just ask your urologist to overnight the slides to him.

pathology.jhu.edu/departmen...

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to Tall_Allen

Thank you very much. I just assumed an 8 Gleason was 'advanced'. I still have a lot to learn.

in reply to dixiedad

I think it is? You’ll learn It all too quickly . By next year you’ll know more than you ever imagined possible about pc .. There is TMI on the internet about cancer .. You’ve found the best place here ..

Hu has been a godsend for me of info and like minded individuals all caught in the same trap . Be well Sir✈️

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to

Now I think it's 'aggressive' but maybe not advanced yet.

One hopes.

in reply to dixiedad

Let’s keep it that way then . You can live for many years past this dx . Your muscle bone and cognition can all take a hit once your on adt .. so get oxygen and stay active .. we have many pilots on this cite . We have a wide array of fantastic brothers from all over the world .. Thanks for climbing aboard . Need more pilots to correct our coarse .

Tall_Allen profile image
Tall_Allen in reply to dixiedad

Your kind of prostate cancer is called "high risk." It is one of the categories that localized PCa is stratified into. "Advanced" means that it is no longer localized. The top US cancer centers (NCCN) puts together a "state of the knowledge" document for patients that you may find useful. It starts by helping you understand your category and then describes your options:

nccn.org/patients/guideline...

depotdoug profile image
depotdoug in reply to Tall_Allen

I follow nccn.org/patients/guidelines info a lot. My MO should or hope he would.

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to depotdoug

Been there. Thanks

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to Tall_Allen

Thanks. I'll go there.

SPEEDYX profile image
SPEEDYX

Stand Up And Fly Right...you are certainly welcome....lots of info and experience here ...coupled with some humor....trusting that you have many more years!!!

Welcome aboard dixiedad! We can surely tell you what to expect ... Thanks for flying the airways for the rest of us for so long... Stay active as possible . I was 53 upon dx . I too was a 4+4 Gleason =8 ..I was T-4 which meant pc tumors breached the Prostate walls and were blocking urethra and bladder . Did they stage you ? as in I was stage#4 ..But i was beyond surgery . I ve done double adt Lupron and a test drug along side 8 weeks imrt . This pushed all visable signs of pc away from me for over four years now . So your treatment can work. I was unable due to tubes out of kidneys and a foley to

lift weights my first two years . This inability to work out while on double adt and RT stripped me of all muscle and put me firmly in osteopenia . I suggest that you do weight bearing exercise and take simple bone nutrients to try to ward off the osteo .. all pc treatments tear us down .. Live well in wolf Bay ...

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to

Thanks. Don't know my stage(?) yet. Will know MUCH more after scans.

Bodysculpture profile image
Bodysculpture in reply to dixiedad

Whimpy said it and I can tell you resistance training will help you tremendously during and after treatments

You must stay as strong as you can to counteract the drugs they use

You have a long time here with us and there are specialists right now working on a drug to retard the progression of PC for our lifetime

You have found a fountain of information and the great great men and women of Healthunlocked will be with you through it all

Stay strong

j-o-h-n profile image
j-o-h-n

Thank you for your 7 years service in the USAF. TWA has gone away and you're gone from Nippon.... Post here for guys and girls who help with your question.......

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 10/25/2020 6:02 PM DST

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to j-o-h-n

I hung it up in 1999.

TWA went down for the last time in 2000.

Probably just a coincidence though. :-)

j-o-h-n profile image
j-o-h-n in reply to dixiedad

We use to kid about TWA airline (female) stewardess' asking their flying customers if they wanted TWA coffee or TWA tea..... I guess you've heard that a million times. And yes, I think that TWA went out of business because you and Howard retired.....

(p.s. don't mind me, I happen to be silly)

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 10/25/2020 6:42 PM DST

depotdoug profile image
depotdoug in reply to dixiedad

Yep, i flew TWA back and forth from NY to Spain then Morocco. Also to Germany then Saudi Arabia. Memories !

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to depotdoug

You could have been one of my passengers.

Patrick-Turner profile image
Patrick-Turner

Welcome to out little chat group.

The best type of scan for showing Pca status could be PsMa Ga68 PET + CT.

Research here in major Cancer hospital Peter Mac in Melbourne has concluded its the best scan to show most all Pca.

I was diagnosed Gleason 9 inoperable in 2009, age 62, now 73, still cycling 200km a week to stay fit healthy. Psa has been up-down like yo-yo, but I remain alive.

Patrick Turner.

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to Patrick-Turner

Had any treatment?

Magnus1964 profile image
Magnus1964

Welcome. You can get good information on this forum. For so many with Pca it can be overwhelming. Getting advice from those of us who have gone through it can help a lot particularly with choices to made and what to expect.

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to Magnus1964

Thank you

1965l79Corvette profile image
1965l79Corvette

Hi. Yep, I understanding being part of the group. Bad news you are here. Go news you found us. Best of luck prayers my friend. Love your name. I am a Dixie lover myself.

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to 1965l79Corvette

Thanks and Roll Tide! ;-)

1965l79Corvette profile image
1965l79Corvette in reply to dixiedad

Deo Vindice!

Currumpaw profile image
Currumpaw

Hey dixiedad,

What type of MRI? The mp 3.0T MRI ? There is quite a difference.

Currumpaw

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to Currumpaw

I have no idea.

Currumpaw profile image
Currumpaw in reply to dixiedad

Hey dixiedad!

Read my reply to your other post for information. I was ignorant as well in the beginning--not things we knew about or ever wished to know about--but here we are and I have some time ahead of you. If anything I or anyone else has learned will help --that is why we are here.

Currumpaw

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to Currumpaw

Yes, I'm glad I was directed here. Learned a lot already.

Bangkok profile image
Bangkok

Before you go too deep check out my post re: radioligand therapy that is offered in about half a dozen countries while our countries are in clinical trial.

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to Bangkok

Will do

tarhoosier profile image
tarhoosier

Dixiedad:

If you post your biopsy results it may help to advise you. Maybe not a copy of the entire report but the highlights. Percent in each core, number of cores positive, location of cancer in each core, etc.

dixiedad profile image
dixiedad in reply to tarhoosier

I'll get a copy tomorrow.

You may also like...

Hi:

started in ADT and had IMRT (radiation therapy) in 2005. At the end of radiation treatment...

I'm still going strong!

2013, PSA 620. Two of 12 biopsy cores cancerous. Gleasons, 3 and 4. 4 and 4. Widespread bony...

Now I'm really confused

after just 4 months and now I'm seeing xtandi seemingly stalling and I'm taking steps to plan out my

I'm new here, unfortunately. :)

a series of reports, an MRI, bone scan, and CT scan, we know that my Gleason scores were all 9's;...

I'm now castrate resistant - what now?

while. I was initial diagnosed as 3.7 Gleason 3+4. So, in a sense I'm back where I started, albeit...