Officially on ADT vacation

[Garbonzeaux]

With the blessing of my oncology team, I passed on my scheduled Lupron shot yesterday, so my vacation begins. I have been on it for 4.5 years, so I don't expect anything to change anytime soon, but it will be interesting to see what happens. I'm now completely unmedicated except for prolia, due in a couple of months. Wish me luck!

[NickJoy]

Very best of luck.

[6357axbz]

Good luck and please keep us posted. My MO wants me to begin one sometime in the next year.Are you still with MDA, Dr Corn?

[Garbonzeaux in reply to 6357axbz]

Yes, Dr. Corn at MDA, Dr. Sartor at Tulane, and my local MO, who has been giving me my Lupron shots, are all on board with it. For starters, we will monitor PSA and other labs every 3 months. Perhaps more scans if called for. I'll keep posted.

[6357axbz in reply to Garbonzeaux]

When I took a holiday, at Dr E’s suggestion we waited till my PSA rose to between 0.5 to 1.0. Got the GA68 scan at UCLA then went back on adt. Then had the confirmed Mets zapped.I would think either Tulane or MDA would have the PYL psma pet ct scan (more accurate than the GA68 scan) available by the time your PSA rises.

Who is your lead MO? Any problem coordinating with both Drs Corn and Sartorial?

[Garbonzeaux in reply to 6357axbz]

Corn is lead. Sartor has never actually treated me, but I consult with him on a regular basis for his valuable expertise. It was Dr. E before Corn.

[Pops78 in reply to Garbonzeaux]

Who is Dr. E? Dr. Eleni Efstathiou?

[Garbonzeaux in reply to Pops78]

Eleni Efstathiou, formerly at MD Anderson, now at Houston Methodist. Apparently, nobody at MDA could pronounce or spell her name, so everyone called her "Dr. E."

[Pops78 in reply to Garbonzeaux]

Did you change to Dr. Corn after she left or before?

[Garbonzeaux in reply to Pops78]

After. All her patients were reassigned to other Drs. I requested Dr. Corn and my request was granted (or maybe I got randomly lucky).

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

If you're Greek you can say.......Eleni = Helen thus Helen of Troy = Hellenic (no such word as Greek in the Hellenic language). Ef-sta-thee-ou*... = generally if a Hellenic name ends in "ou" it means the family came from Turkey....* Seventh Uncle? <--- wild guess on my part.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 12/10/2021 7:02 PM EST

[Pops78 in reply to Garbonzeaux]

Sent you a message.

[EdBar in reply to 6357axbz]

I can confirm that Tulane is doing PSMA scans, I’m a patient of Sartor too, we discussed during my visit in November

[Pops78 in reply to 6357axbz]

Sent you a message

[Hidden]

Wish that you have continued good results beyond what you can imagine 👍🏼

[Garbonzeaux in reply to Hidden]

Thanks! I have a vivid imagination.

[Hidden in reply to Garbonzeaux]

🤣 That helps!

[Tall_Allen]

Good luck. I hope your testosterone gets a chance to recover enough so that you feel better.

[Marshb52 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Is there a legit way to excelerate testosterone level without injections? Marshb52 I am in the same situation

[Tall_Allen in reply to Marshb52]

You can try to jumpstart your natural testosterone production with Clomid or human chorionic gonadotropin, if your doctor agrees.

[Marshb52 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks TA. Greatly appreciated

[treedown]

Congratulations. I am in a similar boat. How often will you be seeing you Dr's in addition to 3 month blood tests?

[Garbonzeaux in reply to treedown]

So far, the 3-month labs are the plan. We'll see what the situation is then and take it from there.

[PGDuan]

Congrats! Hope it is a very long and fun vacation.

[ARIES29]

Good luck to you & may it last a long time. I think most of us would be like to be in your shoes.

[Garbonzeaux in reply to ARIES29]

Many thanks. Fingers crossed.

[jfoesq]

Good luck. I had 3 vacation but those days are long gone now because they kept having to be shorter and shorter.

[Hidden]

Great news!, good Luck and God Bless.

[GreenStreet]

Best of luck. I hope you get a long vacation

[rosatt1]

Good luck lets hope you have won against the cancer.

[Burnett1948]

Burnett1948 I wish you luck. There is a chance I will be taking a holiday when I next see my RO in 3 months time as I understand. I’ve been on Lupron for 17 months.

[nuc1111]

Good luck--God Bless

[Marshb52]

Yesterday I was also placed on Lupron vacation after 7 months of undetectable PSA results The doc said the cancer of lymph nodes was dormant. I was hoping that it was defeated. I also had strong RT with the Lupron and Xtandi. Does anyone know if there is a test to show if the cancer is defeated or dormant?Marsh

[MateoBeach in reply to Marshb52]

Time.

[MateoBeach in reply to Marshb52]

Actually, though there are no details of your treatment etc in your profile, if the lymph nodes are within the pelvis and we’re treated within the radiation field, then they may be defeated now. If outside pelvis and not adequately irradiated, then most likely they one day will become active again and require further treatment. Such as Lu-PSMA if they are avid on PSMA scan when PSA rises. Early chemo for this might be better than waiting. Unknown but worth a discussion with the MO. See my previous post on Extinction Dynamics in sequencing treatments.

[Boywonder56]

ádh mór........🍀

[Hidden]

That's fantastic! God be with you.

[swwags]

Congrats sir!

[agyoung]

For those following this post with regard to the fluorine-18 scan availability at Tulane, in New Orleans, I can confirm. I had one done yesterday for Dr. Sartor. He started me on Androgel daily about 3 years ago. PSA began rising slowly but as of late has taken an exponential turn. Stopped the Androgel about two weeks ago, and for those who don’t find ADT that uncomfortable my hat is off to you. I am quite miserable and I suspect I was this way when Dr. Sartor put me on Androgel. I didn’t realize then what I know now. But to be fair, it took about a year of Lupron and sodium bicalutimide before T became castrate level. But yes, fluorine 18 (Pylarify) scans are available in a trailer next to Tulane Medical Center.

Alan

Edit to add : Medicare authorized the scan, as they did for an Auxim scan two years ago with a PSA of 1.0. Still don’t understand why I had an Auxim scan that Medicare authorized with that low of a PSA. At least I haven’t received the bill, yet .

Just nervously waiting the call from Dr. Sartor to see how much of a Christmas tree I will light up as. My great anxiety is that it is somewhere that has been radiated. I was told by another oncologist that Mets never appear in previously radiated areas. Unfortunately from several of my friends, that is completely false. Both had mets that appeared in both bone and lymph nodes in the pelvis. Both were put on Xofigo but no radiation. Unfortunately bothe have passed.

Anxiety is no fun!

[6357axbz in reply to agyoung]

Thanks

[V10fanatic]

I hope your dreams of renewed normality are realized and last a very long time.

[Proflac]

Happy holiday! 😄

[j-o-h-n]

Va- Ca-Tion gonna have a ball.... HAVE GOOD TIMES!!!

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 12/10/2021 7:06 PM EST

[tdelpozz]

I went on my vacation after 2 years of eligard and bicalutamide 4 months ago, and last week PSA still undetectable so hoping this lasts a long time if not forever.

[Oldeenglishbulldogge]

Man, I wish you, all the the luck you can get while on vacation. I was on it for a year,,a yr ago. GOOD LUCK, GOOD LUCK, GOOD LUCK💯💯💯

[Bunkerboy]

Good Luck👍🏻