Nov - Lupron shot- still in discussion . They wanted 6 months and I did not want more than 3 months. We may comprise, start with a two month Lupron shot and evaluate. If need be, one more two month Lupron shot.
I am a Medicare patient for what it is worth.
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I got my treatment at Stephenson, my oncologist waited to see the results of the scans before doing anything surgical. The scan results will drive your treatment plan.
My cancer was: Gleason 4+4; T3c. Cancer involving seminal vesical, nerve bundle and one lymph node. I opted for radiation and ADT. I am currently 15 months into my treatment.
My advice is wait for you scans to be completed and interpreted before locking in a plan.
Also, when you start ADT, this is a standard part of treatment, demand the 3 month shot, it has been reported 6 month shots don't last 6 months.
Finally do your own research, ask your doctor every questions you have and don't allow any doctor push a treatment on you that doesn't make sense to you.
My docs at Stephenson are Stratton( urologist) and Gunter( radiologist). On the shot I will do a two month with a follow up and if need be another 2 month shot-Lupron vs there two three month shots. Still discussing. Thank you.
Those are my doctors as well and I am sure you have met Halston and Paige as well. Anyway, I have heard no two men have the same experience with this cancer. I had and still do have confidence with this team and all I can offer is my path to where I am now.
It was suggested to me, I need to have a medical oncologist review my case and and offer his suggestion for treatment. I saw Kevin Courtney at UT Southwestern in Dallas, I liked him very much and he was very thorough. He said I should begin ADT; Lupron, Abiraterone and Prednisone two months before beginning 39 weeks of IMRT. This was one of four options offered by Stratton and that is the plan I chose. Stratton told me, the clinic has a MO I could have used. In hind sight I do no regret taking my case out side of Stephenson and if you are able I would suggest the same.
I just met with Dr Courtney at UT Southwestern a couple weeks ago, and I also like him. He will be my oncologist for the SPLASH trial using LU177 in Dallas. Its a 4 hour drive to Dallas from Ft Gibson Lake, but they are offering treatment that just isnt available in Oklahoma.
I imagine you are on ADT as well. If so, that is also suppressing your PSA. It may look like Lupron is still working and it may be however it may not be. This is what I have read.
Not stage 4. Both Docs want Proton. They wanted to give me two three month shots but wanted a two month to see what happens, and if need be another 2 month shot. I will ask why Proton over IMRT?
I live in Kansas City. Your path to treatment sounds identical to mine. I was diagnosed with Gleason 8; mets to pelvic lymph nodes. Once the Urologist inserted the markers and gel spacer in preparation for SBRT I was given a 3- month LUPRON injection than waited two months for the radiation treatments to begin. When I questioned the delay I was told the Lupron was a significant part of the treatment. I am now one year post radiation. PSA has been .04 for the past nine months. I too am on Medicare. It has been excellent throughout this process.
Several years ago, I messaged several times with Dr. Gary Larson. I found him to be honest and knowledgeable. Dr. Larson left a good impression. Proton therapy isn't that widely available--or wasn't at the time I messaged with Dr. Larson.
It seems that you are in an area where some of the most experienced docs are that perform proton therapy.
I didn't have proton therapy. I wanted to learn about it and if I needed farther treatment, it could be a possibility.
A link with some info that you may find useful. Copy the entire script to place in your search bar.
My husband has been on ADT therapy for 5 years, He takes a Lupron shot every 3 months. Abiraterone, and Prednisone daily. However, he also takes the nutritional therapy I have him on.
I believe the combination of both is helping him very much.
For you, I would suggest you do research in all areas, not just in here, because everyone is different. What works for one may not work for others.
He is quite fatigued and has lost his hair from the Lupron, But I feel it has been a lifesaver.
I hope you can read and learn and then decide what is best for you with the help of your healthcare practitioners.
He takes so many supplements that modulate the immine system. I say modulate because you do not want to rev it up or slow it down depending on, a person's needs
Two nutrients that I believe, as a nutritionist, that a diseased body need is
Vit d3, 4000 IU daily
Extra strength Beta Glucans...........I use NSC as I believe they are the best. I would like to know more of your food intake, exercise, sleep ,drugs, meds etc.,' I do not sell any nutrients, nor do I charge anyone for my nutritional advice.
I also appreciate reading🌹🦚 what others talk about.
I've been on/off Lupron for almost 5 years. I get the shots quarterly. Biopsy - post surgery - showed that the cancer was already present in tissue adjacent to the now ex-prostate. We did radiation therapy 30+ sessions and then went to Lupron. It was very successful in keeping my PSA # LOW. I went off Lupron for almost 9 months and returned when my PSA neared 2.0. I stopped again (the chronic fatigue and the hot flashes be damned) when my PSA plummeted to less than zero. My last 3 PSA's (9 months sans Lupron) were <0.01 (my urologist called this essentially undetectable). Incidentally, the side effects of Lupron seem to take at least 6 months to dissipate. So there is lingering fatigue and hot flashes. I have found that a good program of resistance (weight) training helps a great deal with the chronic fatigue. Even the makers of the drug advise this. I advise you to do it. Force yourself to get up and go to the gym and do it. Itis so worth it; now I get tired from working out. I intend to return to Lupron once my PSA reaches 1.0 (this is a common practice - I'm told - in treatments in France. Understand that the cancer is still in your body waiting to feed. It loves active cells; hence the Lupron to suppress your bodies productions of testosterone (the cancer loves it). I understand that the cancer is only "most likely" to metastasize in the lungs and bones. It's a good thing if the cancer is not there (lungs & bones), but it does NOT mean that you are cancer free. I live a life of balancing the facts that medicine has and can give me at the time. There are new developments almost daily in fighting this cancer. Do your best to beat it back. Good luck.
From all the research my husband and I did -- also for cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate -- 6 months on Lupron was the minimum to have any effect on nailing potentially microscopic cancer cells. But depends on your Gleason score and other factors: They increased my husband's course of Lupron to 18 months after a second read of his pathology bumped him from an 8 to a 9. He was also very resistant, but ultimately did the smart thing and just went through the whole course. They also added Xtiga as a precaution. Was it easy? Not really. Was it fun? No, but manageable. Does it inrease his liklihood of non-recurrence? Yes. Each person has their own decision to make, but from what we've researched, a super-short course isn't going to do all that much on inhibiting senescent cancer cells. But it goes by fast, and you have to think big picture on this. Hope our experience provides another consideration for you!
this month marks my 4 year survival anniversary. If you check my history i had progressed to full blown Mets at Dx. Ive never deviated from my advanced ADT treatment in this time and have remained undetectable. I’m amazed at others success coming on and off treatment but hold to the adage if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I’m lucky despite the SE burdens which have lessened over the years to cognitive indifference. It is what it’s become..a new normal of a benign future swallowing a retreating past.
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He was also very resistant, but ultimately did the smart thing and just went through the whole course. They also added Xtiga as a precaution. Was it easy? Not really. Was it fun? No, but manageable. Does it inrease his liklihood of non-recurrence? Yes. Each person has their own decision to make, but from what we've researched, a super-short course isn't going to do all that much on inhibiting senescent cancer cells. But it goes by fast, and you have to think big picture on this. Hope our experience provides another consideration for you!
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Please shoot holes in this plan.
