Exactly a year ago I finished my last session (of 28, over 5 1/2 weeks) of radiation therapy for my prostate cancer.
A year later I'm in the stage of my treatment where I'm taking drugs (Orgovyx), and awaiting tests in December that will tell me how effective it was.
It's not over yet but I like to note these anniversaries as a way of moving forward.
Glad to hear that. I remember when you started your journey. Good luck in December.
I am about to transition to 6 month PSA tests in another couple of months that is if the PSA stays low. I am off my ADT. I can tell you that was the greatest feeling getting my T back. I am now enjoying a normal life again.
Glad to hear it JP! And good luck going forward. Same to you MGTD...excellent progress. I'm hoping for my 42nd month at <.02 with today's blood draw! Don't get results for a week. Which will seem like a month! But, hey, I'm still thankful no matter the results.
good luck to you 🤗
Hi!
Great story and 1 year of complete remission in itself is always a success story 🥳✌️😀
Is there myself and always love to see those posts of positive news 👍😇
Hope for a long remission and down the road no more signs of the cancer 💪🤩
I don't know if complete remission is what I'm experiencing. My PSA remains undetectable, but won't really know whether this worked until my next PSMA/PET scan in December.
But thanks.
Well, your well of after one year from final radiation and it’s a remission of some sort so, it’s a time for joy and happiness I would say 🥳
Come December and if you still have undetectable PSA I would say that anything showing up on a PSMA Pet Scan have extremely low probability I would guess 👍
With your diagnosis and from your treatment plan, have they said how long they want you stay on Orgovyx if you have undetectable and if your scans show nothing?
Interested because you’ve done a modern hypofractionated IMRT with WPRT and with integrated boost to prostate, seminal vesicles and affected lymph nodes and then I always find it interesting to see what the recommendations are for ’long term’ adt when having a treatment for a T3 and N1 diagnosis. Specially because there are several recommendations that seems to vary from 24 to 36 months🤔
Nice to know that you can enjoy being more in the normal life settings. Congratulations, I hope you stay like this for very very long time.
Congratulations, I have my final 3 month Eligard shot next week which takes me to two years.
best luck keep psa low consider talking to your oncologist about adding an androgen receptor blocker ARB to block any small amounts of testosterone that the Orgovyx doesn t stop This works right on the cancer cellls to block the testosterone and is an extra layer of protection rhat is now widely used together with your Orgovyx This is just my personal experience so talk to your doctors
I was taking Abiraterone, but had lotsa side effects (worse than Orgovyx) so I stopped at some point, after consulting my oncologist.
I am with you. I finished radiation 3 years ago and finished antitestosterone therapy 1.5 years ago. PSA still 0. 🤞🏻
that’s good news JP. Sounds like you are getting great care. My journey is very similar. Off Abriraterone in three months then off to treatment unknown. For additional help I signed up for Fred Hutch Survivorship Program. Waiting on a plan from them.
John you are an inspiration to my personal journey living .
My former oncologist referred to psa<0.1 while on treatment as a "maintained remission". As long as the low testosterone is maintained the remission continues. When treatment concludes and T rises then we determine if the remission continues without the maintenance drugs/RT.
Just some additional thoughts for your future discussions with your MO. Like you my PSA was low while on ADT. That continued for about two months after stopping ADT but when my T started to rise so did my PSA. So do not become alarmed that is normal since you still have a prostrate which produces PSA. I did have my T level checked every 3 months for the first year or until it stabilized. In my case that was at a value of around 700.
I did notice small movements of PSA from test to test over the last year. These changes were in the +- range of 0.02. These were NOT a bounce which can also happen but that is normally larger in magnitude. I attributed them to just part of my normal body rhythm, sexual or physical activity or the time of day I got the test. Just do not want you to become overly concerned if it happens.
Just by luck I was able to monitor my PSA monthly during the first year because my appointments with my GP, MO and RO just seemed to be evenly spaced out over a 3 month cycle. So i have a very detailed PSA history for the first year.
I am eternally grateful to those three doctors. They really have taken excellent care of me throughout this process and did a superb job of coaching me throughout.
Once again best of luck!
I read your comic... It was a great read.
It brought back so many memories. Especially the daily water-torture!
BTW, I couldn't help but notice the mis-spelling of PSMA in your illustrations. But only a warrior would notice it. No biggie.
Well done on your work, and many more years to you and all our brothers.
JP keep on “trucking “ for those that remember that “era” as we’re in it for the win and every year you and everyone beats this demon is a victory.
Hi JP,
Great work. No small accomplishment staying in the box. Every victory is a milestone to give even more strength .
Mr Dot
how are you going to tell how effective it was if you are still on your drugs…….i just went OFF mine to find out if my SBRT was effective.
ORGOVYX® (relugolix).
The lowdown on how ORGOVYX works
Lowering testosterone is one of the main ways to treat advanced prostate cancer. And that's exactly what ORGOVYX does.
Imagine the body makes testosterone the way that water comes out of a faucet
Without ORGOVYX, the faucet is turned on and testosterone flows freely.
With ORGOVYX, the faucet is almost turned off and the flow of testosterone is slowed, meaning there's less testosterone.
ORGOVYX was studied in a clinical trial
ORGOVYX® (relugolix) clinical trial enrollment
ORGOVYX was studied in a clinical trial in more than 900 men with advanced prostate cancer.
Men in the trial were treated for 48 weeks and either took the pill ORGOVYX or received leuprolide acetate injections.
The purpose of the trial was to measure how well ORGOVYX lowered testosterone to the treatment goal of below 50 ng/dL (nanograms per deciliter) from day 29 through week 48.
While it wasn't the main focus of the trial, the trial also monitored how much ORGOVYX was able to lower prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.‡
‡Because the clinical trial included many different types of patients, the results of PSA monitoring should be interpreted with caution. No evidence has shown that the speed of PSA decline is related to a clinical benefit.
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n
Wonderful talent. Thanks for sharing it.
A Year of Treatments.
QoLing on a Prayer - a year later & PSA update
What happened with the drug called (R)-9b from this news a year ago? 
PSA Undetectable for a year, but...
