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High risk prostate cancer

Van_Allen
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Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

It´s good to have found a nice place to ask for opinions and advice. Thank you for the opportunity.
I´m 68, and have a high-risk Prostate Cancer diagnostic, expectedly without lymph or bone affectation, with Gleason 4+5, and PSA at 36.9. The 16-cylinder biopsy showed adenocarcinoma tumour presence in 2 out of 7 and 3 out of 8 cylinders.
An imminent hormone-injection treatment has been planned for a minimum of 18 months ADT (3-monthly injections), starting in September, and possibly going on to upto 3 years, and twenty 15-minute radio-therapy sessions will be done in October.

Long-term prognosis ranges from good to very good, so that, at least, is a tremendous relief.

I had a magnetic resonance,  a TAC scan and a bone-gammagraphy done last week. The assitant at the  TAC scan mentioned that at first sight, it looked good. The assistant at the bone gammagraphy said nothing strange was seen, and that no other scan were needed at that moment, which was good because often, depending on what they saw on the first scan, two or three more were sometimes done. Obviously, both added that of course a detailed repost would be issued withing 20-25 days, which will be in the last week of August.

The phosphate-rich enema for the magnetic resonance, as well as the intravenous Iodine contrast for the TAC scan, each gave me a 2-day acute migraine, so that was 4 days of agony.

I suffer from acute, 2-day migraines caused by food-chemical additives, (agricultural pesticides, presevatives), monosodium glucomate, alcohol, coffee, chemical raising agent, most antibiotics, and several other medicines. I can only eat organically produced food. According to my GP doctor I have a slow liver, and also, any migraine medication only worsens them.

This leads me to my question: Regarding the ADT injections, I was wondering if it wouln´t be a healther option to request a bilateral orchidectomy, as this would avoid the added adverse side-effects of long-term ADT hormone treatment, some of which can be permanent. It seems there is also risk of liver, kidney and thyroid damage, and cardio-vascular problems, and this is something I would like to avoid. Consequently, surgery would give me a better quality of life, outweighing its non-reversibility.
Thank you very much in advance for your possible comments!
Van Allen

  • Offline in reply to Van_Allen

    Hello Telemando, hello Billy

    First of all I wanted to thank you again for your advice, comments and opinions.

    I have been able to get some additional, more complete information about my particular case of high sensitivity to some drugs and toxines that cause my migraines. Apparently modern hormone therapy is not prone to cause migraines any more than for example magnesium chloride. This would coincide with Billy´s comment some days ago about one being able to live a normal life while on hormone treatment.

    Today my daughter´s best friend and her doctor husband visited us, back from their holidays, and he confirmed that modern hormone and radiation therapies nowadays had usually only mild side effects, and that if I kept a healthy diet, my liver would not be any more adversely affected than  at present with the Sylodosin medication I´m taking to prevent urinary blockages - so  migraines will normally only occur if I have been careless with something I have eaten. It apparently has to do with the hierarchy of the liver´s processing. 1st. sugars, 2nd alcohol and 3rd toxines, so if there is too much of the first two, then the toxines stay in the system longer and can cause a migraine.

    This is indeed relieveing, so then the choice of the treatments will be quite obvious. Neither does it seem that the hormone injections´secondary effects will be so intense, nor will the long term effects be as negative as I was fearing.

    So, once again, thank you for your time and comments.
    Cheers,
    Van Allen

  • Offline in reply to Van_Allen

    Hi 

    Sorry I have not replied before now but have been in hospital with a blot clot on the brian and had to have an emengency operatoon. Only came home yesterday and now trying to cathch up

    The hormone therapy certainly helped me as it brought my psa down fron 70 to 3.18 before starting radiotherapy. It ended up at 0.01. I certainly had the hot flushes and weight gain but these were easy to cope with. I just told my wife shes got more for her money ha ha. 

    Take care and best wishes, Brian

  • Offline in reply to woodworm

    Hello Brian,

    I´m sorry to hear that you have been having some medical trouble, and I´m glad to hear that the emergency operation has been successful, and hope that you will soon be fully recovered.

    It´s good to hear the positive results you had with hormone therapy and radiotherapy treatment in your case. A good moral reinforcement for me, and an added point of relief!

    It has become increasingly obviouly that the more radical solution of an orchiectomy will not be necessary in my case, and confirms the usefulness of combined hormone and radiotherapy treatment, which work very well in tandem over the necessary relatively long period of time. So, I will be starting at the beginning of next month with the injections, followed a month later by the radiotherapy. Prognosis seems to be very good indeed!

    Cheers, and keep well, Van Allen

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