YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

BRONZE

Bill R. and Diane live in Montana, USA. He was 51 when he was diagnosed in December 2006. His initial PSA was 139.0 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 3+4=7 and he was staged T4. His choice of treatment was ADT (Androgen Deprivation Therapy) & EBRT (External Beam Radiation Treatment). Here is his story.

Pain in my lower back and left leg finally drove me to my family doctor who sent me for an x-ray. Two days later at a follow-up visit, the Doctor felt that after reviewing the x-ray that the pain was caused by arthritis and prescribed some Percocet with a re-visit in 30 days.

Three miserable days later I self-referred myself to a local orthopaedic doctor. He reviewed the x-rays and sent me for an MRI. The radiologist's report suspected "Metastatic Disease" in my spine and pelvic region. A biopsy of my spine was performed and confirmed the bone cancer, with origins in the prostate. (Turns out this great Doctor is a PCA survivor and suspected the diagnosis on my first visit.)

Having no symptoms of PCA, My wife and I were floored. We had just sold our ownership interests in our respective companies in Southern Ca. and purchased a small ranch in Montana to follow our dream and raise our two children (8 & 4) in rural America.

To make a long story short, we looked for and found Bill Holden at Cedars-Sinai in LA (He treated Mile Milliken you may remember.) Started Lupron & Casodex immediately.

 

UPDATED

October 2009

 

 

Here is a history of my PSA readings while continuing with Lupron, Casodex, and Zometa:

February 2007 139.0

March 2007 0.2

June 2007 0.1

September 2007 0.1

December 2007 0.1

At this point, after 10 months my doctor(still commuting to Los Angeles every three months) finally agreed to let me take a vacation for all of the above, and monitor my PSA every three months. Mostly pain free and feeling good.

January 2008 0.0

March 2008 0.0

June 2008 0.8

October 2008 2.04

January 2009 7.78

March 2009 16.53

As you can see, PSA started increasing in June and by March it was doubling in less than two months. I restarted Lupron, Casodex and Zometa. The same ole' symptoms didn't take long to make themselves at home again, hot flashs, etc.

June 2009 0.22

August 2009 0.1

I have had the addition of the nasty side effect of being sick to my stomach almost constantly. I've infact lost nearly 40 lbs in 6 months. But the PSA resumed its low level quickly for now.

Bill's e-mail address is: skeled@yahoo.com