YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

BRONZE

Russell Doughty and Averil live in Western Australia. He was 75 when he was diagnosed on 31 May 2007. His initial PSA was 7.70 ng/ml and his Gleason Score was 7. He was staged T2 and his choice of treatment was External Beam Radiation. Here is is (somewhat brief) story:

I'm just starting on the journey having been diagnosed by a urologist and I am now waiting for the first appointment with the oncologist.

UPDATED

August 2007

 

 

The last time I wrote, I was waiting to see my oncologist. In the meantime, we attacked the problem with positive thinking (that's a laugh what with the worldwide floods, poverty and terrorism), diet - we cut out cheese, red meat and as much dairy as possible and I flirted with Zeolite. This is a strange treatment and I felt as though I was bound tightly in a fish net! I gave it up after two weeks as I felt very strange and airy-fairy! All this fiddling around reduced my PSA to 7.3 before any real treatment started.

Now to the oncologist. She said immediately that I was not going to have Radiation Treatment but she would like me to go on Hormone Therapy. I started on Cyproterone 200mg per day for two weeks (in fact 15 days) and then switched to Zoladex 10.8 implant which will have a three month life. On the day of the change over, I had another blood test for another reason (controlled cholesterol) in which we included a PSA test which was 7.8 (up 0.5). No real panic, just spent the day making guest lists for the funeral! - not really.

The 15 days on the Cyproterone was not really pleasant. I found a list of side effects and I had 18 out of a possible 41 but that's probably just me. My GP inserted the Zoladex implant which was not unpleasant but as I left the surgery he called me back and suggested he had another look as I was bleeding heavily. He plugged the leak and everything was OK except for my shirt and underpants. Cold water wash is magic for getting rid of blood.

The Zoladex really in quite unobtrusive and, so far, free of any uncomfortable effects and I feel quite good but sleep a lot.

I see the oncologist in two and a half months and she will help me decide whether to do another three months of Zoladex (she has already given me the prescription so perhaps there is a clue there) or whether I start the radiation thereapy which she said would be for seven and a half weeks. There is a little bus in our local town which goes to Perth every weekday dropping people off for treatment and continuing round in a circle and picking everyone up again and coming home. Perhaps they might even have a sing-song!

I don't really feel that I'm having treatment but the problem is that when you wake up feeling good, after about half a minute you remember.

 

UPDATED

February 2008

 

 

When I last wrote about my treatments in August 2007, I had just started Hormone Treatment.

At the end of the first three months implant treatment, I visited the oncologist and was put onto the second three months implant treatment.

How did it go? I had all the aches and pains that were suggested as side effects but the main side effects were fatigue and hot flushes.

After one month on the second band of treatment, I was called in to see the oncologist who said I would be starting radiation therapy in the second week of January 2008. This took me by surprise as I thought this would not start until the end of the second band of hormone therapy but the oncologist said it was quite normal.

As mentioned previously, there is a mini-bus for the 100km ride from Mandurah to Perth so I duly booked in for the 'Cancer Bus' as it is known. The bus is a Mercedes van that has been expensively converted with luxurious seats and air conditioning. The first day was very pleasant with good people on the bus with a friendly atmosphere. But - Oh Dear, as a commercial vehicle designer in my former life, I was appalled at the suspension and ride on the bus. I arrived home completely devastated with severe back problems.

By luck, a train service had opened two weeks earlier with a completely new route, one of the biggest projects in Australia. I went the next day on the train and have been travelling that way ever since. In no way do I want to distract from the bus service which is manned by excellent volunteers and is very safely driven but the train has cut down my fatigue by 75%. The cost of the train is Au$7.20 per day whereas the bus is free. It's worth every cent.

I am 70% through the course and am still very fatigued with hot flushes which just won't go away. Some slight soreness has made itself present in the stern area. The duty oncologist who you see every week recommended Ural for the waterworks and salt water washes. The Ural is just about holding the soreness and slight burning and the duty oncologist has suggested Cranberry juice twice a day so I am keeping that thought in reserve. I also take Ureze which is a Arctostaphylos uva-ursi based tablet.

I am holding the expected rectal soreness at bay using an ointment called Hemocane which is a soothing ointment for hemorroids. I have no sorenes whatsoever but there are still 11 treatments to go.

I cannot speak too highly of the care shown by the Radiographers and nurses of Perth Oncology at Royal Perth Hospital. I am made to feel very comfortable and as if I was the only person being treated.

Sadly, there is no measure to know whether all this is working. A PSA report would be skewed by the Hormone Treatment and of no use at all. I am to be booked in for an up-date consultation three months after the ERBT treatment finishes and a PSA test will be used to see how everything is going.

Press on!

 

UPDATED

May 2008

 

 

Well, I pressed on and finished the EBRT on March 5th having gone by train every day (except for weekends and service days). The new train is very good. The ruling gauge in WA is 3 ft 6 inches and with full width carriages and a top speed of 130 kph, it is technically quite interesting and exceptionally smooth.

After the last treatment, I was given my first post treatment specialist appointment and to my surprise it was only seven weeks on. I queried this and was told that they wanted to create a base line. I said the hormone effect would still be present but they were not impressed by my medical prowess. They gave me blood test paperwork so that I could have a blood test before the seven-week meeting. The blood test would be for PSA and testosterone levels.

I was told not to stop any of the comforting medications I was using as, just because the radiation treatment had finished, the effects would last for several weeks. So I kept up the Hemocane (what exceptional medication that is) and invented a new drink being cranberry juice and Ural - dynamite. So I had no physical soreness or sparky bits.

During the sixth week, I had my blood tests which showed a PSA of 0.01 ng/ml and a total testosterone of 0.8 nmol/L (The normal indicative levels for testosterone shown on the test result was 10 to 35 nmol/L so basically I have a very limited future as a sperm donor!).

When the specialist reviewed these results, she said these were quite normal and to be expected and to, on no account, try to artificially boost my testosterone levels by eating seaweed or whatever as this could lead to a disaster.

She then asked how I was going and, being a methodical person, I had a list. I said "Hot flushes and feelings of intense cold continuing, still very tired, not strong with some noticeable weaknesses, depressed, weepy at times, feeling generally down and useless, minor losses of memory and concentration and low moods and irritability."

I was expecting a soothing hand on my brow. Instead, she nearly fell off her chair laughing and said it was quite normal to have all of the above (her very words) and that most of these problems would go over the coming months. She then said everything was normal and come back in six months, which I felt was very encouraging.

Now, I'm exhausted so I'll rush off and have a drink of cranberry juice. I could get used to this stuff. Just a personal word of warning. Get the lite variation (regardless of the effect of sweeteners) as the calorie count of normal juice is off the planet with the sugars.

 

UPDATED

July 2009

 

 

 

So, we soldiered on having no further treatment because there was none necessary or, if the truth is known, available. Life virtually returned to normal - tidy this, vacuum that, feed the dogs, look after the cat - all minor day-to-day things.

Then came the six months appointment in October 2008. Three minutes - in/ out/ goodbye and another six months. My PSA had risen to 0.08 which was normal. We carried on, still getting hot flushes during the night and being quite tired.

Then came the great day when we received Au$2100.00 from our Prime Minister to counteract two factors - the first being advanced age and the second helping us over the hurdle of the Global Financial Crisis. A stupid move by the Government but I was not going to send the money back. So, out came the whips - Line the library with wood panels and buy new bookcases was the cry. And me going round still suffering the hot flushes and the thought that is ever with you - Have I or Haven't I still got IT? So, I lined the library and built up five new bookcases to add to the twenty three we already have. Before anyone gets carried away with our grandeur, I must point out that the library is really a tin games room extension on the back of the house but it does look better on the inside being lined.

All this is to illustrate that life does go on and the bonds between us are strengthening all the time as a result of our experience.

So, the next six months which takes us to April 2009. My PSA had risen to 0.20 which was a 250% rise and was, in my feeble engineer's mind, the equivalent of loading 25 tons on a 10 ton axle. Not good. So we went to RPH and there was a new Registrar. I had not seen the Headmistress for the last three visits. The new doctor was very pleasant and said he came from Cardiff but whilst his Christian name was Evan his surname was Vietnamese. All that is of little consequence. He, like me, was concerned at the percentage increase in PSA and suggested a two months interval until the next blood test and appointment.

What a long two months that was! The next appointment was at the end of June 2009 and the PSA was now 0.26. We saw the Headmistress which was interesting. Has she got bad news was my immediate thought and Taffy was maybe not up to delivering it? Not a bit of it. The news was that the hormone treatment was still in the body and was keeping the readings low but I should expect them to rise, perhaps as high as 2.0 in the future and there would be no panic until it went well into double figures.

So we were quite relieved and walked from the hospital to our favourite smorgasbord restaurant and had a good lunch although I was a bit peeved that the roast was beef and I am rigidly keeping to the No Dairy regime. Goat's cheese is good but I cannot get enthusiastic about Roquefort. I cannot but think they keep getting the buckets mixed up.

Anyway, we keep going for another six months still getting the hot flushes several times a night so the PSA readings are still skewed. And still falling asleep at the drop of a hat.

Russell's e-mail address is: borsdeganis@optusnet.com.au