THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2019 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.

The Beginning - Feb '05 PSA; 4.7. June '06 PSA; 9.7. Referred to urologist by PCP. Initial visit August and later that month had biopsy; 7 out of 10 cores cancerous scoring 5,7,9,9,6,9,9. Gleason 9. Because of high Gleason especially at apex, doctor did not feel he could get clean margins if radical prostatectomy and recommended radiation. A pelvic lymphadectomy was performed and no cancer detected. Also had bone scan and pelvic CT. Started Casodex and Lupron in Nov, radiation January into February. Altogether had seven months of Lupron, ending in April '07 Did not like the side effects. PSA stayed steady .1 through '08, .2 through the next year, .26 in '10, .33 may of '11, 3.89 in July of this year and then 5.55 in August.

The Present - Urologist wants to knock down testosterone with Eligard 4 month shot. Because of cost (cash flow) I opted for monthly. Can't find out costs though know it's expensive. I have Medicare A&B but no D. The shots are given in doc's office. I have discovered that Eligard is available by prescription from my pharmacy and can be self administered just as insulin is; it comes as akit with needle. Cost is $400 retail before insurance. Anyone doing this? The baseline PSA; is 5.89, bone and CT scans clear. There also doesn't appear to be any trials for recurrent but no metastacies. It's hard to get my head around that there are pca cells at large in my body just waiting to latch onto a bone or lymph. So of course any twinge of back pain or aches means they've landed. Going to start a weight program, keep walking the dog, eat right. That's it for now.

Diagnosed in Fall of 2006. Surgery not an option because not sure if margins could be cleared. Lupron Dec, 1st external bean treatment 10/22/06. During the last 10 years have bee treated with Lupron or Eligard if PSA gets above 6 t0 8 and the treatment is effective in reducing PSA. Have had no incontinence issues per se but dribbling and urgency, have not had to use liners.

May of last year PSA 4.66, Eligard brought it down to 0.175 in March, now12/17, up to 4.1.

In 2014 was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Follicular Lymphoma and have had 2 sessions of chemotherapy R-CHOP as well as regular CT scans (most recent 9/21) have shown no indication of bone mets. However I have recently been having some hip discomfort/pain and am concerned aboiut it. Have appointment next week with onco.

The prostate cancer is a chronic condition, as is the NHL; no cure, no end just treatment. Bone mets the same. Chronic disease alway comes back and bites you in the ass at some point.

Changed nutrition with Rebecca Katz cookbooks Cancer Fighting Kitchen and Clean Soups; Foods That Fight Cancer by Beliveau and Gingras, and Anti Cancer by Servan-Schreiber. Macular degeneration makes it hard to read these books, thankful for Kindle.

Joe's e-mail address is: joepatten100 AT gmail.com (replace "AT" with "@")

NOTE: Joe has not updated his story for more than 15 months, so you may not receive any response from him.