Worries about ADT and radiation Side Effects
Hello. I'm a daughter of a prostate cancer patient. I'm already a student in the healthcare sector, a pharmacy student, so medically speaking I am well aware of the side effects of the hormonal and radiotherapy. But my father is still extremely anxious, and keeps googling the side effects and worrying about them. I am afraid his mindset and deteriorating mental health will affect his treatment outcomes, so I wanted to hear real life experiences from anyone who took a week-course of Casodex, then started on Zoladex and Abiraterone (aka Zytiga), and radiotherapy (we are yet to receive the name of the device and technique used).
I will have him read the comments if anyone has anything positive to say 😀 thanks in advance.
PS: he's advanced stage, grade 5, with metastasis to the spine and pelvic bone.
forgot to clear out an important point: the radiotherapy will be targeting the affected spots of metastasis in his spine and pelvic bone, not the prostate
Hello
, Thanks for sharing so much important information. I am also the daughter of a prostate cancer patient. I was my father's research person, so he knew what I told him. He was 72 when he got diagnosed and today he is 88. I just wanted to add just be there for him. My father would have anxiety too. I was there and was someone he could confide in and trust. I'm happy your father has you by his side. Diane, Team Member Thank you so much Diane. Appreciate your kind words. Hoping I could be of any help to ease his pain 😀
I finished a year of Aggressive prostate cancer. Gleason 9(4+5). This was on my 60th birthday. I had a radical prostatectomy. 2 Lupron shots(each lasted about 6 months) and zytiga for a year. 80 treatments of external beam radiation.
That side effects for me. Hot flashes, they were bad enough to make me sweat. I’ve been off the medications for 4 months now and I don’t have as many a day as last year. The brain fog was bad enough I didn’t drive more than to the post office. I feel comfortable enough to drive most places. I have always had trouble finding the right words sometimes when I’m talking. The brain fog made that worse. Ive noticed I’m not having as much trouble with it now. Stress make the side effects worse. I didn’t have too many side effects during radiation treatments. Some diarrhea towards the last weeks. Sometimes have small amounts of blood in my urine from the radiation. Google says I will for up to 2 years. I’ve always wore my emotions on my sleeve. But now. I haven’t watched a chick flick for over a year now.Hi Martin. Hope you're feeling better. Thank you so much for sharing.
I just wanted to ask if your oncologist ever mentioned having lifetime therapy? was the reason you stopped the treatment a personal choice or was it medical advice? my father is advised to continue Zoladex injections and zytiga for life because he has distant metastasis, so I'm just weighing out if he has an option to stop the treatment later on.
IF you don't feel like sharing this it's completely fine. You've already cleared up a lot for me. Thanks again.
I stopped with medical advice. My PSA has been .02 since I started treatment. I’m doing blood test for PSA every 3 months. If I have a relapse my oncologist said I would be on medication for live (because mine is so aggressive)
Thank you for sharing. Praying that none of this happens and you get to live a healthy life. Bless
