Stage 4 Prostate Cancer at 55 Years Old

By brain2

1 min read

Feeling down! A year ago had robotic surgery for stage 4 prostate cancer and after 1 year my PSA is at .02. Original PSA was .7 (4+3 I believe) and am 56 years old. All I read online is life expectancy is approximately 4-5 years. I felt good for a year when PSA was undetectable and now I feel numb every day. I feel like I want to cry since day 1 but can’t seem to shed a tear.

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Dennis E. Golden Moderator & Contributor
Prostate cancer works on you at several levels physical and emotional. The one thing I discovered early on was that this disease impacts each of us differently. Someone's experience with this disease typically is not going to be roadmap for your journey When first diagnosed, I consumed everything kind of information available. Some of the stuff you read can be pretty unsettling. Candidly the more I read the more depressed I became These days I prefer getting my information and support here. One survivor I chatted with told me take off my my shoes and socks when I got home and to call him. I was puzzled but played along. When I called he asked if I had an expiration date stamped on the bottom of my foot. When I said no he said "ok now you can relax." Funny thing about that little exercise it really helped me. Hope it can do the same for you. ...Dennis( <a href='https://prostatecancer.net' target='_blank'>ProstateCancer.net</a>) Moderator
1. brain2 Member
 Thank you for sharing! For many days I started to reply to you and got very emotional inside and had to cancel my response. I had cancelled my original post because I didn’t believe anybody really cared. I am more interested than ever to connect with someone going through the same experience! Merry Christmas to you and your family!! Sincerely
Doug Sparling Member
Hi Brian. I’m not a doctor, but I do have a wonderful oncologist in an NCI-designated cancer center and research facility. I work closely with her and through some patient research advocacy programs I get to work with cancer researchers and oncologists. My point is is that I do a lot of my own research from very good resources. So first I’d like to say that the survival rate (28% five-survival rate) is based on old data, before a lot of the newer treatments had become available. Other factors are important like overall health, age, how aggressive the cancer is. The PSA of 0.02 is excellent. Gleason 7 (4+3) is intermediate risk, I think. You say stage 4, so I assume your cancer has spread outside your prostate. What is the level of your tumor burden? How extensive are your mets? How aggressive is the cancer and metastases? Have you had bone scans? Are you on any treatment? With stage 4 you’ll generally be on hormone treatment at minimum. I’m 59, was diagnosed at age 57. My original PSA was 5,306, my Gleason score was 9 (5+4), and my tumor burden was incredibly high. A very aggressive stage 4. I went on ADT (Lupron) and chemo (Docetaxel) right away. That got my PSA down to 22 but it started to rise again. Then I went on a clinical trial. Chemo #2 (cabazitaxel) and Zytiga. I finished the chemo back in February and I’m still taking Zytiga. My PSA is down to 0.1 and holding! In my case, bone scans are the main prognostic for the trial, so though we do track PSA closely, it’s the bone scans that count. So unless you have lots of mets or lesions to visceral organs, I’d definitely say ignore the stats you find on the internet. Probably ignore them regardless. All of my friends and people I’ve met with stage 4 prostate cancer have done very well, myself included. But there are certainly exceptions. We’re all different and our cancers and situations are different. I have to reiterate that I am not a doctor, but I hope you can glean something useful from my message. Do you see a medical oncologist? If not I’d make an appointment ASAP. (Again, I am not a doctor. I can only pass on the knowledge I have gained from my own personal experience from the last two years.) Have you looked for a support group in your area? Best thing I ever did was join a support group. There are many online too, just like <a href='https://prostatecancer.net' target='_blank'>prostatecancer.net</a>. I found the first year the hardest. Feeling numb wanting to cry is common. The main thing to know is you are not alone! I wish you the best, Brian.
johnp Member
I was stage four at age 52. I will turn 70 in two weeks. I have had multiple treatments but am still here. Survival is a parabolic curve. You can be like me, at the far end of the curve. Live and enjoy your life day by day.
1. brain2 Member
 Thank you johnp! I’m so glad to hear your story. It truly gives me some hope!
2. dtsmith68 Member
 I dont mean to hijack this post . johnp I am inspired by your story, would it be possible to talk to you. Thank you for your time.
scoofer Member
brain2 - I have tried to bring myself to respond to your article many times over the last three weeks but felt inadequate to speak to your issues even though we share an amazing amount of similarities in our condition and emotional states. I have sought a professional Christian counselor to help me get in touch with expressing my emotions and am hopeful this will help. It is difficult moving into the future with a positive, hopeful outlook. I just wanted you to know you are not alone!
1. brain2 Member
 I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your response. Seeing the words, “ you are not alone” brings me to tears and gives me comfort! Fortunately I had my surgery just before being laid off from my 20+ year job. Wow what a roller coaster it has been for me! I keep it all to myself and feel like I’m going to implode. I don’t share any of my feelings with anyone! I took a lot for me to even post. Sorry if don’t make any sense as I’m not college educated. But I am a man with a heart of gold! Thank you so much for your support!
2. Dennis E. Golden Moderator & Contributor
 Hi <inline-mention user-id="3268238" username="brain2"/>
Will Jones Moderator
Thank you for having the courage to share your condition and feelings, <inline-mention user-id="3268238" username="brain2"/> . There's a lot of hope in the replies of the other moderators, all of whom have had a personal experience with prostate cancer, who have responded to your post. Please continue to share your journey with us. As has been already written, you're not alone.
brain2 Member
On March 26 I had a follow up with my Uruologist and he said I have a recurrence if cancer and that I need to start EBRT radiation. Just before that I thought I heard good news by him correcting me saying I have Stage 3 and not Stage 4 . But then he said I need radiation! With no insurance, my heart dropped to the ground again!! I figured I could pay out of pocket and when calling Oncologist office they quoted 40k for hospital plus doctor fees!! Yikes! I stated new employment through agency. I don’t have any idea where to turn for assistance with that kind of bill.
1. Dennis E. Golden Moderator & Contributor
 I do a lot of volunteer work with local hospitals and along with supporting prostate cancer patients. Here and hopefully in your area, the cancer centers announced they are making it a priority to address the needs of cancer patients during this COVID -19 pandemic. Certainly worth a few phone calls. Hang in there. ... Dennis,ProstateCancer.net Team
2. brain2 Member
 Thank you Dennis and all the moderators who have provided so much advise for me!! I really appreciate it so much! I have called many and keep coming to a road block. It varies from we don’t have any funding right now for the program, to let me refer you to..... I recently applied to <a href='https://coveredca.com' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>coveredca.com</a> and am in the process. I’m hoping they cover something for my treatment and approve me. I’m a good person and have a heart of gold. As I drive for my current job through an employment agency, I look at how beautiful it is to be alive and reflect on what I could have done better as a human being, father , etc. life is so beautiful and people are so beautiful! I look at everything I could have done better as I’m not a perfect person! Listening to birds chirp, to seeing a couple walk the street with their children, to anything and everything, oh how beautiful this world is!! To bad we don’t live twice. This is my outlet for my emotional feelings. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart and wish you all the best! Be safe, live every day as if it’s the last and leave no regrets behind