I originally stopped work around October 2006 due to back pain which I and the doctors initially thought was due to kidney problems. It was subsequently found that I had five stones in the left kidney and the right kidney which is abnormally small anyway has six stones. However more was to come in a dramatic fashion.
April 14th - a day I remember well. My back was a little sore that day so I decided to lay down with a hot water bottle placed on the kidneys to relieve the pain. I tried to get up out of bed at one stage and I could not move. I screamed out in agony. My partner Kim rang the ambulance.
The ambulance arrived in about 20 minutes and I was given morphine to ease the pain. I was then rushed off to hospital where I stayed for six days. During my stay in hospital my lung had partially collapsed and I had a litre of black fluid drained due to a hiatus hernia. But the biggest shock of all was finding out I had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma which had spread to both the lymph nodes and the spine. In fact the number one and two vertebrae had rubbed together and crumbled. Not only that but my PSA was 960 ng/ml. I also had lymphedema in my right leg
After the initial shock of being diagnosed and being told I would only have six months to a year to live I came home. Kim and I have continued to fight this prostate cancer together. I am on hormone therapy and at the moment I am just taking Zoladex. However I am not adverse to taking a couple of supplements mainly selenium, vitamin C and flaxseed I received my latest PSA result today and it has dropped to 16 ng/ml. That's a drop of 944 in just under 5 months. I must be doing something right
Next week I am seeing the urologist regarding the kidney stones and hopefully we will get rid of those little buggers since they confused the issue of what was causing the pain in my spine.
The battle continues on....
Brian sent in a brief report to the effect that his PSA is now 10.9 ng/ml.
Later:
Well I got my latest PSA done and the reading came back as 6.8 ng/ml!! Which I am very happy with considering it was so high orginally. Still only on Zoladex at this stage but when the PSA starts to rise I will go on Casodex as well I am having an operation on Monday to place a uretic stent in for kidney problems I have. Hopefully all will go well.
Will keep you updated.
Just an update to let you know that the PSA is still coming down. Now at 5.2. I'm still on Zoladex at this stage. The uretic stent I had placed in December is coming out tomorrow.
Well the kidney stent is out and everything seems to be working much better.
I had another PSA test today and PSA fell a point to 4.2 so still heading in the right direction Next thing I am booked in for is a bone density test. When I had my last bone scan it was noticed there was some uptake in the neck and pelvis. I believe the bones may be weakening in these areas and I already know I have mild osteoporosis in the hip due to hormone therapy. So no doubt we will confirm all this with the test Apart from that though.. I feel pretty good.
Well the results of the bone density test came in and they could not find any signs of the osteoporosis that was previously supposed to be there. The test shows the bone density is only a little lower than what it should be and the specialist has suggested when I next see my oncologist he should get me started on Etidronate for my bone integrity. I got the results for my PSA test yesterday and the PSA is now down to 3.1.
I'm so thankful I have had such a good reaction to Zoladex..originally 960..now 3.1 You just have to keep on keeping on.
I am happy to report that I am still having a favourable reaction to monotherapy being solely on Zoladex at this stage and my PSA has remained fairly stable dropping this last test to 2.8 . Yes I have the usual symptoms associated with the medication including hot flushes but nothing I can't tolerate at this stage.
I continue to eat a healthy diet-mainly fish and chicken vegetables and fruit I am extremely grateful for every day I have to share with my family.
Well here we are - coming up to a year since my last update. Because the results have been such a mixed bag I thought I would wait until we had some definite trend before updating my YANA information. Otherwise I'd be mentioning months of ups and downs.
My PSA has now been rising for the last 4 months. 2.8 was the nadir and now it is 9.1 However I had been on monotherapy the whole time - having my 3 monthly Zoladex injection. Now they have finally added a bicalutamide in to the equation which I started last week so am praying I may get another drop in PSA. We shall see.
I also finally managed to get a bone scan, the last one I had was just after I was diagnosed in 2007. The good news is there have been no new hot spots since then and the oncologist said there had even been an improvement since the first one.
I am having a bit of pain in my right leg which initially was diagnosed as having lymphedema. The oncologist now suggests the pain I'm experiencing is more likely due to osteoporosis and we will be discussing medication for it. I have to be careful what medication I take due to the problems I had with my kidneys.
The main thing is I'm still around and for that Kim and I are truly grateful. You just never know what's around the corner so we take every day as it comes.
Take care,
Brian
Brian's partner Kim writes:
Brian is still with us 3 1/2 years after being given a prognosis of 6 months. His PSA is now unfortunately up to 47.0, but we are still battling on and he is still up and about.
Brian's partner Kim writes:
It is with a heavy heart I inform you that Brian left us on November 26th For a man who was only given 6 months originally by doctors he fought an amazing battle for 4 years and 7 months. I miss him so much.
