As a disabled Army Veteran all my healthcare has been through the VA Healthcare system since 2000. My excellent VA Primary Care Physician in 2015 noted that my PSA had risen to (5.2) after a physical exam so he put in a consult to the Urology Clinic at VAMC. I went to the Urology Clinic and they said I should do active surveillance since it was still fairly low and might just be an enlarged prostate due to aging.

My next physical blood test showed 5.4 so they said probably an enlarged prostate again but still ordered another biopsy and found nothing. After two more semi-annual physicals my PSA had now crept up to 8.4 so they did another biopsy and they still found nothing in the cores taken but noted that I had abnormality growth so an MRI was ordered in late 2019. This led to a fourth biopsy (12-2-19) and then they found it. The pathology report came back in January as a PSA 14.7, Gleason 4+5=9 (Grade Group 5), six cores out of 12 positive, T1c.

I was told I had a highly aggressive form of prostate cancer called "Tigers." The exact words of the VA Urologist......"you got a bad cancer." At that exact moment I was really shaken thinking am I metastasized and going die within a year or two. In all likelihood, I probably had cancer all the way back to 2015-16 and it had just progressed over all the years until the MRI found the cancer tumors. I was immediately sent to a VA Cancer newbies seminar a few days later where they explained what all the scores meant and what options were available to me.

Needless to say, I was in shock by this time with no idea which treatment plan to do at that time or what was truly in best interest. Being a G9 High Risk, I did not want to mess around so I went back to VA Radiation Oncology (RO) Clinic and said I wanted something started now and they said all they could do right now was give me an Eligard hormone shot (2-14) until I could actually see the RO Chief another three weeks out. I said fine, let's do it, as I knew enough at that point ADT would slow down the aggressiveness of the cancer until I could rationalize my plan of action.

VA Urology quickly ordered a bone scan test and it came back that my cancer was still localized, which was a super huge relief! So, after all the initial shock of my diagnosis had wore off enough, I started reading up on the treatment plans and visiting support forums to hear what other survivors had to say. After a lot of studying, I decided against removal or just EBRT alone so I focused on Brachytherapy as another treatment option and ultimately decided.

My VAMC did not offer brachytherapy as a treatment option so that opened up community care as my option. I then requested to be treated specifically at UT Southwestern (UTSW) - one of the top Urology & RO Clinics in the country. I was authorized for UTSW care by VA within 10 days. My VA file was then sent over to UTSW.

I went to UTSW, and visited with a RO there (4-21) and based on my VA files, she recommended I do a Triple Play of ADT, HDR Brachy, and EBRT based on my numbers. I knew by then that a Triple was a probable recommendation so there was no shock value there and said let's roll. I've just had the HDR Brachytherapy done on (4-30). I was put under for the entire time. The surgery took only about 3 hours, but I was stuck in recovery for another 9 hours because I could not urinate and they would not let me leave until I could urinate enough. So, they ended putting a catheter back in me that hurt like hell (because I was totally awake now) and I then drained enough that I could be released to go home.

The good news they took blood through IV before my Brachy even commenced and my PSA of 14.7 had now dropped down to 1.84, so the Eligard shot (ADT) absolutely worked well over a 9-week period. The first few days at home was hellish getting up and down to the bathroom all night long trying to urinate with a burning sensation with blood mixed managing just weak spurts of pee, but the inflammation finally settled down by the fourth day back and I was back to normal flow with no side effects.

I went back to UTSW (4-30) and did my Simulation appointment for EBRT, got my tattoo markings, and an MRI to provide them more prostate imaging. As, I write this today (5-3), I am still waiting to begin my 25 daily EBRT treatments starting (5-7). I need to go Triple Play due to my high PSA and Gleason score.

My ADT side effects have luckily been pretty minimal so far.....had night sweats for about a 10-day period and I still have some periodic itching going on in the groin area. I chose HDR Brachy because I felt that approach combined with ADT and EBRT gave me the best chance for a longer survival rate based on my particular situation.

My wife has been super supportive in my therapy decision and has attended all of my treatment sessions plus family, friends, and my pastor by phone contact due to COVID-19 social distancing being in place and that means a lot too. I really appreciate everyone sharing their own stories here and in other forums as it absolutely helped me to formulate my treatment plan.

I'm going to fight cancer with whatever it takes now and into the future. I put my trust into God's Will and the wonderful RO medical team at UTSW moving forward. I will do updates here as I progress forward and be happy to help anyone who wishes to correspond with me privately as well.

Started my EBRT treatments today. Full bladder and clean bowels. Took 20-25 minutes. Found out my Radation Oncologist only scheduled me for 16 treatments. Hoping PSA drops lower than 1.84 by July/August. ADT (Eligard) seems to be working well but I now go a lot more during the day and at least twice at night now. Also, have some off and on again itching episodes around groin area.

Going to see a dietitian next week to launch a healthier food lifestyle. Does anyone have any pointers on what supplements seem to work best with prostate cancer? All ears wanting to know more about what is working for others!

GRADUATION DAY - Today is May 29th andI finished all my daily radiation treatments today that commenced back to April 21st, and the graduation tradition at UT Southwestern Radiation Oncology Clinic (UTSW) in Dallas is to celebrate the occasion by ringing their chimes. Hooray! This action and a Certificate of Completion signifies the completion of the major component of my prostate cancer therapy program to kill tumors. But since I'm on a Triple Play Plan (max. package) due to my aggressive "high risk" Gleason 9 cancer scores I'm far from done. I'll still be receiving hormone therapy shots for another 14 months and be dealing with those side effects. The care by my UTSW Oncolgy team was top notch…..Kudos! I'm still approximately 16-17 months away from knowing exactly how well the entire Triple Play Plan worked for me. The next steps will be another hormone shot and a PSA blood draw in 3 months to chart my ongoing progress. Bottom-line, my initial diagnosis hasn't left me any leeway so I'm doing whatever is recommended and placing faith in the Good Lord.

I just wanted my fellow cancer patients to know that I am Stage 3 prostate cancer with an aggressive diagnosis so I am being checked out now every 6 months.....once by UTSW and the other during my semi-annual physical at VAMC. Basicallly....so far so good......I received HDR Brachy in April 2020 (PSA 36).....my PSA should have dropped to the botton at 0.O5 but it did not settle there until a year later which concerned my Oncologist. Luckily, it has remained there since. My T-count has hardly risen much (31) and I've been off ADT for a year now and that's been ther only sife effect still lingering.....therefore so no ability to get an erection and have sex. I want to thank all of you for your comments and shared experiences as it helps us all to understand our condition better.

I have not checked back in awhile but I got a notice to do a followup story so here I am. I have been diagnosed as Stage 3 prostate cancer. I was treated with Brachytherapy and EBRT at UTSW Dallas. It was completed on May 29, 2020. I have been monitored at UTSW ever since. My PSA has not been higher than 0.14....currently at 0.13. I have eliminated red meat, alcohol (except for special occasions) and sugar intake the best I can but that is the hard one because so much is hidden in foods today. I am a Disabled Veteran but I was allowed to go to UTSW Radiation Oncology because VA did not offer Brachytherapy and I did not want VA involved doing a removal. I am grateful to still have a low PSA score but I am still being checked out every 4 months as they'd prefer to see it at 0.05 - the lowest it goes down. It did climb from 0.05 to 0.14 but it has leveled out and hopefully will go down some more on my next testing in March.

Ken's e-mail address is: kentaylor.texas AT yahoo.com (replace "AT" with "@")