My brother called me to tell me he was getting radiation treatment for Pca, not good. I had some discomfort when sitting, so off to my GP, a quick DRE and, as he was also a personal friend, he was not happy. One blood test later PSA 16.4... By now I had already done my initial research so knew it was almost certain Pca. Referred to oncology, very quick, just 9 days later I am being processed.... I think that is the best description. CT, Bone scan, Urine flow and bladder ultrasound. Topped of with a 12 needle biopsy. After a few weeks of this back to oncology, already knew the result, just getting it confirmed to be honest. Had the sit down, Macmillan nurse sitting close, sorry to let you know etc. Obviously waiting for the fairly common response.

OK I said "I would like to start with hormone therapy and see how it goes". Brief pause and then "OK come with me I will give you the first one.". 3 month depot Zoladex. After 3 months back for more but feeling very low from the ADT. Did some more research and found a paper in a medical journal suggesting intermittent hormone therapy. After the first 2 injections I took a 6 month break. PSA was 12 so took another 6 months treatment. My PSA hit 0.1. Then I alternated 6 month break to 3 month treatment with PSA going between 0 and 4. I do not if that would work for other people but I was able to feel mostly human during this period... After 6 years I was going to leave the UK and looked for alternatives. Another CT, bone scan and biopsy showed prostate still intact. So I asked for Brachytherapy which they were more than happy to do . My PSA dropped drastically and stayed below 1 for most of the last 10 years. I had not measured PSA for nearly 2 years so this year 2023 I was disappointed to get a PSA of 2.5 . I plan to wait 6 months and see what direction my PSA is going. At 73 it is very likely to be increasing anyway. If the increase is substantial I may go back to hormone therapy. As I never exhausted this treatment initially I believe it will still be good for me.

Unfortunately my brother John died from liver failure only a few years after my diagnosis. He saved my life and will always remember him.

I have had a low, less than 1.0 PSA for many years so was disappointed when it came back at 2.6, then 7.3 3 months later and 10.6 after another 3 months. A biopsy was indeterminate as was a MRI other than the prostate having shrunk. Unfortunately I am away from my native country so I don't have all the facilities here for checking further into what and where the cancer might be. I plan to return in the next few months. In the mean time I have had a Lupron 3 month depot. No major side effects from this. My PSA was 14.9 when taking the Lupron, will check it again in a couple of months.

Michael's e-mail address is: primarocks AT yahoo.co.uk (replace "AT" with "@")