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SRT - PRHC - final Zap - Nov 19

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Posted 7/3/2013 8:05 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson,

RT has made so many major improvements in the last few years with computer guided imaging and focusing the problems your Mom and Uncle had from SE should not have any major effect on you. A guy I know here recently had cyber knife RT on his prostate cancer and so far no serious side effects.

The fork in the road is road one to follow, but you will make the right choice. You have a lot of friends like me on HW and we will all be pulling for you.

Terry

Posted 7/3/2013 8:18 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson, I'm sorry to hear of some of the problems you're currently facing. I wish we lived nearby so we could stop by the garden center. My wife and her sisters are having a large daylily sale in north central Indiana this weekend. They have a couple thousand varieties of hybrid daylilies available at what has become an annual event in the area. Wish you could stop by for some lemonade and to enjoy the flowers!

I'm due for my 3-year PSA test, and after seeing some of the recent posts, I'm getting more nervous than usual.  It seems like the odds of seeing an uptick increase at about this time.  Nuts!

Posted 7/3/2013 8:47 AM (GMT -5)
Great to hear from you Bronson, but wish the topic was different. Mine crept up slowly and at 3 years post SRT it was .68 and the next one was 22.5 and a retake was 25.7 and a bone scan confirmed mets. Now on HT and had my first shot 2 days ago. I am left wondering if a scan should have been done as it started rising after 2 1/2 years of slow decline.

But hopefully you will have a more positive outcome than mine. Take care and I hope your art work is selling out.
Michael
Posted 7/3/2013 10:40 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson:
wishing you all the Best, buddy ! hoping you don't have to go through the SRT (i hate that term "salvage"!), but it SHOULD be no big deal after what you've already been through. take care
bob
Posted 7/3/2013 3:04 PM (GMT -5)
4:04pm - back from work at job two - hectic but work - which pays the bills -

... I do keep myself mentally occupied by singing to myself ( and occasionally swearing to myself - the dishwasher machine drowns that all out) but recently had started vocalizing parts of the songs I have been working on for my musical on PCa.

- and what surprised me today was the path the storyline and character took ... the narrator, who links all the minor stories together, (in my visual mind's eye) started changing his clothes as the scenes progressed .. and he ended up in hospital garb... off to a hospice!

- I know I am the one who is writing this thing, but that leap took me for a surprise - and his song ( the finale of the piece) was him losing his battle with cancer and "heading home"... I was in tears as I worked...

... and then the curtain call came up, with the play's characters meeting for their 15th GFMPH reunion, celebrating their lives, their loves, and their losses in a reprise of an earlier song, "I am still here"... so it ends on an up note

- as we have noted here on HW - we have lost some lovely caring people - but they live on in us - and we carry on the battle.....

thanks for letting me share ...

hugs,
Bronson
............
Posted 7/5/2013 4:40 PM (GMT -5)
July 5 - got the PSA numbers from the two labs - not surprised - not happy
- will take my time researching the next stage of this journey since my chat with Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Bristow, is not until July 29 - and then the radiation therapy wheels will be set in motion ( due to the fork in the road)

CML lab - 0.23
LifeLab - 0.24 - both blood samples taken on same day - July 2, 2013

- a jump from 0.18 to 0.23 doesn't look good for a 3-month turnaround... never learned how to do spreadsheets and graphs on the computer - will plot it by hand tonight.

-thank you all for your love and support,
hugs,
Bronson
Posted 7/5/2013 5:10 PM (GMT -5)
Anyone know when a biochemical recurrence officially becomes a biochemical relapse/psa failure. I always thought there was just one, the recurrence, till recently . Whats the difference?

We are with you tatt2man!
Posted 7/5/2013 5:18 PM (GMT -5)
thanks Logoslidat -

Idid a quick internet check and they mean the same thing - tomato/tomato potato/potato ... prostate cancer - let's call the whole thing off!
Posted 7/5/2013 6:30 PM (GMT -5)
Sniff.... Snifff... My Engineering Spidey sense is tingling..... Did somebody somewhere mention plotting data?

Bronson, I would be honored to plot your data and do a running calculation of your doubling time and anything else you'd like plotted. Maybe a forecast curve for 6 months and one year out?
Send me an email with the exact dates and numbers and I'll plot it for you - two separate curves for the two labs. I will return the file in pdf form - suitable for framing. ;-)

Jeff I take data, therefore I am.
Posted 7/5/2013 8:06 PM (GMT -5)
Jeff - thanks for the offer - did it by hand and by golly, looks like an exponential curve - not a happy sight.
(the dates and numbers are on my first posting for this topic - hint hint)
Did have a wonderful telephone call from my sister, Debbie, in Australia - very loving and supportive.
Wishing you all the best, and many thanks,

hugs,
Bronson
Posted 7/5/2013 8:09 PM (GMT -5)
I don't do a lot of research, know a fair amount about the disease, but what I have gleaned from 4 years
of living with this disease and being on the forum is, and this is no solace for those who have, actually it probably is with a noble group as this, but Tatt2man, most men and I mean, MOST men, who have Pca, do die with Pca and not from it. So, from my perspective, thats a nice life line to hang on to. So when you produce your musical, do we get to choose who plays each of us'n's in it? Can I play myself?, I'm not too big a ham, tee hee……. Logoslidat
Posted 7/5/2013 8:49 PM (GMT 0)
Bronson, looks like you are in the recurrence window now for sure. Best bet is to have the best RO you can get, and be sure to get a second opinion before agreeing to or starting any SRT treatment. Even though SRT was a complete failure to me personally, I still believe its a good thing for men that need it, once recurrence has been proven. It's you next and last curative step, so I feel you should go for it.

Many of us have been down that path, and can help you through it. It's an endurance contest.

BTW, before I forget, thanks for the card,

david
Posted 7/5/2013 9:13 PM (GMT -5)
Dang Bronson, sure hate that news. Buddy know that Mamma Pat and I are always here if you want to talk. Were walking with you.

Cajun Jeff
Posted 7/6/2013 10:57 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson: sorry to read of your update....unfortunately, this is NOT where we can just "call the whole thing off", to use the tomato/tomahto metaphor ! hang in there, buddy !
bob
Posted 7/6/2013 11:21 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson - sorry you have to deal with all this.
Don't know what say other than:

Hugs.

Hang in there.

Andrew
Posted 7/6/2013 11:35 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson,

I've been thinking about your musical and, like bob, about finding that tomato/tomahto place where we can "call the whole thing off". In your musical you could have a fat lady who is on stage for all the choral numbers but remains mute throughout. She could represent PSA anxiety which is never over until she sings.

I've done radiation and it wasn't much of an ordeal for me. I rather enjoyed joking with the young ladies who operate the machine. Part of the routine is that every session, as they log into the computer that runs the IMRT machine, they ask you to state your name and your birthdate. I managed to never tell them my birthdate the same way twice. It the beginning it was easy -- add "year of our Lord" onto the beginning, or say it in Spanish -- but it got trickier; On the day the long count Mayan calendar ended I printed out my birthdate in the Mayan pictographs.

The treatments were not just painless but were totally without sensation for me as they are for most men. The side effects are usually manageable.

Hang in there. This is the part of your musical that has the pretty songs in minor keys.
Posted 7/6/2013 11:45 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson,
My dear friend and brother. I am so saddened to hear of the valley you have been forced to walk through. Be assured that the view from the mountain ahead will be worth the climb. I am quite embarrassed to admit it but every time I hear the Miley Cyrus song ( the Climb ) I get all teary eyed. Dang these Hormones. You will be in my thoughts. Put me down for an entry and let me know where I can send the $$. I have paypal if I can remember my password lol. With love. Todd
Posted 7/6/2013 11:53 AM (GMT -5)
UGH!!! That sucks!!! I hate that you are going through this I am so sorry. You are on my prayer list always and hope that only the best possible outcomes take place

You are in my thoughts and prayers
Hugs to you
Susan
Posted 7/6/2013 3:43 PM (GMT -5)
Bronson,

Very sorry to hear of your news. Just to let you know, I'm praying for you and each and everyone on HW (don't know all the names, so I just say: HW site).

Trust me, you're going to be just fine. I have my good days and some sad days, but I can't complain!! Keeping positive helps me everyday.

We will beat this CRAP!!

Love you my brother,
Dave in Bartlett, TN
Posted 7/6/2013 9:13 PM (GMT -5)
thanks for your kind words and prayers - when I get closer to decision making time, I know you will be there with patient-to-patient advice to help me get through this ordeal (or non-ordeal - if all goes well).

- working on getting my artwork in order for next week - as well as cleaning up the house for the tv-shoot ( Cottage Life TV - my puppet collection) ... it's amazing what you find when you clean up to show complete strangers how tidy you live ( ha!) - I live in a creative mess - something like my mind at times.

- that is how I create cancer-free days - getting rid of the dust bunnies!

hugs to one and all,
Bronson
Posted 7/6/2013 10:03 PM (GMT -5)
Bronson -- you have a great shot at a cure and I think that's exactly what will happen.  hang in there my brother cool !

ed

 

Posted 7/6/2013 10:34 PM (GMT -5)
..tatt2man, no matter what keep busy doing all those things you love to do like art and musicals. All of that good stuff is food for your soul. Stay Well..

........Appleseed Nick...........
Posted 7/7/2013 11:19 AM (GMT -5)
Bronson, as of this date, I have completed 28 of my 35 treatments of IMRT. Since I have taken myself off the "poop juice" (Miralax)I have had no side effects that I can tell. I hope this makes you feel some what better about having the treatments.

Slink
Posted 7/7/2013 3:20 PM (GMT -5)
thanks again to you for your kind words
- and to Slink and the others - that is what makes HW great - men going through what you are going to go through ( approximately) - my onocoligst was recommending Imodium to get b.m.s ok - am not aware of miralax (will look it up)

-finally having a good rain here for the gardens and the crops - earlier this spring I got some tadpoles from the ponds at the garden centre and put them in my pond at home. I was greeted this morning ) on my walkabout the backyard) by two little froglets resting on our plastic floating froggie that acts as a raft for them - you are find beauty in the smallest of things - in this grand scale of life....

hopping hugs,
Bronson
Posted 7/8/2013 6:57 PM (GMT -5)
Bronson, as usual I am late to the party. That is some disappointing news you have there and not how you would have hoped for after three years of essentially undetectable results, especially at the ultra-sensitive level). However from all that I have read having such a time span of undetectable results (especially at ultra-sensitive levels) which then relapses, is strongly indicative of local prostate bed recurrence, rather than anything distant. Such recurrence is very likely to be successfully treated with a course of salvage radiation. My best wishes for your upcoming show and I hope we will be able to see that TV show on your puppetry. They really intrigue me.
Bill
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