Welcome new member DonJ - G9, path T3b

DonJ posted first on the spring GFMPH thread, so I copied one of the posts here so DonJ can have his own thread.

DonJ said...
Paul - I am lookiing forward to meeting you. I was with Dr. Crawford for about a year and then due to advice I had read here to get a MO, I saw Dr. Flaig USC (Anshutz Cancer Ctr). He took over my treatment immediately switched me from i month Degarelix shots to 3 month Lupron shots. He also recommeded ART due to my pathology. So far so good.

Jeff - I will send you the email for our itinery. I went to a local Cajun cafe to get a copy of the menu. I think I will start eating there weekly in anticipation of GFMPH!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DX April 2013, Age 59
G9, PSA 14, 11 of 12 cores +
UCH in Aurora (Dr. Crawford URO) Degarelix July 2013 (now Lupron)
RP Oct 2013 PSA <.01 since surgery.
Final Path: High Gleason PCa > 50%, T3b EPE + multifocal > 15mm
Per Inv. Bilateral inv of seminal vesicles, Lymph inv mf, + base, + bilateral-posterior margins >10 mm
MO Dr. Flaig UCH
ART Nov2014-Dec 2014 33 sessions 62GY

Don, we'll be at the spring gathering too, and would enjoy meeting you. It's a fun time with a lot of healthy camaraderie!

Welcome to the forum, sorry you need to be here but glad you found us! This is a great group of guys, and you can find a lot of support here. Feel free to post anything on your mind; it's likely someone here has had the same thing and may have already figured something out.

Let me also welcome you to the G9 Crew, the suckiest chapter of the suckiest club no one would ever want to join! I'll enter your name on the roster there. It appears you already know about the G9 thread. It's meant as a more focused support group for some of the more specific concerns those with a G9 diagnosis may face. You may have already noticed, but there are quite a few folks on that thread (and its predecessor), and most are doing rather well.
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=3182035&g=3182504#m3182504

Stay with us, brother! We're here for you.

Welcome to our little G9 club, Don. Sorry you are forced to join us, but at least the people ain't bad!

Thank you for the great welcome. It is amazing but I feel so good about finally being a member of this forum. I have read the posts here since shortly after my diagnosis in April of 2013. But joining somehow makes me feel that I really am not alone anymore. It's different than just reading.

It's been a tough year and a half. At first I thought I would die in a year or two. I ended up at University of Colorado with Dr. E. David Crawford as my Urologist. He was very caring and seemed so knowledgable that I couldn't help but go with him. He at first was going to do Cryosurgery but nearing the date for that procedure he decided to do surgery. I had a radical, not robotic due to abdominal surgery in 1999. Too much scar tissue for robotic. He also put me on degarelix starting July 2013 and then I continued until August 2014 when Dr. Flaig my Medical Onc at UCH said it was okay to switch to Lupron. I like those 3 month shots much better than the 1 month shots in the stomach. Some REALLY hurt the stomach for a week or so.

I questioned surgery but Dr. Crawford wanted to 'debulk' the tumor and get the final pathology. The 2nd opinion tumor board agreed. I decided to trust him and I have been <.01 ever since. I waited a year to do ART, to heal as much as posiible from surgery. I go March 5th for my next PSA and Lupron shot and meet with Dr. Flaig. Hopefull everything will be good!
I appreciate so much the knowledge I have picked up from the members here. It has helped emotionally and physically. Thank you!

Welcome to HW, sorry you need to be here.

Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Hang in there,
Andrew

Welcome from me also, another G9.
Did they know that your seminal vesicles were involved before surgery? In my case I had a bit of a fight because I wanted to go with surgery (surgeon agreed) and the RO (same group) wanted to do radiation and his argument was that because of the tumor location there could potentially be seminal vesicle involvement and that to him meant that radiation was the recommended option. I wanted surgery because there appeared to be data from Mayo that supported surgery for high risk cases. It looks like your treatment is working out.

Best,

Tom

Did someone say debulking?

DonJ- welcome to the forum. We've got very similar stats and similar paths. Wishing you great results as well!

Hey ! WELCOME DonJ !


DonaldJ. LOL !

DonJ, I think your RO and MO are being a bit pessimistic on your odds. Yes you have a difficult case, but you're two years into this with an undetectable PSA. You're doing well!

There are many tools left to try if your numbers go sour, but for the unpredictable G9 you seem to be responding great.

Rock on, bro!

DonJ,

Speaking from someone that was a t3b, then bone mets 5 years ago...I expect to be around another 5 and many more....plenty of options...

Jerry L.