Posted 6/8/2022 9:10 AM (GMT -5)
I can concur with JNF.. The thing is that once prostate cancer has spread to other parts of the body (Metastatic) there are no longer options for a cure. Treatment becomes palliative in nature and can improve quality of life. For many men prostate cancer has become a chronic condition requiring treatment for the remainder of life. It does not mean that life is going to end soon. Many many men live many many years with metastatic prostate cancer. Treatments have come along way since the dark ages when the only real treatment was to cut off the testicles and hope for the best. If it hasn’t already been done your fathers biopsy slides should be sent in for genomics testing . This will open the doorway for targeted therapies designed to treat the genetic make up of the specific cancer that is invading dad‘s body.
Hopefully this is going to be a long ride for your father. It may be difficult at times but it may just become part of a new normal. When I say this I speak from experience. I was diagnosed 16 years ago
Monday last with metastatic prostate cancer. At the time of my diagnosis my PSA was sky high like in the thousands sky high and cancer had spread everywhere. I had metastatic lesions in my bones lungs lymph nodes and brain. Some men just really respond well to treatment. Basically sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug and you don’t know what you’re gonna be until you start to treat the cancer and see how it responds. Your dad is sort of in that let’s see where this ride takes us phase. He’s already received primary treatment,(surgery) Secondary treatment with the salvage radiation, and initial androgen deprivation therapy. (Lupron) The length of time that Lupern is effective varies from case to case. In my situation Lupron began to fail somewhere around the four year mark and I was Castration resistant at year
5 At the time, I opted for immuno therapy. I received a treatment called Provenge. 16 months after that I started taking Zytiga. Zytiga works by shutting down production of testosterone in other parts of the body, specifically the adrenals. It may work for a long time and it may not work for very long at all but attitude is paramount. I have said this on a number of different threads over the years but I have seen men get a diagnosis of cancer and the first thing they do is go out in the backyard metaphorically speaking and dig their grave.. I have seen other men with great attitudes put on the boxing gloves and step into the ring. The men who have a positive attitude and are willing to fight this disease often do better I could say they always do better but I would pretty much be talking out my tail pipe. Through your signature and I noticed your dad is in his early 70s judging from initial diagnosis at the age of 66 in 2017. I am only 58 years old. At your father‘s age it is very likely that he will leave this world as a result of something else besides cancer. It’s important to know as a caregiver that you have limited power. There’s not a lot of control over prostate cancer. The patient has very little and the caregiver has none at all. Enjoy each day. Recognize that cancer is not your burden to carry and lay it down. I know it feels heavy. Feels like something in your chest is going to implode on itself. That’s how it was with my dad . He wasn’t a fighter, he was a digger. Breathe in breathe out find friends that you can talk to about it and realize that on the ocean of life all you can really do is try to learn to be a better boat