Newly diagnosed

[Guest guest]

Hi Tks,

My husband was 62 when he was diagnosed,,a PSA of 7.9 and a Gleason of 9..I have a question,,,did they put you on hormones yet? Have you looked into other forms of treatment? Such at Proton Beam Radiation at Mass. General? We live about an hour from Boston and my husband wanted surgery first,,he just wanted the cancer out of his body,,,but then after learning of the side effects he had me shop around...we saw a radiation oncologist,,,,a medical oncologist,,two different surgeons and the doctor at Mass. General,,I believe his name was Dr. Zimmerman,,I think,,it was a while ago,,That doctor said with a Gleason of 9 we should also radiate the lymph nodes as well,,he recommended IMRT treatments. My husbands urologist put him on hormones right away to shrink the prostate and to slow down the spreading,..so they put him on Zoladex. All the doctors we saw told us that my husband needed to have radiation no matter what form of treatment he chose,,so he decided on IMRT....Where you live so close to Boston you should check at Mass. General and there are also some execellent doctors at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA,,,Whatever you choose be prepared for the side effects,,they all stink. Prostate cancer has changed our lives but we have adapted well and we have grown so much closer and I didn't think that was possible. I did all the research then relayed the info to Mike, my husband.

I wish you the best on this journey..it's not an easy one.....now after only 4 years we are watching what looks like a reoccurance of the cancer,,so we are still on this journey. This group if full of information and it's a great place to vent too. Someone is always here for you. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Best Wishes,

Sheila