Worried Sick About My Dad Aged 65 (Ireland)

VascodaGama said:

In Europe statins are based on “simvastatin”.
Gary,

I like to see you so involved in the care of your daddy. His success will be closer with a son so excellent helping in the care of his case.
You could do researches on your own investigating facts done from studies whose abstracts are public at these reliable sites;
http://www.medscape.com
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Regarding PSA and treatment of PCa, you may realize that by changing diets or using supplements that lower the PSA it does not mean that your father is cured. The only possible way to get rid of the cancer is with salvage radiotherapy that will destroy the cells’ DNA with powerful rays, “burning” them to death.
Hormonal treatment or to a certain extent some sort of supplements are palliative treatments that will pin-down the cancer but one does not know when it will recur.
The side effects from hormonal drugs differ widely dependent on the medication used. The “heavy” duty drug LHRH agonist which is the primer on the treatment do not cause the “real” breast enlargement. DES type drugs are the culprit to such side effect.
You can read about details by googling on the above sites and you can have references to diet, supplements and their effects in the book of Dr. Myers I posted above.

The PSA after SRT will go down to nadir no matter the value of the PSA. However, in cases without prostate (your father’s and mine) the PSA should be kept lower than 0.10 ng/ml. My nadir took 13 months to reach a level of 0.05.

Regarding MRI, this test is done with a target. This time the MRI for your father is to check localized areas close to the prostatic fossa. Therefore it will only show the pelvic and lower abdomen areas. The problem at the ears, if any, is not related to prostate cancer.

I think that the majority of statins (drugs for the control of cholesterol) in Europe are based on “simvastatin”. This medication is sold generic under the same name or under the trade names of Zocor, Simlup, Simcard, Simvacor, etc. You can check the drugs contents in the description written on the drugs box or asking at the pharmacy.

They all are the same drug with the same prohibitions in regards to reaction to other chemical compounds in drinks or in supplements. Lower doses such as 5 mg to 10 mg daily have little effect if the patient is taking grapefruit. In higher doses over 40 mg daily, grapefruit juice could cause problems in the liver. The reason is that our body cannot metabolize the drug fully for the lack of the enzyme (cP450) which grapefruit inhibits. Too much of the drug (daily) will “flood” the liver and cause it to failure.

Crestor and Lipitor (commented by Kondo) are statins made of different medication (rosuvastatin and atorvastatin). Our liver can metabolize better the rosuvastatin at low levels of the enzyme which makes this drug friendly even if one takes grapefruit juice or supplements.
You can investigate by googling in the above sites.

Hope you are more composed and that you too are becoming acknowledge with the matters of prostate cancer.

Take care.
VGama

VascodaGama said:

Make a list of questions for your daddy's doctor.
Gary
You daddy can continue to have his “3 pints” on Fridays, unless his doctor gives him medications or recommends him to stop drinking. Salvage radiation does not cause serious fatigue effects. He may experience same fatigue at the end of the therapy but nothing so abnormal.
I always enjoyed my red wine with meals and a cold white in the afternoons.
He should not drink excessively and the diet should be balanced with vegetables and fruits.

Metastases to bone are usually found with a bone scan. This is a test that would show spots of cancer in the whole body skeleton. MRI is for localized areas and it permits to check for deformations/spots in the organs, etc.

You can make a list of questions, even if they seem "odd" and give them to your father so he will enquire when he meets his doctor.

Take care.
VG

VascodaGama said:

That is exactly what you saying
Yes Gary
That is exactly what you saying. DRE accused some suspicious deformations at the prostate fossa (area where prostate used to be) therefore they want to take an image of the spots they touched.
In cases of guys with a PSA lower than 10 (your father 4.5) it is quite common that, both MRI and Bone scan are negative to metastases. However, some doctors recommend taking one of this tests (or both) when something suspicious occurs.
They believe that your daddy still have a localized recurrence to which SRT is highly effective. Hope for the best.
Wait for the results and let us know his progress.

VG

lewvino said:

Sometimes the worst part is
Sometimes the worst part is the waiting and not knowing. At least things are starting to happen now. As all ready suggested see if you can get as much of your fathers previous information from tests, labs etc dealing with his prostate cancer. In the united states we have a HIPAA Privacy law and you may have something similar in your country. He would have to sign stating that you can have access to his records. If you get them keep them and organize for reference as you start this second part of his treatment.

larry (lewvino)

VascodaGama said:

Bone scan causes no symptoms
Gary

The bone scan is a simple test that causes no symptoms (rare cases of reaction against the tracer may occur). Your father will receive an injection in a vein in the arm of a isotope that will give contrast in the image study. The injection will be done about three hours before the scan. Your father has time to visit a friend or do others things in Dublin while waiting for the scan. (maybe read a book about his problem)

I hope you too have researched about the recurrence problem and other matters related to treatments. Have you gotten a copy of Myers’ book?

Just read this article;
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Bone-Scan.htm

The best to both of you
Vgama

VascodaGama said:

There is enough time to check for metastasis
Gary
The image (gamma-rays) will be analysed by a specialist (radiologist, etc) in nuclear medicine and the results will be given two or three days later. The hospital in Dublin may be busy so that they may give results later. However you can inquire if they would give you the results by phone.
I hope the results will show nothing which means that your father’s recurrence is localized.

Do not be anxious. The cancer in your father seems to be low aggressive so that there is enough time to check for metastasis and get the best diagnosis. That will lead to a better treatment.

I hope your dream is "alive" and that everything will come as you most wish.

VGama