New diagnosis of Gleason 9; dilemna of treatments

Gleason 9 treatment
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. My husband (79) was diagnosed with a gleason score of 9 the end of December. We were both in a tailspin and in shock for quite some time. I do agree that you need to wait for additional information from the mri. Are you getting a catscan too. My husband was immediately sent for an MRI and a catscan with dye to determine if the cancer had spread into his organs or bones, fortunately, the test results were negative.

We also considered him getting Proton therapy offered in Florida. We spoke with a man who was currently undergoing treatment and Loma Linda. His experience was very positive, however he was a gleason 6.
You can have a free consultation on the phone with them, imagine Loma Linda does the same. You would need to send all test results to them and then they will contact you to see if you are a good candidate for Proton therapy. Suggest you call them now and they will send you a book and a package on their treatment plan free of charge and you can carefully review that.

After carefully examining all the options and numerous conversations with experts, he decided (and I agreed) that he should get IMRT and HT (Lupron) The oncologist opted not to plant seeds since during each treatment he had a live catscan which showed the actual position of the prostate in real time.

Surgery was also discussed but given his advanced age, radiation therapy was determined to be the best route.
He just finished his radiation treatment on May 14th, did well and has been on HT for 4 months now. Outside of being weary, losing strength and muscle, he's doing well. Hot flashes started about 30 days into the Lupron and are annoying but not terrible. Has been able to play golf throughout, but toward the end of treatment found he was becoming to tired and would only play 9 holes. His energy is zapped now, but I imagine that will get better over time.

Get the book "Winning the Battle against prostate cancer" by Gerald Chodak, MD. It has the most up to date treatment information.

Please keep us posted and good luck and God bless

djs123 said:

Gleason 9 treatment
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. My husband (79) was diagnosed with a gleason score of 9 the end of December. We were both in a tailspin and in shock for quite some time. I do agree that you need to wait for additional information from the mri. Are you getting a catscan too. My husband was immediately sent for an MRI and a catscan with dye to determine if the cancer had spread into his organs or bones, fortunately, the test results were negative.

We also considered him getting Proton therapy offered in Florida. We spoke with a man who was currently undergoing treatment and Loma Linda. His experience was very positive, however he was a gleason 6.
You can have a free consultation on the phone with them, imagine Loma Linda does the same. You would need to send all test results to them and then they will contact you to see if you are a good candidate for Proton therapy. Suggest you call them now and they will send you a book and a package on their treatment plan free of charge and you can carefully review that.

After carefully examining all the options and numerous conversations with experts, he decided (and I agreed) that he should get IMRT and HT (Lupron) The oncologist opted not to plant seeds since during each treatment he had a live catscan which showed the actual position of the prostate in real time.

Surgery was also discussed but given his advanced age, radiation therapy was determined to be the best route.
He just finished his radiation treatment on May 14th, did well and has been on HT for 4 months now. Outside of being weary, losing strength and muscle, he's doing well. Hot flashes started about 30 days into the Lupron and are annoying but not terrible. Has been able to play golf throughout, but toward the end of treatment found he was becoming to tired and would only play 9 holes. His energy is zapped now, but I imagine that will get better over time.

Get the book "Winning the Battle against prostate cancer" by Gerald Chodak, MD. It has the most up to date treatment information.

Please keep us posted and good luck and God bless

Proton treatment
Proton treatment is a great treatment, and had it myself.It allows the radiation beam to lock in on the prostate area and kill that monster. With saying that at a level of Gleason score of 9's. It is not always in the the prostate area and has move outside. As my Radiation doctor had seen the Pathology report after surgery that the prostate cancer had escape to the vessels and nerves. She told me that the chances of getting all the cancer was unlikely, But we could be lucky and try, so I did. Not her exact words , but closes. After RT was over for 6 months the psa did drop off. The side effect did not come in to effect until a 6 -8 month later, and if it had got the cancer the side effect would have been worth it!

So yes, if your doctor is recommending Proton than do it sooner than later with a Gleason score of 9!!!