Any ideas how to proceed?

Seems to me that you lack sufficient data to make any treatment decision at this point.

All you know is that your PSA has risen about 40% in a year.  The question is why?  Have you developed any of the symptoms of an enlarged bladder -- urinary frequency and/or urgency?  Did you engage in any activities that may have caused your PSA level to be higher in Aug 2015.  Have you retested your PSA since Aug 2015; was it the same?

If recurrence of the cancer is suspected, I think you need to have a MRI/MRSI done to scan your prostate and the surrounding area spectroscopically for evidence of the recurrence and/or spread of the cancer.   See the following thread for more info about this:  http://csn.cancer.org/node/296164.

If you start taking lupron, all that will do (apart from the side effects) will be to chemically castrate you by stemming the production of testosterone and other sexual hormones.  It will NOT kill any cancer that has recurred or spread from the prostate.

So, it seems to be that talk of HT is premature.  Get an accurate MRI/MRSI scan of your prostate to see what going on before you start HT or any other treatment. 

I also do NOT agree that surgery and/or additional radiation treatment are out of the question.  Post-radiation surgery is difficult but can be done IF there is a reason to do it AND further radiation treatment of the prostate is also still a possibility.  So, do not rule them out until you get a proper prognosis of your current cancer status.

Good luck!!!

Dan_70 said:

Radiation and Surgery

Thanks for replying, Oncologist tells me that after radiation once (45 treatments) no additional radiation can be done.  With the rectum removed surgery is out.  I have low platelets which is why I had radiation instead of surgery in the first place (Excessive bleeding) The radiation dystroyed my colon, although Dr. Says I may have gotten colitis anyway.   I had bone and ct scans, haven't gotten the results yet, but Ocologist says Lupron is the next step, the side affects scare me.

I had radiation, lost my colon and rectum as a side affect, while treating the colitis I ended up with diabetes from the drugs, I can't minimize side affects anymore.

My Ooncolgist plays down the side affects, but I read that they are horrible, previous reply says patients with minimal side affects don't post, mostly those with bad affects post.

I get the results of my scans on Friday, if the cancer has spread treatment may be other than just Lupron.  I will wait and see, I guess I was hoping others would say the Lupron side affects are worth it, but I seriously have my doubts.

I will know more on Friday.

 

Dan

Once more; I tried to say in my previous post that the effects from hormone therapy vary from person to person, but are usually manageable.

Swingshiftworker said:

What Else Needs To Be Said?

Well, there's obviously more that needs to be said b4 anyone can make a useful suggestion.

I have no clue how radiation treatment would "destroy" your colon or why your rectum had to br removed (cancer or radiation?).  That's way beyond my expexerience and I defer to others here who may have more useful "advise" to offer.

I sincerely wish you luck.

I took 3 shots of Lupron last year and the only thing that changed in my life was hot flashes which were not all that severe.  I tried the medication for hot flashes but the side effects for me made it not worth the effort.  After a 3 month break of being off Lupron my PSA went back up to 8.6  (PSA was 9.0 at the start of Lupron).  I feel great so I told the doc I'll wait another 3 months and then we'll do a bone scan.  I'm 78, walk 2.5 miles a day, started eating a plant based diet, get 7-8 hours a sleep a night (plus naps) and generally lead an active life style RVing ..... heck I might even try taking DMSO ..... I go to church regularly and am reading the book " Life Over Cancer"  (which doesn't discount conventional cancer treatments but emphasizes the importance of changing the factors that allowed cancer to originate in the first place.  In other words ... cancer is not a disease but a symptom .... a symptom of a body with a weakened immune system that allowed cancer to develop.  So the immune system is something you can have some control over because you can make it better.  In other words ...  hard as it is for me to admit it .... my lifestyle needs to change ... and it should have changed years ago.  That's my take on my cancer.  I took it in ... and perhaps I can take it out.  At least I'm going to head in that direction.

I would stay away from Lupron i got a orchiectomy after one shot of lupron its a very simple procedure and works with out side effect. i am 74 years old going for psa test in 2 weeks and i should be a 0. living is little more important then my sex life.