Systemic Treatment – my experience and update

24

Comments

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    #22
    Looking good

    Hi Vasco,

    In the absence of other indications it is looking good.
    One day at a time.
    The wife has discovered Pimms drank at French strength, 50:50 with ginger ale and a handful of ice.
    I will raise you a G&T, hic!

    Best wishes,

    Georges

  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,707 Member
    #23
    Consultation by phone. This is VIP luxury Services

    Well,

    So it was. I had my PCa consultation this time on the phone. It felt good to be treated as a VIP by the NHS. They could do this more often even if Covid-19 fades away. The hospital doesn't get overcrowded and the patient avoids long trips to city and the messy typically of major hospitals. In particular, this time where Lisbon is confronting a chaotic state with increasing contagious Covid-19 cases. The area is getting the highest daily number of new cases for the whole country.

    The consultation was short as my PSA is still low (1.82). The doctor scheduled me for a consultation in February 2021.

    Time to go for a swim.

    VG

      

  • eonore
    eonore Member Posts: 185 Member
    #24
    Good news

    Hi Vasco,

    Congratulations on the great news!  Your vacation from systemic treatment continues.  Your story goes to show how unpredictable this disease can be.

    Eric

     

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    edited June 2020 #25
    Looking good

    Hi Vasco,

    That seems great, as long as you keep jogging along at that level it seems that the bandit is hiding in the trees and unlikely to bother you.
    Glad to hear that you are keeping well, it is too cold for swimming much round here without a wetsuit unless you are particularly hardy.
    I will have an update over the next few days as I have a blood test and a consultation with Pooh.

    Best wishes,

    Georges

  • Clevelandguy
    Clevelandguy Member Posts: 1,206 Member
    edited June 2020 #26
    Congrats

    Congrats Vasco,

    You can rest easy for another year.  Stay safe and have a brewsky on me.

    Dave 3+4

  • Josephg
    Josephg Member Posts: 460 Member
    edited June 2020 #27
    Great News!

    Great news, Vasco.  

    A steady PSA keeps your vacation going.

  • lighterwood67
    lighterwood67 Member Posts: 395 Member
    edited June 2020 #28
    You sound pleased

    You sound pleased with yourself.  I ceratinly enjoy reading your journey.  So I give you something I wrote a while back on my journey.  Great news mind, body, and soul.  

     

    I have seen a good part of this world.

    I have met a lot of people, not like me, but like me.

    Their smiles, their trials and tribulations.

    I desire to move around and look.

    I want to be a part of so many adventures, I do not know where to start.

    I am searching for something that nobody can give me.

    And that nobody can take away from me.

    I have witnessed both life and death.

    I am not too sure that they are so far apart.

    I have seen good and bad.

    And been a part of both.

    I am here.  I exist.  

    I looked in the mirror and it was me.

    I yearn for peace.  

    The peace that only my soul can give me.

    Where do I go from here?

     

    Robert Richards

  • Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3
    Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 Member Posts: 3,819 Member
    edited June 2020 #29
    Cheers !

    Vasco,

    I'm delighted. 

    Get a pack of our previously-discussed Pabst Blue Ribbon.  If nothing else, it will ensure hearty urine flow, but you won't care !

    max

  • SV
    SV Member Posts: 183 Member
    #30
    Yee haw!

    Congratulations amigo! It's always nice to hear good news. :)

  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,707 Member
    edited July 2020 #31
    Where do I go from here?

    Thanks fellas. I will keep me busy till the next consultation. In taking the last sentence from the poem of Lighterwood, I started with a trip to the vast Alentejo region tasting the wines and local specialties. The food is great and that oblige me to forget some principals of the PCa. I can't avoid their cheeses, sausages and farm breads. Probably the bandit is enjoying as much.

    I promise I will behave well. 

    Thanks

    VG 

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    #32
    Butter
    Hi Vasco,

    Brittany is famous for its butter which is used in rich cakes like this Kouign Amann.
    https://www.davidlebovitz.com/long-live-the-k/
    Patisserie aka posh cakes is somewhere between an art form and a religion in France.
    The local diet is satirised in this T shirt!
    https://www.spreadshirt.fr/shop/design/breton+pur+beurre+t-shirt+homme-D5d6d202fb264a14c27714557?sellable=aZaen0RjZBSymGXNAqQ1-6-7&appearance=2&affiliateID=1232095&gclid=CjwKCAjwrvv3BRAJEiwAhwOdMzVjz8uuR7dE4YTvw5bRlPrDadaNCyRGB0LoNqrYkxf9YKN6VYcSVxoCHlIQAvD_BwE

    Best wishes,

    Georges
  • Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3
    Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 Member Posts: 3,819 Member
    edited July 2020 #33
    VascodaGama said:

    Where do I go from here?

    Thanks fellas. I will keep me busy till the next consultation. In taking the last sentence from the poem of Lighterwood, I started with a trip to the vast Alentejo region tasting the wines and local specialties. The food is great and that oblige me to forget some principals of the PCa. I can't avoid their cheeses, sausages and farm breads. Probably the bandit is enjoying as much.

    I promise I will behave well. 

    Thanks

    VG 

    Stroll

    Be aware that the average wealthy American would pay $50,000 or more per person for the leisurely "wine-tasting" journey that you describe....

     

  • lighterwood67
    lighterwood67 Member Posts: 395 Member
    #34
    VascodaGama said:

    Where do I go from here?

    Thanks fellas. I will keep me busy till the next consultation. In taking the last sentence from the poem of Lighterwood, I started with a trip to the vast Alentejo region tasting the wines and local specialties. The food is great and that oblige me to forget some principals of the PCa. I can't avoid their cheeses, sausages and farm breads. Probably the bandit is enjoying as much.

    I promise I will behave well. 

    Thanks

    VG 

    Nothing better

    Good wine, good food.  Smile, I am.

  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,707 Member
    #35
    Living in peace with the bandit

     

    Should I say that the doctor was right last June in scheduling our next appointment to Feb 2021, or is there any other reason for the bandit to keep that quiet?

    The unexpected happen again. The PSA decreased to 1.55 (from 1.82 in Apr) matching the levels of 2016. The only justifiable reason for its retreat is the flourishing covid-19 event. Could the virus turn the cancer indolent?

    My PSA histology since the end of ADT is summarized as follows:

    May 2012: PSA=0.02, T=<0.01 (End of Eligard’s effectiveness; Starting Off-Drugs period
    Aug 2012: PSA=0.02, T=0.11
    Nov 2012: PSA=0.03, T=0.56
    Jan 2013: PSA=0.13, T=2.52
    May 2013: PSA=0.71, T=3.84 ng/ml (384 ng/dL)
    Sep 2013: PSA=0.88, T=4.90

    May 2014; PSA=1.20, T=341
    Sep 2014; PSA=1.24, T=356
    Mar 2015; PSA=1.49
    Nov 2015; PSA=1.46

     

    May 2016; PSA=1.59
    Sep 2016; PSA=1.56, T=364
    Apr 2017; PSA=1.81, T=377
    Sep 2017; PSA=1.57, T=306
    Dec 2017; PSA=2.05 ; T=329

     

    Apr 2018; PSA=1.83
    Oct 2018; PSA=1.96, T=414
    Dec 2018; PSA=2.13

    May 2019; PSA=1.88
    Aug 2019; PSA=2.14
    Nov 2019; PSA=1.95, T=375
    Apr 2020; PSA=1.82

     

    Aug 2020; PSA=1.55

    Hard to understand but happy for the continuing this Off-drugs vacation.

    Thanks,

    VG

     

     

  • eonore
    eonore Member Posts: 185 Member
    edited August 2020 #36
    Equilibrium

    It seems as if the cancer and your immune system have declared a truce.

     

    Eric

  • Josephg
    Josephg Member Posts: 460 Member
    #37
    Excellent Result

    Super news, Vasco.  Clearly, something is going right for you on this leg of your PCa journey.  I wish you continued outstanding results and outcomes.

  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,707 Member
    edited December 2020 #38
    PSA still below 2.5 ng/ml

    Hi all,

    I just want to inform those following my story on the last PSA blood test (Nov 2020) that come out as 1.98 ng/ml (T=357). This is still below the threshold of 2.5 reserved by my doctor to restart ADT. The next uro consultation is scheduled for April and I wonder if the PSA will reach such level by that time.

    Meanwhile I have been fighting another war against my android phone and windows computer. Both decided to behave badly, broking down, probably due to digital virus, which shut me down from this forum for about one month. I got a new phone but kept the computer, but I also won the war against the android and managed to get my old Xiaomi operating nicely.

    Covid19 is flourishing in Europe. Fortunately I got a negative PCR test for three genetic materials identifying the SARS Cov1 and Cov2. I hope you all are fine.

    Best,

    VG 

  • Josephg
    Josephg Member Posts: 460 Member
    edited December 2020 #39
    Welcome Back and Great News

    Welcome back, Vasco.  You were indeed missed.

    Good news on your PSA, allowing you to remain on your hormone vacation.

  • Clevelandguy
    Clevelandguy Member Posts: 1,206 Member
    edited December 2020 #40
    Good news

    Great news Vasco, hope you stay below the 2.5 limit.  Have a safe holiday.  We are struggling in the Cleveland, Ohio area with Covid also. Vacines could be in peoples arms literally by early next week If the FDA approves today.  End in sight?........

    Dave 3+4

  • lighterwood67
    lighterwood67 Member Posts: 395 Member
    edited December 2020 #41
    Technology/Cancer

    Wow.  Fixing the technology and whooping the cancer.  What a come back.  I was wondering where you were.  Glad for your good news.  Keep posting.  Your test tube has been put under the burner a lot.  You have a wealth of knowledge and the ability to put words on paper so that it can be understood.  Best of luck on your journey and to all who have tasted this battle, but will not give up.

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