Prostate CA moved to pelvic bone

My husband had prostrate cancer surgery and just finished his 4th week of radiation. He has to have a treatment every day for 8 weeks, a total of 40 treatments. He had a bone scan before his surgery which showed negative. Could you please tell me if your father had RADICAL PROSTRATE SURGERY BEFORE the bone scan? Would appreciate knowing. Thank you

marc said:

Hello "Nward",
My Dad did have a bone scan prior to the radical prostate surgery, showing no bone involvement. He than had reoccurance, an increasing PSA, at which time he had his 40 radiation treatments. After a few months his PSA continued to rise - he had an orchiectomy, which gave a decrease in PSA for a few months, but now it is doubling quickly. Evidentally he has very aggressive cancer, which is now hormone resistant. Drs have suggested Casodex and Celebrex - given to reduce testosterone produced by adrenal gland, and one drug combats inflamation, which is helping the bone pain. About 2 months ago,his bone scan showed ca in the pelvic area, he has had pain there for months, going down his leg and making it hard to sit. THe meds are really helping and he is consulting several other Drs. for further options. He studies relentlessly and has about 8 Drs. involved, so he can get many opinions before making an informed choice. I feel that every man I know dealing with this disease has such a different case and different results. My Dad has several close friends who are dealing with this, as well. They each have they own successes and worries - and often he feels overwhelmed with all the ideas floating out there. So many opinions - so many possible side effects. I pray and hope that you and your husband will find peace in knowing that you are making the best choices for him - that is so important. My Dad does take comfort in knowing that his Drs. care and consider his quality of life as he deals with this.
Take care! Let me know how things are going.
Marc

Hello Marc:
Thank you for answering my message. At this time my husband is now in his 7th week of radiation and has just one more week to go. His urologist said that 2 weeks after his last radiation treatment they will do a PSA level again. I am quite concerned as last week he had to see a different radiation doctor as his was on vacation. This doctor questioned as to why they did not give him hormone injections before the radiation, as now if the radiation hasn't worked the cancer will have had 6 months to grow and maybe spread. I think I told you he had a bone scan previous to his surgery. However, now he says his legs and arms really hurt and bother him a lot. He says that after he goes to work, it is only a couple of hours and they really bother him. I think after the radiation is completed in the next 2 weeks, that he should have another scan done. His father died of bone cancer after having prostrate surgery. I went through this cancer ordeal twice before with my father and my brother, both passing within 6 months of each other. My brother had pancreatic cancer and my dad had esophagus cancer & stomach cancer. So this is and has been very stressful as you well know. It was very nice to hear from you. Thank-you

Hi. My dad had his prostrate removed back in 1996 and had radiation and hormone therapy. His PSA had gotten down to .02 and things seemed to be going well. Beginning about a year ago he started having paid in his side...had a cat scan and finally they figured that it was his gall bladder...did testing and determined he must have gallstones, but that it was still functioning well enough to not have it removed. The pain got progressively worse and moved around to the back, to the front and in his shoulders. I went to the doctor with him about 7 weeks ago and said that I knew that prostrate cancer would move to the bone and I wanted to be certain that this pain was not being caused because it was in his spine. He assured me that his PSA was good (didn't mention that the test was taken about a year ago) and that wasn't the problem. Then about 2 weeks ago my dad and I went to lunch together and I noticed a marked change in the way he was walking...kind of shuffling, picking his feet up exaggeratedly, etc., and when I mentioned it he said that he'd started having trouble walking in the past few days. I told him to make a dr. appt, which he did the following Monday. At that point he had to ask my husband to come over to steady him while he showered and shaved so he wouldn't fall over. I met them at the doctor appointment (his reg dr wasn't there so he saw another doctor). This doctor was VERY concerned and sent us to the emergency room where he got a chest xray, bloodwork, an EKG and an MRI of his entire spine. We now know that he has cancer in every vertebrae of his spine, spinal cord compression (he had surgery the very next day) and his PSA is over 300. He is going to start radiation next week and is now at Emory Rehabilitation center learning to walk and dress, etc. He is VERY weak and VERY weary. He isn't eating or drinking well. Has anyone had experience with this? We are being told that it is not curable and that the radiation will help with the pain and hopefully prevent another spine compression. They are probably going to start him on hormone therapy. What is the prognosis for this type of situation - no one is really giving us information except that "oh we expect he'll still be around for years" which based on how he's eating and how dark his urine is (to me showing that he is dehydrating)...just want someone to share some thoughts. Oh...and Thursday he's coming to our house to live. Advice?