bony metastasis - pl. share your experiences

vsatrawla
vsatrawla Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
Hi,

My father was diagnosed with metastatic [to bones] prostate cancer 4 months ago. Shortly after, he underwent orchitectomy. He is now taking a monthly inj of Zometa [Zoledronic Acid], along with biclutamide.

His experience with Zometa/hormone therapy is as follows:

During first 3 months of therapy, he would feel aches in the body especially in his fingers/toes. This would continue for 3-4 days. After that he would feel very normal.

He is into 5th month of therapy now, but he has started feeling a lot of pains in his body. This includes headaches, joint pains and general feeling low. There is also swelling in his finger and toe joints.

His oncologist is now trying to find if this is because of side effects of either Zometa or biclutamide.

Can someone share similar experiences with hormone therapy ? Is it expected that he feels body pains ?

Also, whats's the most recomended pain killer for this purpose ?

Is there anything else one can do to reduce the side effects [assuming this is due to side effects] ? He already takes 500mg Calcium.

thx.
Varun

Comments

  • callinanangel
    callinanangel Member Posts: 11
    #2
    my prayers and thoughts go out to you and your family. i just lost my father on june 3, 2005 to metastatic prostate cancer. metastatic to the bone. it is a very trying time. my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in nov. 2002. in the begining we were painted a pretty picture new medications, people today survive cancer... my dad was given Zometa injections as well. we thought wow we are going to beat this....but every new CAT SCAN (CT SCAN) showed new metastatic lessions, which was not good.. when a new tumor would arrive, radiation was done to shrink the tumor and it would work, but what usually happens is the tumor would jump to a new area. eventually, leading the cancer to spread in my dads case it was a very aggressive cancer. and spread throughout his body. he was in extreme pain, almost every bone in his body ached him terrible. legs would ache, neck pain, back pain. (leg pain is usallly an indication that it has gone to the spine) if he has trouble walking or standing. in the end he was on morphine, which then he was put on a morphine drip. for comfort. we wanted him to be as comfortable as possible. he was in the hospital for about 2 weeks, then on wed. june 1, 2005, he was put on hospice (GREAT CARE) and he passed on to be in heaven on june 3, 2005. it was at 10:40pm on a rainy chilly friday night. we had just left the hospital an hour or so before we got the call that would change our lives forever. it is a stressful time, and IT IS THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN..i remember a patient telling me that and it is true... i am fortunate enough to have some experience with this i work for a doctor of internal medicine. and see alot of people diagnosed with cancer, i do understand reading ct scans, and blood work, x-rays and etc....it really does help..does you dad go for bone scans,? CT SCANS? what do they reveal?? i will pray for you and your family.. and keep you in my thoughts ..prayers are answered.. good luck on this future journey..if you have any questions i'm here....
  • JenNJaysfamily
    JenNJaysfamily Member Posts: 1
    #3
    callinanangel said:

    my prayers and thoughts go out to you and your family. i just lost my father on june 3, 2005 to metastatic prostate cancer. metastatic to the bone. it is a very trying time. my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in nov. 2002. in the begining we were painted a pretty picture new medications, people today survive cancer... my dad was given Zometa injections as well. we thought wow we are going to beat this....but every new CAT SCAN (CT SCAN) showed new metastatic lessions, which was not good.. when a new tumor would arrive, radiation was done to shrink the tumor and it would work, but what usually happens is the tumor would jump to a new area. eventually, leading the cancer to spread in my dads case it was a very aggressive cancer. and spread throughout his body. he was in extreme pain, almost every bone in his body ached him terrible. legs would ache, neck pain, back pain. (leg pain is usallly an indication that it has gone to the spine) if he has trouble walking or standing. in the end he was on morphine, which then he was put on a morphine drip. for comfort. we wanted him to be as comfortable as possible. he was in the hospital for about 2 weeks, then on wed. june 1, 2005, he was put on hospice (GREAT CARE) and he passed on to be in heaven on june 3, 2005. it was at 10:40pm on a rainy chilly friday night. we had just left the hospital an hour or so before we got the call that would change our lives forever. it is a stressful time, and IT IS THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN..i remember a patient telling me that and it is true... i am fortunate enough to have some experience with this i work for a doctor of internal medicine. and see alot of people diagnosed with cancer, i do understand reading ct scans, and blood work, x-rays and etc....it really does help..does you dad go for bone scans,? CT SCANS? what do they reveal?? i will pray for you and your family.. and keep you in my thoughts ..prayers are answered.. good luck on this future journey..if you have any questions i'm here....

    Hi there, I have been looking for something on my computer to help me understand what is happening to my father in law. I just came home from the hospital tonight, we had to admit my father in law MONDAY -because he lost all function from his abdomen down (catheter put in Sunday then he couldnt walk by Sunday eve). I am unfamiliar with metastasis and we were told yesterday that is what the MRI revealed. I typed in a search and found this site. You have helped me come to understand what is happening. I realize that most likely his cancer has spread to the spine. What I dont understand is WHY my father in law is sounding crazy? He is confused & disorientated he is not sure where he is. Could the cancer have spread to his brain?
    My father in was diagnosed with LATE stages of Prostate cancer in Nov 2004, HE never had a PSA test - They began the hormone therapy immediately . We were told this week that this is no longer working, and they will be trying a new medicine. He is already on 10 different pills! He has been in pain for two months but kept telling my husband & I it was from arthritis. He is also very stubborn. Please, I know this may be difficult, and I am sorry for your loss, but if you can help us let me know if you had this (disorientated) happen with your father-
    God Bless
    Jennie and Jay
  • callinanangel
    callinanangel Member Posts: 11
    #4
    JenNJaysfamily said:

    Hi there, I have been looking for something on my computer to help me understand what is happening to my father in law. I just came home from the hospital tonight, we had to admit my father in law MONDAY -because he lost all function from his abdomen down (catheter put in Sunday then he couldnt walk by Sunday eve). I am unfamiliar with metastasis and we were told yesterday that is what the MRI revealed. I typed in a search and found this site. You have helped me come to understand what is happening. I realize that most likely his cancer has spread to the spine. What I dont understand is WHY my father in law is sounding crazy? He is confused & disorientated he is not sure where he is. Could the cancer have spread to his brain?
    My father in was diagnosed with LATE stages of Prostate cancer in Nov 2004, HE never had a PSA test - They began the hormone therapy immediately . We were told this week that this is no longer working, and they will be trying a new medicine. He is already on 10 different pills! He has been in pain for two months but kept telling my husband & I it was from arthritis. He is also very stubborn. Please, I know this may be difficult, and I am sorry for your loss, but if you can help us let me know if you had this (disorientated) happen with your father-
    God Bless
    Jennie and Jay

    god bless you and your family, just returned from long overdue vacation, it was nice to have mom with us, but there sure was an empty void there.. very painful... but i pray alot... sorry to hear about your father in law... how old is he? with bone metastasis, it is possible that cancer may have spread to brain, some signs would be forgetfullnes, confusion, remember HEADACHES IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD. sign that a tumor could be present. dazed. CT SCAN of the brain would be the answer...but believe it or not in older men 70-80 confusion and being disoriented also stem from urinary tract infections. this is true.. i have witnessed this first hand. from several patients and my own father in law. we usually knew when he had a urinary tract infection. he would start talking crazy, and kinda get combative (aggitated)...
    Urinary Tract Infections in Adults
    obstruction‚—for example, a urinary stone or enlarged prostate—or from a medical procedure involving a catheter. The first step is to identify the infecting organism and the drugs to which it is sensitive. Usually, doctors recommend lengthier therapy in men than in women, in part to prevent infections of the prostate gland
    this is just another suggestion, alot easier to deal with. you may already have an answer by now. but your family is in my prayers... god bless i'll be back tomorow....good night...

Discussion Boards