I went for my next PSA test this week and I truly didn’t know what to expect going into it. My PSA jumped from 0.05 ng/mL on 1 November 2022 to 0.13 ng/mL on 7 March 2023. I’m concerned but not freaked out.
My best guess is that the androgen deprivation therapy effects are wearing off faster than the salvage radiation effects are kicking in. (At least that’s my hope, but what do I know?)
It’s been ten months since I received the six-month dose of Eligard on 3 May 2022, so it makes sense that it would be less impactful on my PSA over time and that my PSA would creep up again. I’m a bit surprised by how big of a jump it was, though.
Of course, I’ll talk to both the urologist and radiation oncologist about this, but that won’t be until May as things stand right now. (I did email the results to the radiation oncologist, and he replied, “I would not read too much into a single PSA value”).
Our follow-up testing and appointment scheduling between the VA urologist and the UCSD radiation oncologist is getting a bit out of whack, and I need to try to rein that in. It’s difficult to do the four-month follow-ups suggested by the doctor when appointment availability is six to eight months out. (I’ll spare you the details.)
My appointment with the VA is on 30 May, and I don’t have a firm date for the UCSD six month follow-up yet, but that should be in May as well.
In other news, my bowels seem to be calming down, with me returning to bowel movements once or twice a day. The intestinal gas still happens, but that comes and goes, too. Urinary frequency is pretty much back to where it was before the radiation, and I can usually make it through the night now with zero to one trips to the toilet.
Be well!
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Dan's Journey through Prostate Cancer 
Hang in there .. Keep us in the loop your Dr’s say . Going off the medicine is like the cause for the waiver …. Praying for you Bud ! Im post radiation by 4 months meet my Dr’s may 03 ….. NO ADT though , they all said my case did not warrant it !
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Thanks, James! I hope that the SRT did the trick for you. We were on the fence about doing ADT for me, and I obviously opted for it.
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Thanks Dan , I had EBRT , 22 sessions of it . It has been about 2 years since surgery( as my PSA never zeroed , and slowly kept rising to .13 PSA ) , and about 4 months since my EBRT . In SE Asia now , but when I get back in May , I have a 1 on 1 with the team of doctors at the Victoria hospital on Vancouver Island , Canada . They did not recommend ADT , as I asked many times , and also only 22 sessions . My PSA went from .13 to .074 , then .064 before I left for SE Asia 3 months ago . Let’s hope ! 22 sessions and no ADT does seem ‘light’ treatment !? I hear your talking to the Boys in Vancouver soon . I hope I can log in from SE Asia here ( Philipines currently) . God speed my friend , James
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Hi James. Yep, you heard correctly. Jeff and I had a great call last week and worked through some of the details. I’m looking forward to it. I hope you can make it.
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Hi Dan, glad to hear you’re feeling good and living your best life. This is a long journey and I look to people like you who articulate this disease so well. I’m in my 6th year since my prostatectomy. I was a Gleason 9 in 11 of 15 cores at biopsy. I am a lucky guy who never had to deal with bladder issues and was spared one side of the nerves so with a little blue pill my sex life is pretty good.
Keep strong for your journey.
-Sean from Long Island
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