Tag: ADT

Month 147 – Delayed Reactions?

On By DanIn Prostate Cancer, Radiation Proctitis, Side Effects14 Comments

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over five months since I wrapped up my salvage radiation therapy (SRT) and concurrent androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). For the most part, things have been good, but two things have popped up along the way. One insignificant, the other has me wondering what the future will hold.

Where Oh Where is My Body Hair?

The first seems to be a delayed reaction of the ADT/hormone therapy which was administered nine months ago on 3 May 2022. It seems the loss of testosterone is taking a toll on my body hair.

Maybe this has been going on for a while and I just now noticed it (I mean, really, who monitors the status of their body hair on a regular basis???).

I wasn’t a very hirsute guy to begin with, but I noticed in the shower the other day that what little chest hair that I did have has been diminished by at least half to two-thirds. A little oddball patch of hair on my back right below my collar line is now pretty much gone, and let’s just say that there’s less hair in a few places further south.

Is it a big deal? Of course not. Just superficial, but I find it interesting that it appears to be happening so long after the Eligard injection. Maybe that’s normal for ADT. I’m not going to worry about it (unless my beard starts falling out, then I may be a little concerned).

GI Changes?

The second issue has to deal with what I’ll probably imprecisely call gastrointestinal changes or perhaps a prelude to the thing I dreaded most: radiation proctitis. Whether they’re related to the radiation therapy or not, I don’t know yet. I thought radiation proctitis took longer to take root, but I could be wrong.

I haven’t changed my diet much compared to pre- and post-radiation, so I don’t think it’s diet causing these issues. (Although I did buy a bag of pistachios recently and, with hindsight, they may have aggravated them.)

Pre-radiation, I was a pretty regular guy when it came to bowel movements. Once in the morning and I was good until the next morning. Now, five months after radiation, I’m noticing that I’m having two to four bowel movements a day about a third to half of the days. Some of those extra bowel movements come on with some urgency. So far, it’s not been an issue or caused an accident, but it does raise some concern as to what it may be like a year or two from now if it is, in fact, related to the radiation therapy.

The other GI issue that has popped up is that I seem to have more intestinal gas than I used to. (And, no, it’s not related to San Diego’s wonderful Mexican cuisine!)

The thing that concerns me about being so gassy is the fact that, when I pass gas, it comes out with less effort than it used to. In fact, sometimes, it almost just slips out and I have to wonder if it’s going to be only gas that comes out, and nothing extra (fart vs. shart). My concern is about rectal control over the long term if I’m experiencing something like this now. Again, something to monitor (you know me—I’ve started a tracking spreadsheet) and discuss with the doctor.

What’s Next?

My last PSA test was on 1 November, and we agreed to check it again in March, so I’ll figure out a date to hit the lab for the bloodwork. You may recall that post-radiation PSAs taken in September and November both came in at 0.05 ng/mL, so we’ll it will be interesting to see if it goes down, stays the same, or goes up again. Any wagers???

I should be meeting with the radiation oncologist again in May for my six-month follow-up from the last meeting.

That’s a Wrap

That’s about it for this month. You may recall that last month, I spent my birthday in Death Valley National Park. After visiting there, I headed over to Zion National Park for a short visit. You can check it out by clicking HERE.

Header Image: Canyon in Zion National Park along the Virgin River

Month 139 – Eligard Side Effects

On By DanIn Prostate Cancer, Radiation Therapy, Side Effects9 Comments

It’s been almost six weeks since my very first Eligard injection on 3 May 2022, and it appears that some of the side effects are kicking in. There are also some other things that I’m experiencing that I’m questioning. But first, a little detour…

I just returned from a monster 16-day, 5,357 mile / 8,621 km road trip from San Diego to Chicago and back. Each Memorial Day weekend, my sister and her family gather at a small lakeside resort in southern Illinois, along with a few mutual friends and their families. As I hadn’t seen some of my family members in four or five years, I decided it was time to return.

Not knowing what the side effects from the upcoming radiation and hormone therapy will be, I decided to have one last giant road trip fling for what may be the next year or so. If it works out that I can travel again this autumn, great. But I just didn’t want to leave things to chance.

[The photo above is Trout Lake in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.]

Now back to Eligard side effects…

Fatigue is the most prominent side effect. I’m constantly tired to varying degrees, and there are times where I just push through it and there are times where I simply give in and take a nap. Thankfully, these really didn’t start kicking in until the tail end of my road trip on my return to San Diego.

I’ve also noticed a slight increase in the number of trips I make to the toilet in the night. The last six to nine months, things had settled down to where I could sleep through the night or make one trip. Now, though, I’m in the one to three trips per night range, with one night being four trips. That certainly doesn’t help with the fatigue.

On the positive side, hot flashes have not kicked in yet. That’s great because things are beginning to heat up for the summer here in San Diego and the last thing I need are hot flashes when it’s 90°+ F / 32°+ C outside.

There are two other things that I wasn’t sure if they’re related to the Eligard or not.

First, I’ve had a dull ache in my groin and testicles and, second, I’ve had this general, low-grade musculoskeletal ache in the right side of my torso. Both seemed to kick in on my return to San Diego.

I emailed these symptoms to my urologist, asking if they could be caused by the Eligard, and she didn’t seem to think so. She ordered an ultrasound of my testicles to see what may be happening there (scheduled for Tuesday), and referred me to my primary care physician about the ache in the torso. She didn’t see any reason why either should delay the salvage radiation therapy (mapping scheduled for Thursday).

My biggest concern about the mapping on Thursday is the timing of filling my bladder and being able to hold it during the process. Often, when my bladder is really full, there’s a strong sense of urgency to empty it, and there’s little time for error.

That’s about it for now. More to come after the mapping and, as soon as I figure out why Adobe Lightroom (photo editing software) is acting up on my computer, I’ll get my travel blog updated with my trip’s photos.

Be well!

Month 138 – So Far, So Good (?)

On By DanIn Prostate Cancer, Side Effects2 Comments

It’s been just over a week since I’ve been injected with my Death to Testosterone juice, a.k.a., Eligard, and things seem to be going okay so far.

The injection site was through being sore within a matter of hours after the injection, so that was a positive thing. (My arm was sore from my second COVID booster for about 48 hours after that injection.)

About the only real side effect from the Eligard that has kicked in is a bit of tiredness or fatigue. It’s as though I’m firing on seven out of eight cylinders right most of the time. Nothing that is debilitating, but it is noticeable. No hot flashes or wild mood swings yet.

I did email the radiation oncologist to let him know that I did, in fact, get the injection, and his response kind of hinted at the fact that it may take a few weeks for the Eligard side effects to really kick in. Time will tell.

As a diversion to all of this, I spent the afternoon watching the my hometown Chicago Cubs take on my adopted hometown San Diego Padres at beautiful Petco Park. I can’t say that I’m a huge baseball fan, so this is a once-every-few-years thing that I do when the Cubbies come to town. One day, I’ll make it to Wrigley Field for the first time ever (blasphemy that I haven’t been, I know).

I’ve got a few other fun things lined up between now and the start of the Zap Fest in late June and hopefully the Eligard side effects don’t kick in and ruin those plans.

A few photos from the game today.

Be well!

You may want to turn down the volume before playing. The pre-game music was a bit loud.

Day 4,192 – Eligard Injection

On By DanIn Prostate Cancer, Recurrence, Treatment15 Comments

This morning was not fun at all.

I checked in at 7:30 a.m. for my 8 a.m. appointment and was a bit nervous but doing generally okay. But around 8:05 a.m., the nurse came out and said, “I know you’re here for some medication, but the doctor forgot to enter the order for it to be administered into your record. We’re trying to track her down now and we’re not sure how long it will take.”

Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

About 8:45 a.m., the nurse came back out to the waiting area for another patient, and I interrupted and asked him the status of tracking down the doctor. “Oh. We haven’t found her yet. We’re trying to contact any doctor but most don’t come in until after 9 a.m.”

Still not a happy camper.

As you all know, I’ve anguished over the decision to move forward with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for a while now. Once you make that decision, you want to move forward with it and psychologically prepare yourself for the event. When you’re given an extra hour and a half, your mind begins to race and to question whether to move forward with this essentially irreversible procedure. At least that’s what my mind did. Call me silly.

The injection itself went well. In fact, it was not much worse than getting my second COVID booster shot last week (or any vaccination). It’s been about three hours since the injection, and the injection site isn’t even sore. It was pretty much a non-event. Time will tell what other side effects will kick in, and how severe they may be.

Well, the stress from this morning has worn me out. Time for a little nap.

More to come, I’m sure.

Be well!

Day 4,153 – Radiation Oncology Appointment

On By DanIn Radiation Therapy, Recurrence16 Comments

The radiation oncologist threw a curveball that I wasn’t expecting at this morning’s appointment.

In a nutshell, he suggested doing concurrent androgen deprivation (hormone) therapy with the salvage radiation. That was not something that we discussed at our first meeting. The ADT would be for six months if done concurrently.

Doing ADT concurrently would give an estimated 10% benefit to the radiation and longer-term PSA reduction according to the doctor. But he also said that my case would also justify doing the salvage radiation alone and holding off on any hormone therapy until after the radiation is completed. He could argue for either option, but was leaning to the more aggressive concurrent therapies.

I asked about the ADT now lessening its effectiveness later when it’s needed most, and he said that six months of ADT would not really make the cancer hormone resistant.

We didn’t do the body mapping this morning based on this little twist, and that’s okay.

He offered to let me contemplate this over the weekend, and he’ll call me Monday morning to answer any further questions and see which option I would prefer.

I have to admit that the acceleration in my PSA increases is making me lean toward the more aggressive concurrent therapy.

If I choose the straight radiation, I’d go back to UCSD and get mapped and begin the actual zapping a few weeks later. If I choose the concurrent therapy, I’d have to go back to the VA San Diego for the shot and then wait up to two months (I have to confirm, I wasn’t in the note-taking mode) before starting the actual radiation back at UCSD.

Whichever option I decide, I learned this morning that I’m going to have to practice the art of bladder filling.

I was told for the mapping session that I should come in with a full bladder, so I started drinking water about an hour before the 8:30 a.m. appointment: about half a liter at 7:30 a.m. and another half a liter around 8 a.m., plus sipping on water in the waiting area.

By the time the nurse called me back to the exam room around 8:45 a.m., my bladder was about to burst and I had to run to the toilet. “Try to keep some of it in you,” she blurted as I scurried out the door. Yeah, right. By the time I was leaving after seeing the doctor (about 9:15 a.m.), I had to make another mad dash to the toilet. This has the potential to be pretty tricky.

On a somewhat related note, I needed a bit of escapism in advance of the appointment, and I noticed that the weather in Tucson, Arizona was going to be around 74° F / 23° C the first half of this week. I wanted to head over to spend some time in Saguaro National Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It was a hectic trip, but I had fun and it definitely diverted my attention away from all of this.

If you’re interested, you can check out my report and photos here:

Saguaro National Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Timing of initiation of ADT for men with biochemical progression after first-line surgery — THE “NEW” PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK

On By DanIn Prostate Cancer, Treatment2 Comments

An interesting study concerning the timing of Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT).

For many years your sitemaster has been advising patients that overly early use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in many men with progressive prostate cancer is not necessarily the best decision (for a number of possible reasons). The benefits of such early ADT — in terms of metastasis-free survival (MFS) and/or overall survival (OS) — […]

Timing of initiation of ADT for men with biochemical progression after first-line surgery — THE “NEW” PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK