my father

[Guest guest]

Hello

My name is Sue and my 76 year old father was diagnosed with prostate cancer September 2007. At the time his GP was very reassuring but PSA was 120 and three monthly hormone treatment followed. My father was very cheerfully telling everybody that it was no problem, lots of men had prostate cancer, it's something old men live with.

In Jan 2008 his PSA was down to 70 and he told me his specialist was happy. In March he started to experience hip and back pain and went to his GP who ordered an x-ray and then rang him to say it might be to do with his cancer. He wrote to the specialist who wrote back to say that with a PSA of 120 he very likely had metastatic disease at diagnosis - this was news to my father!

So a series of PSAs have been done: midApril 280, May2nd 330 and May23rd 383. At the May 2nd appt I went with my father and Casodex 50mg was added and a bone scan ordered.

On Friday we saw the bone scan result - widespread metastases throughout the skeleton but principally shoulders, spine, pelvis. Casodex has been stopped, stilboestrol added and we await an appointment with an oncologist.

Radiotherapy was mentioned - palliative only - and then chemotherapy was mentioned but the urologist wouldn't really comment saying it was up to the oncologist and also obliquely mentioning costs and funding.

He also said average life expectancy in this situation was 9-12 months, but he also expressed surprise at how fit my father looks and is, and asked would he want ureteric stents or to allow his kidneys to fail...

It was all a bit shocking to be honest and it's taken me 48hours to think of looking online and here I am - I found you guys

I'd appreciate your comments and insights

Thank you

Sue