We met with a Medical Oncologist today, Dr. Reza, sticking with our step by step approach. Good guy, communicated well and our homework/reading has paid off by way of having a good understanding of what is discussed.
So, the next step is to repeat the CT Scans of the pelvis and torso areas and also the bone scan.
Both will be done in the next 3 days. Dr. Reza is concerned by the high PSA post operation so he wants to get after the 'micro cells' that have spread. After the results of the scans are done, Dr. Reza will 're-stage' my cancer. We have no evidence that I have metastatic cancer so with the tests we'll be looking to see if the cancer has spread to the bones or other lymph nodes.
Starting next week I will start hormone therapy which most likely will last 2-3 years.
Once the treatments start, I will go back each month for a PSA check and what surprised me is the Dr. expects the PSA to drop immediately, first month, he would want it below 1 after the first month. Again, to refresh, my PSA, pre-surgery was 58 which is off the charts. My PSA post surgery was 7.9 which is considered high.
By taking away the food source of the cancer (shutting off the testosterone), the goal is to stop the growth and spreading. Hormone therapy won't kill the cancer, just stop the growth.
Dr. Reza wants to be aggressive with the hormone treatment and I agree.
They took blood today, another PSA, results will be in tomorrow.
more news tomorrow.
