August 19th 2020 - Telephone Appointment with the Oncologist

 An agonising wait for the phone to ring. The call eventually came 20 minutes or so late and was not from Dr. Palanniappan as I expected. Dr Elin Evans rang and had a positive, soothing and professional manner.

The good news is that the feature observed on the MRI scan in my stomach has come back negative in the PET scan and is not related to my prostate cancer. The bad news is that there is evidence of lymph nodes in my pelvic area so the cancer has spread beyond my prostate. This should be treatable with radiotherapy.

My Gleason score was 4+3 or 7 and was moderately high so not a bad result. I had steeled myself for the lymph nodes so was not phased by the news. It is good that it is out in the open.

So, to the treatment. This will commence almost immediately with hormone therapy. I will receive a prescription for tablets which I will take for two months. The course of tablets will last a minimum of six months and more than likely for three years. The aim is to reduce testosterone levels and so shrink the prostate. Apparently, it will bring about the male equivalent of the menopause and I can expect hot flushes, moodiness and weight gain. After a week or so of tablets I need to attend the GP’s surgery for a hormone injection.

After two months, I will have a further consultation where the next phase of treatment will be confirmed. This will definitely be a course of radiotherapy. Chemotherapy may be considered but it is currently discouraged because of the COVID situation. The doctor was also optimistic that I might be able to be given abiraterone which has been shown to be highly effective. Abiraterone and similar drugs are normally not available on the NHS due to the cost but in the current COVID situation they are available at least until the end of the year.

So, there we have it! It is certainly not good news but it could have been a lot worse. I feel a lot better about things and I am relieved that something is going to happen almost immediately. My stress levels have subsided considerably even though I recognise that I have a hard battle to fight.