Hi Steve, got some new numbers for you. Current psa is 1.1. After a
long discussion with my doctor, I am not going back on
Lupron at this
time as was originally decided when I went hormone refractory back 6+
months ago. At that time we agreed that my "vacation" from Lupron would
end now and I'd go back on it, plus
Casodex. We will check the psa again
in 3 months and continue to stay off the Lupron if the doubling time has
not increased.
Sometimes I wonder if there are any fully wrong decisions for those with
advanced pca, that with current technology the die is cast and the date
of our demise is roughly set for many of us no matter what we do.
Surgery or radiation, with numerous variations for each, Lupron early or
late, continuous or intermittent, Casodex as soon as you go refractory
or later, then
taxotere plus _________(fill in the blank) for the last
battles.
It is my understanding that Lupron, for advanced pca, probably does not
do much at all regarding longevity, though it may still hold the
cancer/psa in check for varying lengths of time, 3 years being a
ballpark average. Once a person has gone hormone refractory, Casodex
is added and it seems to have greatly variable lengths of time where it
also holds the cancer/psa in check. Maybe for many years, or maybe only
briefly. Then taxotere combined with many other drugs may be tried once
the Casodex fails and apparently it works for a few months or so.
It seems to me that as long as there is the tiniest chance of a cure, a
guy makes decisions with that in mind and thus has many many hard
decisions ahead of him if he does not get his cure fast.
If I have gone off in left field on any of this, I am sure that I.P. or
one of the others will just blame it on my three years on Lupron and set
me straight.
new numbers for Steve K. 
Linear Mode
