More treatment.

On Saturday 6th February I received a copy of a letter from the Urologist to my GP telling him that as per his letter sent in November after he received my PSA results I should now be put on Casodex (Bicalutamide) 150mg daily. I had not received a copy of that letter. Had I known its contents I would have pushed for the Casodex at my last appointment. On Monday 8th February I got an appointment with one of the GPs at the Health Centre to get a prescription for the Casodex. She checked my file and told me that a prescription had been made out on Friday when they had received the letter from the Urologist I would be able to pick it up at reception. Full marks to the Health Centre for preparing the prescription promptly but less than full marks for not letting me know they had done so. As the letter had been copied to me, they probably assumed that I knew a prescription would be ready.

On Friday 12th February I had a meeting with the Urologist. He seemed a bit surprised that I'd only been taking the Casodex since the Monday. I asked him for a testosterone check. He wasn't sure it was really needed but understood my reasoning for asking and agreed to it. He said that if the reading was not as low as it should be with the hormone treatment the next logical step would be a radical orchidectomy to remove my remaining testicle. I didn't argue but I'm pretty sure that there are other options available before that. I also asked that I be given Zometa (Zelodronic Acid), a bisphosphonate, to strengthen my bones which will have been weakened by both the cancer and the hormone treatment. He agreed to this and arranged for a blood test to check that I am in a fit state to receive it and at the same time extra blood was taken for the testosterone check. I was given a prescription for calcium supplements to be dispensed at the hospital, a letter for the Health Centre so that I can get repeat prescriptions of the supplements and a letter for my dentist so that he can confirm that my teeth are in good enough order to have the Zometa. Finally I was given an appointment for the first infusion of Zometa, which is given intravenously. I expect to get further infusions each month. My next appointment with the Urologist will be in early May. I'll make sure I get my PSA checked a week or two before then.

All in all I'm a lot happier than I was a few weeks back. Next week will be busy - next Prostap injection, first Zometa infusion, car in for service and MOT and a meeting with friends from an on-line forum.