Starting down the prostate cancer treatment road. Off to see the wizard.

[Baltimore Ed]

Hope this isn't too personal. I consider you cas guys friends. Had my testosterone suppression shot yesterday. Good for 6 months. A pain in the arse but no big deal. And possible hot flashes! Guess this means I'll be dressing better and want to redecorate the house. Get seeds next month and then the real fun starts, begin 6-8 weeks of 5 days/week radiation in late March after the Md Military Antiques Show [if they don't cancel again]. I actually planned this treatment around it. I'm sure that there are a lot of us who are or have been down this road. My PSA has been creeping up for years. Did the first biopsy 3 years ago, the second last month. Numbers were up, a little more cancer so it was time to make a decision, either do nothing, radiation or remove it. Surgery was the last resort imo. I'm only 71 [next month]. Doctors are saying that I should have a good outcome. Compared to the hell my dear wife went through for 12 years after her stroke this is nothing. Stay safe all.

[Abilene]

Well, something of a coincidence seeing your post today because this afternoon I go for my 1st needle biopsy. Previous liquid biopsy already positive.  Good luck in your journey!

[DeaconKC]

I'll be praying for you both!

[Baltimore Ed]

Good luck on yours too Abilene.

[Buckaroo Lou]

Will be praying for you guys. I had mine removed a little over two years ago. I did the robotic surgery and it was quite successful. They got all the cancer and my checkups since have been very good. I am now 77.

[Major 2]

Fingers crossed for you both, and prayers sent up stairs

[FriscoCounty]

Get the most experienced surgeon, with the highest full success rate, you can.  I don't care whether it is traditional or robotic. Experience counts, a lot.

[Johnny McCrae]

Get the most experienced surgeon, with the highest full success rate, you can.  I don't care whether it is traditional or robotic. Experience counts, a lot.

Good advice. I had mine removed 22 years ago. My PSA was normal but fortunately my Doctor was vigilant and caught it when he did the ***** exam. I'm 81 and still kicking.

[Dave T]

Good luck and God bless.

Dave

[Slamfire]

 Prayers for some good friends, yes, we care about personal stuff, that's what friends are for.

   coffee all around,  Hootmix.

[Abilene]

Since I brought it up, I should update.  My PSA jumped 2.5 points in a year, the liquid biopsy was in the positive range but not too far.  Well today I got the results of the needle biopsy (I think they took 10-12), negative!  They said those are 85-90% accurate.  Back to monitoring.  I am happy. 

Ed, still praying for you.

[Major 2]

Outstanding 

[Baltimore Ed]

Sounds good Abilene. Negative is great but stay vigilant.

[Matthew Duncan]

My Dad went with the seed inplant.  Seeds were low grade radioactive?  Only side affect he had was a slightly more frequent urge to urinate.

[Baltimore Ed]

Well, I finally got my gold seeds and gel implanted today. The nice nurse said the seeds would be there forever. There's gold in them thar prostate! They broke their butt machine last week so everything got delayed. I told them to unplug it from the outlet, wait a minute and plug it in again but I don't think they listened. While the procedure today didn't take long it was no fun but I survived. Next week is a consult with the oncologist and mri/ct scans so they know where to aim their death ray. Looks like another 2-3 weeks after the scans before things actually get started. On a much happier note we are doing a WB category at this month's shoot. Going to use my Crazy Lee M12. Give'em hell, Pike.  I shot cas guns [schofield, uberti thunderer and '94] at a zombie/ipsc match recently for fun. Couldn't keep up with the plastic guns but still was not on the bottom at 11/14. Going to use a 1952 MT Colt Woodsman and a CMMG .22 AR next month. Other shooters were using .22s. Save some primers. Hoping he will run a WW2 shoot on the 5th Saturday in April so I can shoot my Thompson. Film at eleven. Just kidding.

[Abilene]

Howdy Ed, thanks for the update.  Is there really gold in the seeds?  Will it survive cremation? 
Keep up the good attitude and keep having fun!

[RRio]

Prayers up for both of ya.

[Baltimore Ed]

We had our WB/CAS shoot yesterday. 15 shooters, a few more cas than WB. I used my Auto Ordnance 1911, Marlin Trapper with .45 Schofield ammo and a M1912 20 ga I picked up last month. Had 1 rifle miss, a sg miss and 4 pistol misses but still came in 2nd place overall and 3rd in WB. But in all fairness there were a bunch of rifle/ammo problems that cost other shooters misses that they never shot or added raw time. My stuff ran fine. Next month we're doing BAMM/CAS. Thinking that I'll use my new [to me] Krag saddle ring carbine as we will do a mandatory 5 rd reload and a pair of 38-40 NS revolvers. On a more serious note, I had my mri/ct scans and bloodwork last week. Waiting on a start date from the oncologist. Having an endoscopy on Monday to stretch my esophagus. Had a severe pluggage 2 weeks ago for 2 days, not fun. Getting old is not for wussies.

[Baltimore Ed]

Finally had my first radiation yesterday. Will have 27 more with increasing amounts of radiation. Better than the initial 8-9 weeks that was initially talked about. The endoscopy went fine and  can eat ok again. Working on loads for my 6.5 swede. Casting Lyman 266469 bullets too. Also need to load up some krag ammo for my clubs BAMM this month.

Update—26 now.
Update—25 now.

[DeaconKC]

Prayers up here for you.