My husband Marshall went on Zytiga in March of 2012 and it was a miracle drug for him. His pain went away and his PSA went down to 2. He's been on the Zytiga for 15 months now and the only real side...
Bill, Thank you so much. Marshall has an appointment with Dr. Gonzalez and it's coming up in about to weeks. He will see the VSO then. We actually have all of the VA medical records. The day Marshall...
I sure will be thinking about you. My husband was diagnosed two years ago and it was a complete shock. He had been getting checkups twice a year for a very long time since he has had quite a few...
acsd, I'm another wife chiming in. I haven't checked in to this forum for a few months (thank goodness that means my husband has continued to do well on Zytiga). But I just wanted to mention that we...
Just wanted to post another update on Marshall and his Zytiga. For the past two months his PSA has been holding at 0.88 and we are ecstatic about that. However,the side effects are really interfering...
Casper319, Boy, your story sounds a bit like Marshall's. I'm so glad the Zytiga is working for both of you. He had some radiation to his spine in December and while it came with its own side effects,...
nhwife, How did the radiation go? When Marshall had radiation on his spine it totally got rid of the pain in that area (although it caused other issues that took a little time to resolve, like...
I haven't been here for a while and that is because things are going very well since Marshall started on Zytiga in March. Before Zytiga he was in a wheelchair and on oxycodone and morphine for the...
nhwife, I can't remember when they said they would do scans -- but we should find out at our next visit on April 22nd. We are kind of giddy right now. I hope it keeps up and I sure hope the Zytiga...
Another update regarding Marshall's experience with Zytiga so far. Yesterday he had his second 2-week checkup and all of the lab work was okay. But the good news of the day was that his PSA is now...
On Zytiga, Marshall has now had 15 days of no pain and a higher energy level than he's had in months. He is having worse hot flashes than he had with just the lupron but so far no other side effects....
Marshall started the Zytiga-Prednisone on Tuesday, March 12. He had pain that day and a lot of up and down emotions. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the pain seemed to decrease a TINY amount each day...
Raddad, Believe me, if Marshall starts feeling good enough to back off of the painkillers a little bit and has a little bit more energy, he LOVES to fight the VA. We have a sign hanging in our living...
Hello everyone! Finally some upbeat news to report. Our oncologist's office just called to say that they found a pharmacy -- Accredo -- that has approved us for the Zytiga with a copay of...
Allen, Our oncologist wants Marshall to talk to the VA to see if they will help pay for the Zytiga. And since the VA awarded Marshall 100% disability because of the prostate cancer being Agent Orange...
Allen, Marshall's primary insurance is Medicare. Do you think appealing a Medicare denial might be worth it? I forgot that Marshall has battled the VA for 30 years and his motto has always been...
nhwife, I am probably jumping the gun with regard to worrying. Our oncologist said he was going to cover all bases to try to get the funding for the Zytiga and it's only been a day since I talked to...
Well, today we learned that Medicare wll not pay for Marshall's Zytiga and neither will our supplemental insurance. We are going to apply for financial assistance, but I feel pretty sure that we...
nhwife, Thanks for the post -- I had forgotten that your husband was on Zytiga. When Marshall isn't doing well, my focus goes inward and the rest of the world kind of disappears. Not sure how to...
Allen, Thank you so much for the info. I will definitely read all of these links and talk to Marshall, as well as the doctors. Sometimes a setback can really get into your brain and for a bit of time...
Hello! My husband is about to start on Zytiga, too (the oncologist just called to tell him he was not accepted in the clinical trial for GTX-758 so we are moving on to Zytiga). Dr. Flaig did not...
UPDATE on my hubby's application for the clinical study of GTx-758. Dr. Flaig just called and said that Marshall's blood work showed a "low threshold" with regard to blood clotting so he is not being...
Tall Allen, Wow, thank you for that very thorough post. I think I actually understood a lot of it but I will need to read it over a few more times to really absorb it. It brought up areas of concern...
nhwife -- I would love to hear what your doctor has to say about this. Our oncologist just exudes excitement over this treatment and you can't help but get excited when talking to him about it....
UPDATE: Marshall's PSA is now up to 31.06. He has signed the consent forms for the clinical study of GTx-758 and we are waiting to hear if he will be accepted. I will let you all know the progress....
Lifeguyd, Your comment about taking oxycodone and driving brought back a hair-raising incident over the holidays. We were driving in Arkansas to visit my family for Christmas and I had forgotten he...
Lifeguyd, Thanks for the post on oxycodone. I don't know whether some men are just more pain tolerant than others or whether they can just ignore pain better than others, but when the bond pain hits...
Passages: Thank you. Looks like your husband has been fighting quite a while. I am sorry to read some of the bad times, but on the other hand, glad to see how many years he has had and hope very much...
UPDATE 3/1/13 -- appointment with oncologist. First thing on arrival at the hospital, Marshall was sent to radiology for x-rays of the left and right femur to try to see if anything has changed that...
Thanks to all of you for your wonderful responses. Marshall's pain is bone pain in his right femur and sometimes the pain is in the whole right leg and he tells me the pain is excruciating. He has...
nhwife, You are correct, this is a fickle disease. I've never felt so helpless in my life. Marshall tried to get up this morning but between the pain and the nausea (we have no idea where the nausea...
Thank you so much for the replies. The first time he had this kind of pain he was in the hospital and had to take the oycodone and the morphine. He got so constipated that he needed to finally drink...
My husband is having a lot of bone pain and needs to take oxycodone or morphine when the pain gets bad. And then he deals with severe constipation and stomach pain. Does anyone have any experience...
I already have an update. Our oncologist, Dr. Flaig, called this evening to say that there's a chance Marshall won't qualify for the clinical study of GTX-758 because of his weight. He says that one...
RobertC, Thank you for those links. They are a little too technical for me to understand, but I read them anyway and learned a little bit. I am excited about this study! Marilyn...
Zufus, THANK YOU!! I loved reading your post. And Marshall and I would love to get any links to other stories and info that you would care to share. I am trying to absorb as much knowledge about this...
My husband's oncologist yesterday said he wants Marshall to enter a clinical study of an estrogen treatment called GTX-758. They gave us the packet of information which I haven't read through...
he has had HT but no radiation or anything else yet. The back pain is in his lower back where he has a bone cancer spot. All his other little bone pains subsided when he got the Xgeva shot so this...
Hubby had his first Xgeva injection on 9/13 (Thursday). He felt pretty good on Friday, but had slight pain on Saturday, then it got a bit worse on Sunday and it's a little worse today. The pain is in...
Well, it is now a month after my first posts for my husband Marshall and this past Thursday was his visit to oncologist for lab work and Xgeva shot. The PSA went up from 3.9 to 6.6 and that threw him...
Wow, this conversation thread shows us how fortunate we are. My husband goes to the University of Colorado for treatment and he gets his PSA results while we are still with the oncologist. On...
Sounds like a great trip. Marshall and I are jealous. But have a wonderful time. Marilyn...
It has been especially comforting hearing from wives so I thank you. You say you will report back with results after your next followup visits -- where do you post those? Do I come back to this...
Wow, thank you so much for the info. You are making me feel a bit better. This is all so new to us still so we get scared easily. When I come to this forum and read posts for an hour or so, I feel so...
The doctors have been very vague about how many. We were told at first that they were in his ribs, his spine and his right thigh. Then when we were at the oncologist, he had the films hanging on the...
I have really appreciated your feedback on my earlier question so here I am again. My husband had his second Lupron quarterly shot on July 26th. His PSA was 3.9 in May and stayed at 3.9 on Juy 26....
Jim: I am giving your email address to Marshall. I hope he will contact you to chat. Thank you! Marilyn...
JNF: Thank you. I had not heard that before, We will definitely discuss it in September when we see oncologist agin. Marilyn...
Marshall has been growing hair on top of his head, too. Our oncologist says that is very rare. We are getting a kick out of it. And Marshall agrees with you totally about the psychological effect on...
JohnKeats, Wow, my heart goes out to you, too. It's hard to imagine a PSA of 5,000! I think one of the things that hit us so hard is that Marshall had his PSA checked every six months, without fail....