My father just turned 60 in January, was in excellent physical condition and no symptoms. Two weeks following a routine physical exam he was diagnosed with prostate cancer (11/11 biopsy cores positive). It was a T3 tumor, Gleason 8, PSA 5.2 -invasive to the rectal wall and 3 "suspicious" lesions on the bone scan. He has had 6 cycles of chemo- which has been particuarly bad for me (as his daughter) to watch it-. He has been really strong and now that the chemo is over- he is also much happier.

I was encouraged by the fact that his PSA went down to 0.2, but the tumor only shrank slightly and is still invasive. He is up for radiation next, but I am really struggling to be optimistic-

I should preface this by the fact that I am a cancer biologist, which makes it that much more difficult to deal with because I know so much about the science/biology yet realize there is nothing I can do- or really believe in. I am turning to this forum and the hopeful stories from other people who have gone through this as well as survivial stories that I can help me.

What is a daughter to do???? How do you cope with such things??

Hello. I had a similar diagnosis almost 3 years ago. 12 out of 12 biopsy samples were cancerous and a bone scan also confirmed cancer. Almost 3 years later I am still going and relatively healthy. If your father can live 3 or 4 years, which he should be able to do, then who knows what new treatment options will be available by then. He could live another 20 years. Who knows. You have to be realistic but be positive. In the meantime, enjoy your time with him. Hopefully, it will be a very enriching time for both of you. Good luck.

Hi ck. Amen to Dave53. The time following diagnosis is really tough, and your Dad has a rougher prognosis than most. Dave's example is a good positive one. The one good thing about prostate cancer is that it tends to move very slowly most of the time, and treatments keep getting better. Even more importantly, we all have to sieze the moment--when we are reminded that our time is limited, it can make us so much more fully awake to the many wonderful aspects of being alive with our loved ones. I am now 9 months past my prostate cancer surgery. My wife has just been diagnosed with a second breast cancer (she had a lumpectomy 4 years ago) and will be undergoing a mastectomy very soon. The thing we have both learned is to live our lives as normally as we can, and to appreciate all the little things that can be so special. Is it crazy to say that our illnesses have been, in some ways, a blessing? Be with your father as much as you can, and do the things you enjoy the most together. You don't know how much time you will have with him, but none of us really knows what the future will bring. We just go through life assuming that it will go on forever as it is. At least, when we are fully aware, we can fully enjoy and appreciate what we have.

Thank you for your encouraging words- Your sense of optimism is really wonderful and I would love to see things in the same light.

I am trying to spend as much time with my father, yet seeing "my pillar of strength" go through these treatments is just heart-wrenching. It is also so difficult to have him turn to me for help because of what I do, yet I cannot do anything for him.

Thank you again for your words- they mean a great deal to me.

Hey, Anonymousck! I had RRP a couple of years ago, so I do know the [U]real world. What I am about to relate may sound completely “off the wall” to you, but it is a true story. In 1978, a brother-in-law of mine developed PC, and had no symptoms until he discovered he was passing blood in his urine. Living in the Canal Zone at the time, he chose to come to the states and selected Mayo Clinic as his treatment center. They decided there was no choice but to perform surgery. Once in, they discovered the cancer had moved into his aortic area, and that he was “too far gone” to undergo further surgery, so they put sutures in place, gave him radiation treatments, and let him gain sufficient strength to go back home, and dismissed him. Somewhere along the way, perhaps it was Dr. Linus Pauling’s book, he decided to go on “heavy” daily doses of Vitamin C powder dissolved in either juice or water to provide a method of intake of the vitamin. “Heavy”….I do not know how he determined how much to take per day, but I do know that he was diagnosed with basically incurable prostate cancer in 1978 and lived until 2000, when he died of heart problems. Radical – certainly! Did it work? He made it another 22 years and was about 78 years old when he left us. Did radiation do the trick, or was it Vitamin C? I am not posting this as a suggested cure; just providing info that seemed to work for my brother-in-law. (Of course, Dr. Pauling died of prostate cancer, but he was 94 at the time.)