My 86 year old father has been living with me for a little over a year, and was DX with prostate cancer in February.

His initial PSA level was 60, and in April it was 80. The end of June it was 106.
He is starting to get severe lower back pain, and is experiencing marked weakness in his legs. Weight loss is also evident to me.

He has been hiding his condition from me, but I spoke with his nurse practitioner at the VA hospital about him the other day. She said he is being evasive in his answers to her too. She suspects mets to the bone and spine. His onco said in April it was "very aggressive".

It doesn't sound good to her or to me. Does anyone have any experience with something like this with a relative, and what happens next? Should I be looking for hospice care soon? My gut feeling tells me I should.

Thanks, TJ

Hi ThomasJ,

I am sorry about your father. That does sound really high. I do think you should start looking at hospices. You may want to talk to you dads dr. Some of my dads drs will talk to me, as I understand better than my parents. You may have to have a referral to get him in one. Plus I think they have to be evaluated. They are only supposed to have so "long" to live. I do not know how long that is.

Also, you can have hospice care at home, if you prefer. But someone needs to be there most of the time too.

Hope this helps, More people will probably answer tomorrow.

Take Care. Wannabe

ToBe, Familyrn,

Thanks for your replies. He has refused all treatment whatsoever. I guess they will treat him for pain when it comes to that....