Hi Vanessa,

Welcome to this friendly forum. I can understand why your boyfriend is worried about the side effects of treatment having been diagnosed with prostate cancer myself a few years ago. I dont know what treatment he's been offered so I can only speak about my own experiance. Because my psa was high at 70, I was told they were putting me on hormone therapy for two years and about three months after starting hormone therapy I was offered radiotherapy. The side effects were explained to me.

I didnt have any much from the radiotherapy and pretty much sailed through that part but I did suffer from side effects from the hormone theraapy. Hot flushes and night sweats were the most common but none the less managable. I had mood swings where if I heard bad or even good news sometimes there would be tears in my eyes which I found embarassing. I put on weight which I have not been able to lose. I also suffered from E.D. but was just something I had to put up with allthough there are treatments to help with this. This was also partly due to the fact I was also diagnosed with diabetes for that also causes E.D.

But the point I want to make is, by the time I started radiotherapy, my psa had come down to 3.18 and about twelve weeks after finishing r/t it was only just measurable at 0.01, the lowest they can measure. I truely belive the treatments have saved my life and feel so lucky. I appreciate life more now than ever before and allthough I still suffer from some of the side effects they are getting less in time and I feel a small price to pay for the results Ive had.

You boyfriend has to be the one to make a decision to have treatment of not but I just wanted you to know about my experiance for I feel it may help.Wishing you both all the best and am sending kind thoughts your way. If you have any question, I will help if I can. Please keep in contact, Brian.