92 year old father has prostate cancer that has spread to bone. Anyone else go through this?

Veronica91 thank you for your post, unfortunately we now live in Greece and there is no hospice care here. Because I work, I have during the day two women to look after my Dad and one woman is with him during the night. I'm with him in the evenings and weekends, however none of us have the experience of dealing with this sort of situation. I'm also afraid that we might not be handling him properly when having to wash him, change him, etc. and we might cause him harm. His legs are now very weak and he can barely walk, however his mind is very sharp and he feels extremely depressed that he can't get around like he used to (like go to the bathroom on his own). Every year we would go back to the US to visit our family (my daughter, brothers, nieces & nephews - his grandchildren) but he is now starting to realize that he will not be able to make the trip this year and is very depressed because of it. He isn't in any serious pain right now but I'm so scared of what tomorrow will bring.

Lots of different opinions in the medical community about what is the best course of treatment for prostate cancer. If it is caught early the prognosid is very good and a TURP can be curative but has unfortunate side effects such as urinary incontinence and loss of sexual ability. getting a PSA on a regular basis is very helpful in that it can act as a warning and the Dr can proceed with a biopsy which will give a definite diagnosis and a treatment plan developed based on age and other medical conditions. Untreated it will proceed to secondaries in the bones which are extremely painful and can break easily. very large doses of narcotics will eventually be needed. Once the secondaries are well establishedthe downhill slope is usually fast and full time care is needed. calling in hospice early can be a great help. They will encourage the patient to continue with activities he enjoys but monitor the pain carefully and are available 24/7 if an unexpected problems shows up or if patient or caregiver needs emotional or physical support.

My father is 88 yrs old. Up untill July of this year he was fine, just going a little slower because of his age and macular degeneration in his eyes. Suddenly one day in July he couldn't empty his bladder completely and kept havering the urgency to uriniate but would only get a trickle . The urologist started him on tamsulosin but that didn't do anything so he needed to have a catheter inserted. He then went to another Urologist and he told him to have a TURP procedure done and that in 4 days he would recover and be catheter free. He had the procedure done but not only did he not get rid of the catheter but now he could barely walk and was complaining of pain in his hips and back. While in the hospital they did not recommend him for a CT scan they just told him to go home after the 4 days and to go back again in 10 days. He was getting worse and worse with the pain and his walking. Forty days after the procedure when he went for another follow-up they gave us the biopsy which should a Gleason score of 9 and a very aggressive cancer. I immediately took him to an oncologist at another hospital where they did a CT and bone scan and found that the cancer had metastasized to the pelvic bones, the lower spine and was beginning in the lungs. He was started on Casodex, first 150mg and then 50 mg for 1 month (it has now been stopped) and he also had a Leuprorelin implant. I have two questions , 1) could the procedure have caused the metastasis and shouldn't the Urologist have done a CT before the operation? And 2) about 3 weeks ago he started having pain in the lower jaw bone and felt the area numb. He had a dental scan done but nothing showed up. The doctor believes it is nerve pain from the spine and therefore doubled his dose of Lyrica to 150mg twice a day. Has anyone experienced something similar?

Gary, My FIL had prostate cancer. It does destroy the bones gradually. At first he had trouble walking and used a cane. The cancer worked its way up the spine he needed a wheelchair. By the time he was bedbound Hospice was called in, and morphine was available to him. He died peacefully in his sleep one afternoon.

My father-in-law is 97 and has advanced prostate disease. We had a nuclear scan of the bones done three months ago and it only showed a couple of hot spots in his pelvis. We repeated the test last week and he now has it in his spine, shoulders, knees, pelvis and hips. He has no pain at this time. The doctor put him on Casodex to reduce the androgens. What should we expect next?

I see your post was from 3 years ago. Is he still with you? My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer 40 years ago when he was in his early 50's. He had 35 radiation treatments and has been getting a hormone shot for years. He is now 91 and his PSA level just started to rapidly increase. He has just been told the cancer has spread to his spine and his L2 is completely shot. They are giving him 10 radiation treatments and pain meds and I guess we will see what happens after that. He was living with my sister who is disabled herself and 67 years old. Right now we are opting for palliative care but may have to call in hospice.

DaughterofAl, It seems that your dad is doing fine and should be allowed to make this decision on his own. His doctor can tell him what to watch for if the cancer develops but PSA tests are controversial now anyway as to their accuracy. If he's getting his shots he's probably doing what he can. I'd just respect his decision and be thrilled that he's doing so well.

My father will be 94 in 5 months. He's been diagnosed with prostate cancer for at least ten years. He still gets shots every three months, but now he's having urinary issues. He's very active and living on his own. He has chosen not to know his PSA numbers because he plans on doing nothing about it. My question is what side effects comes next? He deals with mild dementia (but who wouldn't at that age) --- he says he's not in pain.

I posted the original question - what seems to becoming an issue with my father is frequent trips to the bathroom, So far no pain from the bone mets. He is just hopping out of bed every 20 minutes or less to pee or thinks he has to pee. He had a UTI a few months ago that started his hospitalization but that doesn't seem to be the probem. I'm concerned he will end up with a catheter by hospice.

Anyone with the frequent urination experience with prostate cancer?

Sandy, the injection is Lupron. There is a 30 day dose or a 6 month dose they can give. They gave my Dad the 30 day dose first to see how he would react then we now are on the 6 month doseage. To Veronicas question-this is the process of prostate cancer. Our physician said that 80 percent of men will have prostate issues by the time they are in their eighties. It is with all the new technology and testing, they are diagnosing it. Years ago, most men didn't know they had it and because it can be such a slow growing cancer, the patient usually passes away from someother medical cause. With everyone, each day is a blessing. No one is promised tomorrow. We take each day at a time and handle what is given to us. There are bad days but there are also good days. It puts perspective on the end stage of life and makes each day a gift.

This is a new question. With so many distressing stories being shared does anyone have any good experiences to share?

Kaitlyn sorry to have another question. Is there a specific name to the hormone shot?

thank you very much for the information.

Yes they are allowed since it is not a curative treatment but a way to slow down the progression of the cancer and the pain. FYI check his insurance for coverage of both the hormone shot and radation treatment. Each 6 month shot is almost $3000 and Dad's 10 palliative radiation treaments totaled almost $18500. Between his medicare and suppliment insurance we only had a small amout left to pay out of pocket. Just be prepared for hot flashes, moodiness, male menapause symptoms with the hormone shot and the radiation will make him a little tired after each treament. The good thing is a decrease in pain.

Are those shots allowed with hospice? Radiation I think is?

Sandy-His type was a gleason score of 9 out of 10. Very agressive type of prostate cancer. His bone mets was diagnosed about 3 months after the prostate cancer. With the shots, his PSA is way down. The physician said the shots would slow down the cancer and that with his age, he would possibly pass away from other age related disease and not the cancer. I am not so sure about that since it has spread to several sites in the bone. He also recieved 10 palliative radiation treatments to the spots on the bones to kill the nerve endings and stopping some of that pain. It is a good day/bad day situation. Everything we have done is palliative and not curing the disease. His younger brother had prostate cancer with bone mets a few years ago and actually got to the point of such severe pain that he killed himself. He did not have any support of his children! Our goal is to keep him as comfortable as possible at his end stage of life. He is only alone for a few hours. We only sleep and shower at our home, otherwise we are with him. Since he lives just down the road, we do get calls in the middle of the night when he wakes up and is not feeling well. We are trying to raise our last daughter who is only 14 years old and want to try to keep her life as normal as possible so moving him in with us or us moving in with him is going to be a last resort. He is grumpy most of the time, which is understandable and we need our space too. His last xray showed spots now on his spine. He has COPD, emphesemia, high blood pressure and arthritist on top of it all. His second wife had him on a lot of herbs which masked the cancer and the outcome would have possibly been different if he hadn't been on them but that is water under the bridge and we are left to pick up the pieces. Just trying to make him comfortable is the goal. From working in Hospice, we know the worst is yet to come,

Kaitlyn do you think the hormone shots were worth it? Do you think it bought you and him some time before the pain started? It sounds like his pain is still manageable for him if he is living alone. How long was it from the time he was diagnosed to when the pain started? And have any of his bones attempted to heal themselves, like reading my father's medical report, his bones are described as sclerotic bone lesions.

My 86 year old father was diagnosed with advance agressive prostate cancer over a year ago. We opted for him to get the hormone shots every six months that slows the cancer down. It takes away the testosterone that the cancer feeds on. With the shots comes moodiness, hot flashes, basically male mentapause. It has progressed to several areas in his bones and the pain has increased to the point of fentenyl patches plus oral pain meds. My husband and I both work full time jobs plus being his caregivers since my siblings want nothing to do to help. He is still living in his own home just a half mile down the road. Both of us in the medical field, we understand that bone mets is one of the most painful types of cancer to have. We just take one day at a time. If you can get Hospice, do so. I work for Hospice but my father doesnt think he needs it because we are doing just fine taking care of him. We have days that we are on major burn out and try to get some alone time with our 14 year old daughter. This is not fair for her either having to always be there so we try to keep her life as normal as possible. i don't think there is a easy answer but do some research on different Hospice providers in your area!

My mother had stomach cancer that spread to the bone and unfortunately what I saw was there is no such thing as being pain free when it spreads to the bone. We had hospice for her and she was given morphine to the point where she was out of her mind for the last few months and in extreme pain at the same time.

I'm wondering if anyone has had a father that had prostrate that spread to the bone.

I would contact your local hospice. If he's pain free, that's fantastic, but you want everything in place in case the pain begins. He's 92 and if the cancer is in his bones, he would be considered terminal. They can be an incredible help not only with care, but with advice. I'm assuming you've checked with his doctor about the anti-hormone therapy and are just double checking here? If not, do ask the doctor. The main thing is keep him pain free and his quality of life.
Take care,
Carol