The Sword of Damocles

Hi Ulls 

It is great to hear that you are focused on enjoying life. There are a lot of new and effective drugs now so I hope you get lots of time to enjoy your woodwork and time with your wife. Best wishes 

Thanks PatBe.   I have written down those books and will look into that.    I prefer printed books to online.   Old skool me .....   

Everyone is different, of course, and some adapt and cope more easily that others. Some people very quickly get back into a 'precancer' routine (or close to it), while for others, the Sword of Damocles is almost visible.

One distinction that matters, is whether you had similar anxieties before the PCa came on the scene, or whether it's PCa-specific.

If the former, then it's best not to think of it as a PCa problem but deal with it as an anxiety problem - same problem, but different solution!

If the latter, then you need to examine it in a different way: is it a confidence in the doctor issue? Is it problems at work issue? Get to the bottom of what's worrying you.

Sometimes, it'll be a combination of both. But the key is to not live in fear and anxiety, but investigate what the real problem is, and face it - you'll feel much better for 'doing' something rather than passively letting things 'happen', and it may be easier to deal with several 'real' problems than one nameless dread!

Wise words @heinous

Well hello Patbe

Funny you should be commenting about it being like the sword of Damocles hanging over us waiting to fall .I know exactly what you mean it's there all the time and although it maybe undetectable at he moment like mine is and has been since I had salvage ADT ,hormone therapy and 33 RT sessions ,every psa test is incredibly stressful waiting for it to rear its ugly little head again. My poor wife suffers terribly with anxiety while waiting for the psa result its very stressful for us both .I am lucky in that my consultant is very  hopeful of a cure ,I had a prostectomy that did not remove all the cancer and some had spread to local lymph nodes so he gave me the wonder drug Enzalutimide as first line ADT due to Covid and that caused my psa to drop to non existent within 4 weeks and there it has remained for over a year now .My view is none of us get out of here alive we all die eventually and some of us know what we are going to die of .BUT while I'm alive and kicking and there are many wonderful new treatments for advanced prostate cancer now just beginning to become available I've decided to live my life not worrying every second about cancer .Doesnt make the run up to  psa test results any more bearable but my consultant is so happy with my progress he says it's completely controlled now and I'm up to 4 month checks not three .I had superficial  bladder cancer too but with minimal treatment have been clear for over four years now just a check once a year now so all is positive. The sword of Damocles hangs over every living person on this Earth none of us know when we will shuffle off this mortal coil , puts it in perspective a bit for me .So yes PSA tests are horrible times but just think of it as being well looked after by the NHS and if there is a problem later down the line there will be many more drugs in their arsenal to combat this disease. Lots of trials have now finished and the future is looking good .I'm sure many more men like us with disease that has advanced will still be here to moan about it years from now .

Hi Scorpio6

Thanks very much for that post which is very helpful. I think it is good for us to hear that other men are coping very well with the challenge of living in remission from prostate cancer and you seem to be doing very well. It is tough on our wives of partners as well as you say and as others above have acknowledged also. I had a prostatectomy followed by the discovery that my PSA was still around 4. Initially scans found nothing and then small nodules were found in one lung. Then ADT and 8 cycles of chemo. I’m now in remission with undetectable PSA. I’m not quite as gloomy as my initial post suggests. I am still working and we still have one teenager at home. I try to spend as much time as I can out in nature which is very healing. I do enjoy life but sometimes the anxiety bubbles to the surface and hence my post. Best wishes for your future treatment and outlook and it’s looking very well for you.