Clatterbridge and The Christie

Good Morning Caroline (CazzaH) 

A warm welcome to the Macmillan Online Prostate Cancer Community, although I am sorry to find you here. I am Brian one of the Community Champions here at Macmillan.

I wish your husband well with his recovery and do hope he will need no further treatment.

I am in Oldham and am on my 4th year on my personal Prostate Cancer journey (you can read the full journey by clicking on my user name or avatar). I am under The Christie for Oncology and have had my Radiotherapy there and continuing treatment there. Although I am not a surgery client I can't fault the treatment and access to the staff I have had at The Christie.

I am under their PEASS scheme (Prostate Easy Access Self Service). I have two dedicated named nurses I can contact by telephone or e-mail. I have my reviews by an e-mail questionnaire, I book my own PSA tests at my local hospice and get my results by e-mail the following day.

I do hope this helps, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thank you so much for your speedy reply, Brian.  I truly appreciate it.  Also wanted to say I've loved reading all your replies and comments on this site.  You're such a great ambassador.  Your profile and journey is inspirational - wishing you all the very best for a long and happy future

Hello Caroline 

Im sorry you find yourselves in this club.

I am also new to this fantastic group and am so very grateful for the support and advice.I will be interested in the replies you will receive.

We also live near Chester.. Urology at The Countess of Chester is where my LH's diagnosis was made in early October 24.

This week we have just had our first oncology appt at Clatterbridge.  My husband who is 78yrs has Advanced  Prostate Cancer. He has had HT since Oct. and is to start 6cycles of Docetaxyl  soon.

When I did a search I learned that The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is rated 4th in the country for Centres of Excellence. I know of Christies, but that is all I'm sorry. 

Our first experience; parking was easy and free. The building was close by & staff were very welcoming. We waited 20mins beyond our appt time in a modern, pleasant waiting area,we were offered tea,coffee etc.

The Consultant was friendly, asked us to use his first name, apologised for the delay, explained our situation and advised our options with clear justifications for his advice about which to choose. 

There was a  "Prostate Cancer Support Worker" present , (not introduced at the start) who later explained the role was to provide  "Holistic Help". She gave us leaflets and invited us to contact her "with any questions"

At the end of the consultation,we came away having made a decision and began the processing of all we had learned, some of which we knew since the beginning of our journey.

My LH had his blood test required, before we left in a clinical room off the waiting room.

This was our first appt and therefore I feel limited in my remarks. As we are both retired nurses,often, small things mean a lot. 

We are to see the Consultant in 2wks, we are unsure whether other appointments will arrive before that. 

Given that my LH will be having 6 x 3 wkly cycles the proximity and easy journey is beneficial too.

Sending warm wishes and to all the group.

Sue

• Hi- although living ‘over the border’ in wales we have proximity to both. We saw Mr Ramani in Christie’s privately to look at surgery option as was denied this in wales. We found the experience was ok. The team were professional and friendly and Mr Ramani did go above & beyond for us. In the end we had to take the route enforced by wales as they stated they would no longer look after my OH if needed if we went private. I would have no hesitation of recommending Christie’s but I think both have fantastic reputations as specialists. All the best x

Hello Sue

Thank you so very much for all of your helpful description of your appointment at the Clatterbridge.  You give a really good account of the appointment process, and all the extra things (like parking, coffee, consultant) that are incredibly helpful.   It's really good to know that Clatterbridge has a good standing as a Centre of Excellence.

Sounds like you had a good experience and I'm really pleased for you.  I wish you and your LH all the very best and hope that the treatment is successful and smooth.

All the very best to you

Caroline

Thank you Hanandy  for your reply and experience with Christie's.  I'm glad that the experience was ok for you.  Wishing you and your OH all the best and that his treatment is a success x

Hi CazzaH my partner and I are also in Chester and the countess of Chester is the local hospital and we are under clatterbridge for my partner Bryan’s cancer we have a appointment a week on Tues to see the oncologist first appointment so I was interested in your post to and to read about your experience best wishes Clare x

Hello Clarebryan62 It's lovely to be in touch with you, since we live so close to each other.  I hope your appointment with the oncologist goes well on Tuesday. 

Are you still at the stage where you are going to decide on surgery vs RT?  Or have you made the decision for RT?  Either way - I hope everything goes well. I will be thinking of you both. 

Please do let me know how you get on.  If we end up looking at RT, I will be glad to hear your experiences too, to ensure that Clatterbridge can provide the service that we need.

Caroline X

Hi Caroline unfortunately surgery isn’t a option for bryan as it started to grow out of the prostate so they said hormone and radiation therapy is the way to go as they said if they do surgery they may not get it all so want to do the rt and Bryan made the decision that’s the option he wanted so here we are yeh definitely be good to stay in touch so we can compare experiences thank u for ur kind words ans we will defo keep u posted x

Hi Clare - sounds like RT and HT are a good way forward for you. Wishing you all the best for your appointment and treatment going forward.  I hope that it destroys all of the PC cells asap. Take care x