How do you cope with the wait for results?

Hey hey hey, calm down.

This cancer of prostate is a slow cancer so think of it as a snail.

what I’m saying is a few days or weeks here or there does not make much of a difference.

So go for a walk or see some friends. Don’t panic.

or

Try not to panic.

Good luck

Thank you, most of the time I do box it off, but every so often it overwhelms me. I know you are right, but with a PSA of 25/27 in January and February I can’t help but be concerned about how it’s all moving. I need to get out more! Time to plant the spuds on the allotment I think! 

That’s the ticket. Outside everything is busy changing and you’re missing out.

Get the spuds in and pick some rhubarb if you have some. Let your whole being soak up the great outdoors and the little things that you might notice if you take time to look.

Recharge you batteries.

Good luck

Ah we are all different!! 4+ years down the line with an initial PSA of 182 I am still here and all is good!!

Mind you I don’t worry about anything you can’t do anything about - hence the title of my own thread   - Que Sera Sera!!

Yes it’s a nice day for planting Spuds!!

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi, 

not sure of your real name but I know just how anxious you are feeling - it’s only been a week since diagnosed Gleason 8 and provisional T3A / T4 while we wait for a PET scan, then to see oncologist. All I can think about is “what next” it’s just awful and stressful but we’re beginning to accept it’s a long journey and it’s not going to get any better making ourselves ill with anxiety so all I can say is you aren’t alone on your journey and you can get in touch if you want to chat xx

Hello Porthleven . I was initially told probably T2 but it turned out to be T3a, which I had to get my head around. It’s only natural to think ‘worst-case’, I’m sure the psychs can explain why we do that…! 

Yes, the waiting between tests and results is a difficult time for all of us, but there are some positives… It has been found and isn’t still lurking inside him, waiting to cause symptoms, and be found in the future. As Mr U says it is slow-growing compared to other cancers, and although progress seems slow, he is in good hands on a well-trodden pathway and is moving towards effective treatment. That will be among the best available anywhere in the world.

I help my daughter-in-law on her junior school allotment. Something I have never done before and I really enjoy it. Transforming it from a wild, overgrown patch of ground into what we have now, suitable for the kids to manage, has been hard work. That, and helping at a voluntary organisation twice a week, has certainly helped take my mind off waiting to see what the next blood test will reveal.

Yes, you are right, if he hadn’t had the blood test in hospital for an unrelated matter we’d never have known it was there. Hopefully we shouldn’t have to wait much longer for the results and then we’ll have a plan.

Thank you , it’s horrible isn’t it. My husband is a healthy fit 63 year old who went running five days a week, and took his health for granted, it’s a shock when something like this happens and takes  a while to come to terms with.  As you say it’s going to be a long journey, but hopefully we’ll all come through and out the other side. 

Hi,

yes mine is a relatively healthy 68 year old, had blocked artery in 2019 but that was sorted with stents and now medicated to prevent further issues and BP/ cholesterol medications control those issues - we both took early retirement in 2021, welcomed our beautiful granddaughter in 2023 and fulfilled our dream of buying a second home in Spain early last year…life was absolutely perfect, then this happened and our bubble burst!
This first week since diagnosis we have both been under such stress, it’s been just dreadful. But, we now have to look forward, and adjust to our new path while we fight this with everything we have, our friends have given us so much support as many of them have experienced cancer and come out the other side, so we are starting to feel a bit less vulnerable, but like any form of grief I think only time will help us. Hopefully you will have some more answers soon and can start to adjust.

Tracey xx

Hi Porthleven

The diagnostic tests at the start of this PC journey were, for ur, the worst part. The waiting for results was unbearable.  Looking back, I can see now that a full picture was needed by the medical team in order to arrive at the best treatment plan.

so, how did I cope? Not at all well! I was on an emotional roller coaster and spent a lot of time either in floods of tears or being terribly angry. However, I now realise that this was a waste of my energy! I also received tremendous support from people in this forum and for that I will be tremendously grateful. Our adult children were also very supportive and our grandchildren continued to bring us joy and laughter - even in those darkest of days. Friends, too, were extremely supportive - especially those who had had their own brush with cancer. I think that for me, it was very much other people who got me through those darkest days. 

We are all different, so there is no right or wrong way of dealing with this diagnosis. My husband withdrew within himself and refused to discuss the diagnosis. I needed to talk - to anyone and everyone! The more I talked the more I ‘let out’ the emotions. But, for me, it was the talking ( or typing here or writing in my diary!) that let me somehow get through it. 

Rationalising this, I think I would sum up as saying that my own emotional response was, in one way, my worst enemy but reaching out to everyone and anyone was what got me through.

Then there was one more thing that gave us both strength. We have battled together through other difficulties  in a lifetime of being together. The experience of getting through those difficulties gave us sufficient courage to battle together through those dark days. Life will never be quite the same ( just as happens with other changes or life jolts) but we did get through the emotional turbulence and sail into calmer waters - just as you will, too! Don’t despair, it will get easier