Hi my partner has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer he’s only 57, he’s been offered treatment which should start soon but it’s already causing problems within our relationship, has anyone else had this?
I had similar but didn't have the tablets (hormone therapy) , just 20 sessions of RT. Cancer centres offer different kinds of RT which can alter the number of sessions involved.
I had similar treatment but am much older and the cancer has not returned in the last 3 years. You just have to take each day as it comes. This is early stage and treatable. It is such a terrible time when you can't help but think the worst. Remember your partner is the same person but has just been given what can be seen as life changing news it takes some time to come to terms with a diagnosis of cancer. We men tend to close up and avoid things whereas women tend to want to talk and discuss things. If he wants to talk then let him pour out all his worries and encourage him in this as it does help to talk and share worries. Tell him you love him and show affection.
I advise everyone to go onto the prostate cancer uk website prostatecanceruk.org and read the brilliant informative pamphlets on there. The Prostate Cancer Toolkit includes a number of pamphlets to read at the time of diagnosis and covers all treatment options. You will also see that they have a helpline staffed by specialist prostate caner nurses which has been invaluable to me and my wife the lines are open from Mon to Fri 9am to 6pm and on Wednesdays 9am to 8pm it is a free phone number 0800 074 8383. So much easier to give them a phone call and speak to them as you think of questions than try and get through to the hospital and your key worker and leave a message and wait and wait for an answer - Hospitals are so busy these days I don't know how they cope.
If you have a Maggies Cancer Centre near you then go along and see if you can speak to a counsellor - either both of you or just you can go along the support you get there can be invaluable. Some of the centres have a prostate cancer group where the men meet up to discuss their problems, treatment aftercare etc. So good to share other''s experiences and tips on how to cope. At our Centre the partners, wives and carers also meet up - a small meeting every week while ours goes on where they have coffee and cake and talk amongst themselves about their problems and then once a month a counsellor fro m the centre takes a larger meeting and discusses everything they want to. The only rule is "What's said at Maggies stays at Maggies" If you don't have a Maggies Centre you may have a prostate cancer self help group you could contact try searching on line and looking over the notice boards at your hospital.
Take care and keep in touch so that we know how you are both getting on.
That’s good news. We have never had to face anything like this before so it’s all very daunting at the moment. Should have a consultation with the consultant this week to confirm what’s happening and when treatment can start.
