Recently diagnosed what to expect

Hi Logan31,

I am so sorry to find you here. If anything, here is a good place to gain knowledge from other people experiences. People here are very kind and generous sharing their journey with the bastard PC.

As far as I know stage 2 is curable and generally speaking caught early. However, for people here to help, it will be good if you could share your full diagnosis on your profile. If your click on your name, you can write the full diagnosis, biopsy results etc. If you click on our name, you can see our full diagnosis and journey.

This community here is also good for a rant, a lough and being with people who have similar problem to yours. 

I wish you all the best and I am sure you will get many more replies.

Lots of love

Dafna

Good Morning Logan31 

A warm welcome to the Macmillan Online Prostate Community - I am so sorry to find you here.

Stage 2 Prostate Cancer is "early or localised cancer" and is very much treatable. Below you will find our link to how the cancer is staged and graded.

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/prostate-cancer/staging-and-grading-of-prostate-cancer

If you can give us some more information from your biopsy - TNM Stage, Gleason Score and initial PSA we will be able to give you some more specific advice.

As I said above your cancer is very much treatable and whatever treatment you receive it will be given as to being a "Curative Pathway".

As for your personal issues with Mrs Logan31, I am so sorry to read your comments and can point you in the direction of Relate (the UK's largest provider of relationship support) at www.relate.org.uk

If you have a Maggie's centre near you - this is a cancer support charity - they can offer you plenty of one to one support - here's the link - https://www.maggies.org/

For your own support - there's our Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 (8am to 8pm 7 days a week) They are a great bunch of people and if I can do anything for you just ask.

We have all been in shock at the point of diagnosis and know how you feel, so no question is too trivial - ask anything you need to.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello Logan

welcome! I think you will soon find a lot of support and information in this forum!

First, the diagnosis comes as a big shock to all of us and we all react in different ways as the ‘fright, fight or flight’ mechanism kicks in! My reaction when my husband was diagnosed was a mixture! I was oh so angry! But I also grieved for the future we had envisaged for ourselves and also being brought face to face with our own mortality. I was also frightened - frightened for what would happen to my husband and frightened that I would lose him!  My husbandcreacted very differently! He withdrew within himself and would not talk to anybody about the cancer - not me, not family members, not the doctors and not the prostate cancer nurses. We went along to a prostate cancer support group but he spoke to nobody there about his situation. I have never felt so lonely in my life!

I am wondering if your wife is asking for a divorce because she, too, is reacting, in her own way, to the news? 

stage 2 cancer is usually eminently curable!!!! It might even be that the cancer is at such an early stage and not an aggressive type that your team might propose a ‘watch and wait’ ( active surveillance) approach? 

I would suggest you do as much information - collecting as you can ( www.prostatecanceruk.org) is as good a place as any to start. With information, you can question the specialists suggestions for your care and take control of your pathway - making your own informed choices.

I hope you both soon recover from the shock but please rest assured that all of us go through this initially. Once a treatment plan has been sorted, the emotions do settle! Good luck!

Sorry this diagnosis is giving you more problems than it should.  Stage 2 is very likely curable as mine was over 8 years ago and to all intents and purposes I have been cured and everything is now back to normal - it was all back to normal within the first year after completing treatment.  My PSA was 13.  Gleeson 7 (3+4) and staging T2 (Stage 2) N0 M0 but T3 (Stage 3) disease could not be ruled out due to the fact that at MRI the tumour could be seen to be at the edge of the capsule and pushing out so it was thought that some microscopic cancer cells could have already escaped but would not be likely to be seen on a PET Scan as too small.  Therfore, from talking to consultants - urologists, surgeon and Radiologist Oncologist (Rad Onc) I evetually thought it best to have 9 months of Hormone Therapy (HT) and then one month of Radiotherapy (RT).  The surgeon was pleased when I decided this as due to having both bowel and bladder problems he thought that a prostatectomy would have a big effect on my bowel and bladder which would cause either worse or more problems - possibly both.  The Rad. Onc was pleased because he said that with not being able to actually see if any microscopic cancer cells had escaped he would plan to treat a larger area and hopefully get any that may have escaped.  So, here I am 8 years later and "cured".

Have a look at the Prostate Cancer UK pamphlets enclosed in their Prostate Cancer Toolkit you can view online or have them printed and sent to you but this could take longer.  This deals with everything you need to know about your diagnosis - most of the medical jargon and possible treatments and side effects.  Just remember that when you read about the side effects from the treatments you may not get them, you may get a few mild ones and some that have a great effect on you or you may just get them all mildly.  There is always a way to get through the side effects either via medication or tips from others on here and taking supplements, exercise etc.

My wife and I had a lot of support from the Specialist Prostate Cancer Nurses who you can contact on a free phone number  as follows:  0800 074 8383.  their lines are open Mon, Tues, Thur and Friday from 9am to 6pm and on Wednesdays from 10am to 8pm.  We could contact them easier than I could my key worker appointed by the hospital as poor woman she was so busy and I think I only managed to contact her once by e mail.

It would be helpful if you could post your PSA, Gleeson Score, and Staging as I have above as it will enable us to advise you better for your individual diagnosis.

All the best.