Shellshocked Shellback

Hi and welcome to the forum where nobody wants to be. Your staging of T2 ( you don't mention N or M stats) with Gleason 7 is very treatable.

Your first step should be to download the Prostate Cancer Toolkit from the PCUK website:

https://prostatecanceruk.org/media/2499098/how_prostate_cancer_is_diagnosed-ifm.pdf

You can get it posted but that will take a bit longer.

PCa is slow growing so you have time to decide on a treatment plan.

Please come back once you have read the toolkit and there will be someone here who can answer you questions.

Hi Shellback

I know how daunting the word cancer is as very few of us took much notice of it until we got diagnosed. 

As Seamus 47 so rightly says, stage 2 is very treatable and whilst it is a great inconvenience, the future is bright and I am very confident you will receive some excellent advice and treatment from your local hospital.

Keep asking lots of questions and write the answers down as you will find that the shock of your diagnosis will initially affect your concentration skills. It certainly had that effect on me!

Good luck with your treatment and keep us up to date with how it is all going. 

Hello Seamus,

Thank you for your comfortable words, just what I wanted to hear!

My T2 stage is NxMx; I have a stainless steel implant in my right eye, from a retinal detachment in 1996. This obviously precludes MRI scans, hence the exes. I am scheduled to have a bone scan as the next diagnostic step. I am an otherwise healthy 80, so that may limit my choices.

I shall download the toolkit - there's such a lot to do! - read and inwardly digest.

Thanks, The Shellback

Hello Andy,

Daunting is a good word. 

PC is an inconvenience! How laid back is that! And just the attitude to have, I think. I may change that assessment later.

I have every confidence in Forth Valley Hospital/Beatson and rely on their guidance. And I am coming to appreciate the good sense of the members here. After only 12 hours! 

Great advice about writing things down, it helps to consolidate and retain anyway.

Thank you for your good wishes and your interest and I'll keep in touch!

The Shellback 

The silver lining of the PCa cloud is that it's generally a very slow-moving cancer: match that with the silver lining of the being 80 cloud is that well over 50% of people with stage 2 PCa die of something else before the PCa gets them - so expect a long and happy future, though there will be the inconvenience of the treatment along the way ...

Hi-ho silver linings! The shock is wearing off now, I’m a veteran of nearly three days after all. In the meantime I’m waiting patiently for the phone to ring with a cancellation - I hope it’s not from someone who no longer needs it - or the letter to drop on the mat. I am buoyed up and comforted by the wise words and calm souche, if that’s how you spell it, of the members here. 

I’ve just Googled it: it’s “sooch”.

Hi Shellback,

Everyone who has posted already have some good advice.  I know that it helped me.

One of the best pieces of advice l had was "concentrate on today and don't think too far ahead."

That stopped a lot of worrying.  My diagnosis is similar to yours.  I have my good days and bad days (thanks to the Hormones).  My Radiation starts on 5th October.

Hope all goes well for you.

Hello Steve,

I agree with you, the forum is well populated with great people and is a solid support. It's good to know that we're not alone and that the people advising us have been through the same experiences. 

Your point about concentrating on today is a lot like living in the moment. A mindful approach to living in general is good to cultivate, if you can. I'm giving it a go in another context and it seems to have value.

My very best wishes for your radiation course, I hope to start my treatment soon and look forward to the good days and the bad days, not so much...

Yours in solidarity,

The Shellback

Shellback,

I know different people have different coping mechanisms, but for me using this forum and keeping a journal in a diary works for me. 

The diary was supposed to be to record my thoughts, but everything goes in it, no holds barred, complete with colourful language.

I'm already 1/2 way through my 2nd diary in 3 months.

It's good to look back at things I wrote at the start.

It's more like a novel than a diary.

Give it a try, at first it's a case of"what will l write", then if you just pour out everything...

Also I have tried a couple of "Men's Cancer Groups" at my local Maggie's.  They're good, being with men in the same boat as you.  Some have had their treatments and it's good to hear first hand about their experiences.

I don't get to as many meetings as I would like.  I'm trying to keep working as much as possible.  For me, working is like therapy, it keeps me from thinking about the Cancer.