Waiting and worrying.

It’s awful isn’t it , the waiting is the worst , it just hangs over you ️My 57 year old husband had radical prostatectomy in July . You have to learn how to live with cancer - easy to say but worrying doesn’t fix anything . He listens to BBC sounds until he falls asleep. Keep on top of what’s next , sometimes badgering the hospital to keep on top of things … 

let’s hope 2023 brings good news for everyone xxx

Hi Daniel

,If MRI has identified a small tumour then I would imagine your PSA is not too high therefore sounds like easily treatable.

I know a worrying time but try not to let your mind race  away with bad thoughts, easy said I know.

Small tumour is probably about 3-6mm in size so a quick blast of RT should do it, or surgery if u prefer.

Keep in touch when u have more results and good luck

Steve

Hi,

Not sure if this helps.  I was diagnosed over 12 years ago with a small tumour.  Had a PSA of 21.  I have monitored this over that period.  PSA never really changed much.  However the tumour has now enlarged and I am now half way through RT after 3 lots of HT.

My advice to you if its worth anything is, Don't panic.  Even if its bad news re the tumour you have time to consider what is the best way forward for you.

I wanted to avoid surgery at all cost.  Even though the surgeon wanted to remove my prostrate 12 years ago.  I have had 12 years of no ill health or side effects.  Only now have I decided to have the HF and RT,.  

Remember the surgeons and oncologist what to be active.  Get all the info you can and make what you think is the right decision for you.  A lot of men will die will PC not from PC.

Good luck 

Hi Daniel. I'm sorry to hear of your concerns and really appreciate your anxiety.  The thought of having cancer is really scary and the treatment options seem so confusing. I cried buckets all through the autumn as my husband and I went through the different diagnostic procedures and had to fight for timely appointments and information all along the way. My advice is to just keep pushing forward with gritted teeth and hang on to the fact that prostate cancer is slow growing, can be cured if caught early and can be treated if not. There is a lot of ongoing research, too. Also, more men than ever before are being diagnosed with PC because more men are hearing about it and knowing about the test - think Bill Turnbull and Stephen Fry. 

I now this won't necessarily ease your anxiety but perhaps you will see that there is a huge amount of support 'out there' - on this web site, in hospitals, in support groups etc. 

Be kind to yourself and let us know how it all goes

x

Thank you all for your kind messages. 
I already feel better having joined this forum. 

I can’t complain about the speed the hospital has got me through but I’m yet to see a consultant face to face. 

Very best wishes for the new year. 

Hi

Waiting is one of the hardest things, is it isn’t it, the thing is either way, the team will give you the best treatment for what you have, so don’t worry, carry on as normal, things are out of your hands so try and keep positive.

Stay safe

Joe

It is really one step at a time. Prostate cancer for many is one of the most curable when caught early. My diagnosis was in March '22, after a bunch of tests went from a 3+3 to 3+4, radical prostatectomy Nov '22, I am now two months post surgery. Pathology came back clear, although doc told me there was more cancer than he had expected. By then it was gone, so no big deal.
All the way through I was focusing on what was happening next, driving the process myself and getting on with my year. Two of my friends had the same surgery at the same facility, one is 10 years post and one is 8 years, this helped, as did talking to them about it. I have since become involved in the Prostate Foundation, fundraising and have met many who are years post surgery.
It  has been a year now since the first PSA test and it is pushed to the back of my mind, not my foremost thought. Time to move on the do all the things I want to get done.I am expecting many more years, carry on flying, riding my MC, traveling and exploring, may even have time to fit some work in.
What kept me going was talking to people who had got though it, knowing it was early stages and the survival rate was high. Pushing the process along myself also helped adjust, knowing I was doing everything possible.
With some of my higher risk activities, many things might get me, but I am hopeful the cancer will not be one of them.
I tell my family, don't worry about the things you have no control over, not so easy when it is oneself, the only thing we can do is stay optimistic.

Thanks for this Aviator, what you've said here is absolutely spot on!

Having my face to face with surgeon next week so is an anxious time for wife and I .

Hi Aviator. 
Thank you so much for your message. I made a pact with myself in the night to face this thing square in the face! and as you rightly say, one step at a time!

I can see myself taking a similar route through it, please can I ask, was your op done using Da Vinci and how is urinary control now you’re 2 months post op?(No problem if you’d rather not say)

Hope your recovery keeps going well and you can get back to your flying. Thanks again for the message. 

I had open prostatectomy, at the clinic some surgeons at the centre do robotic, some only do open, did not know this until I got the second biopsy result. Switching at that stage would only delay things further and I had total confidence in the surgeon. From my research the only big difference between the two is the recovery time. The most important thing is the skill of the surgeon, the end result can be the same either way.
One of my friends 8 years post still does not have urinary control (he had robotic), the other had open and regained it after several months with physio coaching. I am still not there yet, but one gets used to it, a bit of a nuisance having to plan everything around it though.
I decided long before the results, if I had the cancer I wanted it out. All treatments have side effects, in some treatments they come sooner than in others. The Internet can be a great resource, so long as one is careful to look at credible sources and discard the junk, I looked at sites around the globe.I do not regret my decision, the alternative was not a great option. The surgery went well, they gave me pain meds in hospital, but once discharged did not need them, just had to be careful what I did, easy to over do it. Was walking daily from day 1, hiking at 6 weeks, flying OK now, riding MC got to wait to 12 weeks, however as we around 3 feet of snow in the last few weeks and down to -15c, that is not a concern.
We each venture into this unknown world, something that in the past we had just heard about, it always seemed to be someone else, then that someone is us. It takes a while to get the head around it and adapt to the new normal, but we do. Lots of thoughts go through our mind, as I had no symptoms I thought maybe better if I had not known, retrospectively from the pathology it seems that would not have been the case, in five years I may have regretted that decision. Ignorance is not always bliss, certainly not in the long term.
Waiting for results can be an anxious time, however when PC is caught early, it  can often have a good outcome, I took that as some reassurance. I am thankful for the future the testing and treatments have given me.
I wish you all the best.